Barry Forshaw

ROXANNA PANUFNIK: LOVE SONGS & LULLABIES, Matthew Barley, cello, Mary Bevan, soprano et al/Signum Classics

Forthcoming in September is a beguiling collection of Roxanna Panufnik’s works and arrangements, synthesising a wide variety of musical traditions with contemporary influences, and showcasing a talented selection of musicians including cellist Matthew Barley and soprano Mary Bevan. Panufnik, daughter of a famous composer father, is one of the UK’s most well-regarded contemporary composers. Her work demonstrates a reluctance to be categorised, and she was recently the recipient of a well-deserved OBE. One of her most fruitful collaborations has been with the musicologist and writer Jessica Duchen (whose recent biography of the pianist Myra Hess was published to great acclaim), and it is Duchen who provides the words for one of the most seductive entries on this set, ‘When I Wake Up’, which is an extract from the opera Duchen that Duchen and Panufnik composed together, ‘Dalia’, about a Syrian refugee girl finding her feet in Anew locale. For listeners new to the music of the composer, this is perhaps the perfect introduction.

SCENES FROM FINLAND: PALMGREN, ENGLUND, TUUKANEN, SIBELIUS, Oulu Sinfonia, Rumon Gamba/Chandos

Mention the words ‘Finnish music’ to many listeners, and the composer’s name that will immediately spring to mind is, of course, Jean Sibelius. The latter is inevitably represented on this beautifully played set, but the revelation for many will be the unfamiliar names whose music is showcased here: Palmgren, Englund and Tuukanen, all of whom prove to be well worth the attention of discerning listeners. It’s a moot question as to whether or not there is a specific national identity discernible in serious music from Finland, but the musical rewards here are many, and this disc once again proves that Chandos is a label more than prepared to strike out into unfamiliar territory with splendid results. The Oulu Sinfonia under Rumon Gamba are on top form.

AMERICAN TUNES #1: PREVIN: VIOLIN CONCERTO 2, etc./Alpha Classics

Anne-Sophie Mutter has released American Tunes #1, the second album in her ASM Forte Forward series on Alpha Classics. This is a really winning collection of contemporary American music, most notable for the violinist’s dedication to the music of her ex-partner Andre Previn, whose own serious music has only fitfully achieved the attention it deserved. This excellent (if not notably accessible) album – with Anne-Sophie Mutter displaying her customary peerless technique – may go some way to remedying that situation. The album’s release aligns with her upcoming 50th-anniversary concerts at the 2026 Lucerne Festival, marking exactly half a century since her international debut as a 13-year-old prodigy on August 23, 1976. The disc contains Previn: Concerto No. 2 for Violin and String Orchestra with Two Harpsichord Interludes, Sebastian Currier’s Ringtone Variations for Violin and Double Bass, and Previn’s Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano.

BRITISH MUSIC FOR STRINGS, Sudwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, Douglas Bostock/CPO

This writer is part of a coterie who has long followed the music of Imogen Holst, daughter of the celebrated composer of The Planets. Her neglect over the years is perhaps unsurprising; she did, of course, spend much of her time as part of the Benjamin Britten coterie, providing invaluable musical input for that composer. But her own miniatures –rather different from her father’s sprawling canvases – is truly beguiling, as her short piece here, The Unfortunate Traveller, proves. There are other excellent composers in the mix here, including Gordon Jacob, Eugene Goosens and a female composer who is gleaning more attention lately, Dorothy Howells. None of these pieces are groundbreaking or strikingly unusual, but this is extremely civilised music played with great sympathy by the Sudwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim under Douglas Bostock.

SIBELIUS, GOLDMARK: WORKS FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA, Sueye Pulk violin RSO, Valentin Egle/BIS SACD

The Sibelius violin concerto has been particularly lucky over the years with many distinguished recordings on disc. This new take by Sueye Pulk and the RSO under Valentin Egle deserves to be place in the upper echelons, with immense sensitivity displayed towards the composer’s distinctive and unusual orchestration The Goldmark concerto, #2 is extremely well played, though the piece remains marginal. Nevertheless, it makes a good makeweight for this impressive disc, recorded in in the customary BIS wide-ranging surround sound canvas.

Barry Forshaw

RACHMANINOV: SYMPHONIC DANCES, PLETNEV: RACHMANIANA, International Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev/EuroArts

Along with a very persuasive reading of Rachmaninov’s final masterpiece, the glorious Symphonic Dances, there is a particularly tempting piece on this disc for admirers of the composer in the fill up: the world premiere recording of Pletnev’s Rachmaniana: an eight-movement Suite which is essentially transcriptions of Rachmaninov in sumptuous new orchestral dress by the conductor. The piece was first performed in January 2026 in Hamburg and will be particularly attractive to those who feel they already have everything by Rachmaninov on their shelves.

RICHARD STRAUSS: INTERMEZZO, soloists, Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Sir Donald Runnicles/Naxos

While Strauss’s opera Intermezzo has long had its admirers, it has never acquired the popularity of the composer’s operas Der Rosenkavalier and Arabella. That being said, it’s unlikely that the piece will enjoy elsewhere as persuasive an advocacy as it receives here by the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin under the sympathetic conducting of Donald Runnicles. Of course, a piece such as this stands or falls on the contributions of its principal singers and as the avatars of Strauss himself and his wife Pauline, Philipp Jekal and the luminous Maria Bengsston could not be bettered.

MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO. 5, Grand Teton Festival Orchestra, Sir Donald Runnicles/Reference Recordings

Still with Sir Donald Runnicles, Reference Recordings – always to be counted upon for the dynamic surround sound picture on their discs – here provide a truly authoritative reading of Mahler’s great fifth Symphony, a work that has always been fortunate on disc, and is here couched in typically impressive Reference sound.

NIELSEN: THE ULTIMATE SOLO PIANO COLLECTION, Rikke Sandberg/OUR Recordings

In the various classical lists, there has been the occasional disc of selections of Nielsen’s piano music, but that side of the composer’s talent remains relatively elusive. Not anymore: this triple album gives us the for the first time the complete solo piano works of Denmark’s national composer and, what’s more, in performances of great authority. This is music that will never be as popular as such calling card Nielsen pieces as the Fifth Symphony, but makes a solid bid for the attention of the composer’s aficionados.

COPLAND: SYMPHONY NO. 3, WALKER: SINFONIA NO. 5/London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano/LSO Live

Those lucky enough to have heard the recent performances at London’s Barbican of Copland’s Symphony No. 3 by the London Symphony Orchestra under Antonio Pappano (and I’m lucky enough to be in their number) will not be surprised to hear that this is quite one of the most powerful and dramatic performances this great piece of Americana has ever received with the final appearance of the Fanfare for the Common Man acting as the perfect final apotheosis. Walker’s Sinfonia No. 5 rounds off a very tempting program in impressive surround sound.

BARBER: VANESSA, soloists National Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda/NSO

While never likely to attain the popularity of the composer’s orchestral works, Barbers neglected opera Vanessa is worthy of the occasional performance – and, certainly, it receives a solid reading here. Barber aficionados will be more than prepared to grant the piece the repeated hearings it requires to reveal its hidden appeal, but there is no denying that the composer’s Antony and Cleopatra was not his only considerable achievement in the operatic field. It’s hard to imagine a better summer performance than it is granted here.

ODD SYMPATHIES, Matthew Schellhorn piano/First Hand Records

For over two decades, Mathhew Schellhorn has championed the creativity of living composers through commissions and premières, with the aim of bringing new music to a wider audience. This album draws together a selection of eclectic and captivating piano works, united through shared interpretative concerns and deep artistic connections developed through close collaboration with composers. The programme is conceived as a coherent artistic statement rather than a survey, focusing on repertoire that resists straightforward categorisation and invites the performer to negotiate questions of clarity, responsibility, and expressive ambiguity.

TIPPETT: PIANO CONCERTO, BRITTEN: DIVERSIONS, WALTON: SINFONIA CONCERTANTE

Clare Hammond, BBC Symphony Orchestra, George Vass/BIS

Few would argue with the fact that one of the most ambitious recording programmes of any CD company is that of the ever-enterprising BIS label, and this new issue is a very welcome reminder of the company’s reach. In the expert hands of pianist Clare Hammond, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor George Vass, we are given an all-British programme which – while essentially sharing the same musical language – nevertheless demonstrates the considerable range of music from the British Isles. The Britten and Walton pieces are dispatched with both musicality and verve, and something of a rescue job is performed on Tippett’s Piano Concerto which has been somewhat neglected in recent years. Hammond and Vass demonstrate that it is absolutely in the exalted company of the other pieces here, and, of course, the usual impeccable BIS sound does full justice to all the music.

HOMELAND: GRIEG: PIANO CONCERTO, FALLA: NIGHTS IN THE GARDENS OF SPAIN

Judith Jauregui, Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla Y Leon, Kaspar Zehnder/Eudora

Given that the corpus of orchestral work by Falla is relatively small, it is hardly surprising that his handful of masterpieces in the idiom have been recorded many times over the years. This SACD from Eudora, a label committed to recording in sumptuous surround sound, is a particularly enjoyable entry. And the disc also boasts a cherishable coupling, a strong performance of the Grieg piano concerto by Judith Jaureghui and the Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla Y Leon under Kaspar Zehnder. Those new to the Eudora label might wish to sample two other highly attractive discs, both distinguished by an effortless musicality: SANTIAGO DE MASARNAU PIANO WORKS by Claudia Dafne Sevilla & Josep Colon and CASTRATO ARIAS by Lucia Caihuela & La Madrilena under Jose Antonio Montano.

HOLST: THE PLANETS, BAX:TINTAGEL

London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Antonio Pappano/LSO Live

There are those who have argued that a moratorium should be placed on certain over-recorded pieces of music, but it’s an argument that is contradicted by issues such as this, a truly dynamic and nuanced reading of Holst’s masterpiece. And anyone doubting that assertion should sample just a few bars of the opening movement, Mars, which is among the most dramatic takes on the piece that it has ever received. And if that were not enough, there is as a bonus a truly impressive reading of Bax’s signature tone poem, Tintagel, with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano teasing out every delicious aspect of this calling card piece.

STEVE REICH: SEXTET/DOUBLE SEXTET/SIX MARIMBAS/DANCE PATTERNS

Colin Currie Group

This is an ambitious recording project setting down all of Steve Reich’s pieces in this format, delivered with maximum conviction and – perhaps counterintuitively – a large degree of affection.