Best of 2025

[Daverz]

Starting this thread a bit earlier this year to get some of my thoughts down.  I still have a large notional "to listen" stack of 2025 "releases" to get through. It seems every year that someone is proclaiming the death nell of classical music, but there are still far more classical releases than I can ever hope to get to.

So far in the running:

New recordings:

The Age of Extremes: W.F. Bach, G. Benda & C.P.E. Bach (Arcana)
Kalevi Aho: Moonlight Concerto (Bis)
Barraine: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2 (CPO)
Robert Russell Bennett and Vernon Duke: Violin Concertos (Chandos)
Bliss: Miracle in the Gorbals · Metamorphic Variations (complete) (Chandos)
George Frederick McKay: String Quartets (Orchid)
Ginastera: String Quartets - Miró Quartet (Pentatone)
Belfiato Wind Quintet plays Karel Husa (Supraphon)
Kaufmann: Orchestral Works (MDG)
Kevin Puts: Concerto for Orchestra, Silent Night Elegy & Virelai (Delos)
Lindberg & Aho Clarinet Concertos (Signum)
Mignone: Fantasias Brasileiras Nos. 1-4 & Burlesca e toccata (Naxos)
Pitfield: Orchestral Music (Toccata)

[EDIT: adding a few more I missed]

Simpson: Chamber Music, Vol. 1 (Toccata)
Grace Williams: Violin Concerto, Elegy for String Orchestra & Sinfonia concertante for Piano & Orchestra (Lyrita)
Johann Nepomuk David: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 7 (CPO)
Łukaszewski: Requiem (Dux)
Elgar: Violin Concerto - Vilde Frang (Warner)

There were also two Ruth Gipps issues and one Bacewicz issue from Chandos.

Reissue box sets:

Walter Weller
Fruhbeck De Burgos

Both from Australian Eloquence.

[hopefullytrusting]

My No. 1 disc of the year is: The Complete Songs of Ravel

[Daverz]

My No. 1 disc of the year is: The Complete Songs of Ravel

I've been rather lazy about exploring all the new releases for the Ravel year, such as Bavouzet's Ravel set.  I did listen to the Pappano Daphnis (in Dolby Atmos) once, but it did not seem essential.  I also heard two new recordings of the Piano Trio: the Trio Metral (excellent) and the Trio Pantoum (still undecided).

[hopefullytrusting]

I've been rather lazy about exploring all the new releases for the Ravel year, such as Bavouzet's Ravel set.  I did listen to the Pappano Daphnis (in Dolby Atmos) once, but it did not seem essential.  I also heard two new recordings of the Piano Trio: the Trio Metral (excellent) and the Trio Pantoum (still undecided).

It is only this year that I've really begun to explore Ravel, and my admiration for him has grown significantly from my first interactions with him, and this set has definitely been a great aid in solidifying Ravel's position for me, but I place a lot of high value in short, tight pieces, and these are that. Eventually, I will get to more, but I am trying to take a slower approach to things rather than simply consuming them, as I used to do, like a dragon, lol.

[Symphonic Addict]

This year was extremely fruitful, so apologies for my extense list.

Where should I start?

First of all, two very important live concerts that featured Stenhammar's Symphony No. 2 and Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie respectively. Listening to these works live meant a lot to me, above all the Strauss which is a desert-island piece.

And now these:


New recordings

Hahn: Le Dieu bleu (B Records)
Mignone: Fantasias brasileiras (Naxos)
Medins: Piano Concerto and piano pieces (SKANI)
Bittner: String Quartets (CPO)
Melartin: Symphonies 5 and 6 (CPO)
Koechlin: Symphony No. 1, Au loin, Trois mélodies (Capriccio)
Bosmans: Works for cello and orchestra (CPO)
Moór: Piano Trios (CPO)
Bliss: Cello Concerto (Onyx)
Langgaard: Symphony No. 4 (Danacord, studio)


Discoveries (not necessarily recent recordings; basically my posts on the Pieces that have blown you away recently thread + others)

Bach, Maria: Piano Quintet
Ghedini: Concerto for two concertante cellos and orchestra 'L'Olmeneta'
Cartan: Chamber music
Yun: String Quartets
Silvestrov: Requiem für Larissa
Paderewski: Violin Sonata and Fantaisie Polonaise for piano and orchestra
Gerber, Steven: String Quartets
Liszt: Music for violin and piano
Pärt: Como cierva sedienta
Chisholm: Violin Concerto
Rózsa: Piano Sonata
Gubaidulina: Sieben Worte
Alyabiev: Chamber music
Draeseke: Piano Concerto
Falla: Atlántida
Blumenthal: Piano Quintets
Tchaikovsky, Boris: Juvenile
Schnittke: Nagasaki
Jaëll: Piano Concertos
Zemlinsky: Two pieces for string quintet and Maiblumen blühten überall for soprano and string sextet
de Frumerie: Horn Concerto
de Hartmann: Violin Concerto
Tcherepnin, Alexander: Piano Sonatas
Brun: String Quartet No. 3
Rogister: Symphony for string quartet and orchestra
Norgard: Piano Sonatas
Toch: Chamber music (especially his Piano Quintet)
Gianneo: Piano Sonatas and String Quartets
Sohy: String Quartets and Symphony
Boïeldieu: Harp Concerto
Bossi: Violin Sonatas
Korngold: Schauspiel Ouvertüre
Raphael: String Quartets
Hindemith: Sancta Susanna
Joubert: String Quartets
Martinu: Most of his ballets
Zeisl: Kleine Symphonie nach Bildern der Roswitha Bitterlich
Tippett: Piano Sonatas
Hoddinott: Symphony No. 6
Alfano: Concerto for piano trio
Orff: Trionfo di Afrodite and Catulli Carmina
Reicha: Piano Quintet
Kalliwoda: Sonata for piano 4 hands
Widor: Chamber music
Flagello: Credendun for violin and orchestra, Capriccio for cello and orchestra and Piano Sonata
Giannini: Piano Sonata
Stenhammar: Ithaka


Rediscoveries

Raff: Piano Quartets
Hartmann: Symphony No. 6
Medtner: Piano Sonatas
Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Sonata for violin and cello
Krenek: Symphonies 1 and 2
Rubinstein: Piano Concerto No. 5
Giannini: Piano Trio
Korngold: Chamber music
Huber: Piano Quintets
Cras: Piano Quintet and Légende for cello and orchestra
Schubert: Piano Sonatas

... among others.

[hopefullytrusting]

I won't list all my (re)discoveries this year, as I make a new one at least daily, lol, but I will list my highlights.

I would say that discovering the conductor Manfred Honeck might be the most important, as it was through him that I finally came to appreciate both Mozart's Symphony No. 41, something I have been working on for decades, lol.

My most recent major discovery was from an Instagram I follow, Basta Now, which is run by an archivist, and that was the Chicago-based composer: Lia Kohl, who today released a brand new album: Various Small Whistles and a Song.

I discovered my new favorite pianist when I was working my way through Scriabin's Piano Sonatas: Dynasty Battles.

I think those are my top 3, but the first is basically a Millennium Prize, lol.

[Symphonic Addict]

Silly me! I almost forget to mention the new recording of Martinu's string quartets 2, 3, 5 and 7 played by the Pavel Haas Quartet on Supraphon.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Mine. Many of them were based on other members' posts. I appreciate their information and knowledge.

[Roy Bland]

It's the second consecutive year but it's becoming more and more positive

from this non complete listing hoping for more
Orchestral

Suite for Strings (c 1930)
Five Orchestral Pieces (c 1930)
Symphony No 1, for strings (1931)
Prague, suite (1932)
Symphony No 2 (1935)
Symphony No 3 (1936)
Symphony No 4 (1938)
Symphony No 5 (Sinfonietta No 1) (1940)
Two Bohemian Dances (1942)
Six Indian Miniatures (1943)
Phantasmagoria (1946)
Dirge (1947)
Variations for strings (1947)
Fleet Street overture (1948)
Faces in the Dark (1948)
Madras Express (1948) (fp Boston Pops, June 23, 1948)
Strange Town at Night (1948)
Divertimento for strings (1949)
Chivaree Overture (1950)
Main Street for strings (1950)
Suwannee River Variations (1952)
Vaudeville Overture (1952)
Short Suite for small orchestra (1953)
Nocturne (1953)
Pembina Highway (1953)
Four Skies (1953)
Three Dances to an Indian Play (1956)
Four Essays for small orchestra (1956)
Symphony No 6 (1956)
Sinfonietta No. 2 (1959)
Festival Overture (1968)

Concertante
Piano Concerto No 1 (1934)
Violin Concerto No 1 (1943)
Violin Concerto No 2 (1944)
Navaratnam, suite for piano and chamber orchestra (1945)
Concertino for piano and strings (1947)
Andhera for piano and orchestra (1942–49)
Piano Concerto No 2 (1949) (based on earlier Concertino)
Cello Concerto (1950)
 Arabesques for two pianos and orchestra (1952)
Timpani Concerto (1963)
Concertino for violin and orchestra (1977)
https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/resistance-and-exile/walter-kaufmann/
His wife was niece of Kafka!!!

[Daverz]

It's the second consecutive year but it's becoming more and more positive

from this non complete listing hoping for more

I thought this was just as good as last years CPO disc.  Thanks for the works list.

[Roy Bland]

I thought this was just as good as last years CPO disc.  Thanks for the works list.

I wrote both JPC and CPO on further release sadly no answer yet

https://rcmusic-kentico-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/rcm/media/main/documents/reviving-walter.pdf
Best