Day 1: Alex Paxton – Delicious (New Amsterdam Records)
Delicious is a joyous and satiating sonic experience from start to finish, set within a utopian ambient landscape, orchestrated like a symphony and decorated with a.s.m.r. inflections.
“wild and wacky to a new level... invigorating... classical, jazz, pop, baroque, minimalist, maximalist, acoustic, electronic - are stirred together and served up in 13 delicious dollops... impossible to listen with a straight face...” — Geoff Brown, The Times
Listen to the full album here: https://open.spotify.com/album/2n80CvJHe56YZROVgF16yC?si=b0i5heH0QtCiaA24KkpBvQ
Day 2: Nicholas McGegan & Cantata Collective – J.S. Bach: Easter Oratorio & Magnificat (Avie)
San Francisco-based Cantata Collective continues its exploration of J S Bach's major choral masterworks with a third in the ongoing series, pairing the composer's Easter Oratorio and Magnificat.
Released in time for Holy Week, both works are lavishly scored and feature some of Bach's most festive and popular vocal writing. With celebrated baroque music specialist Nicholas McGegan on the podium, and a roll call of today's fnest early music vocal soloists, this release is poised to build on the auspicious previous releases - a "bold and beautifully constructed" St. John Passion (BBC Radio 3 Record Review), and "an exemplary performance" of the Mass in B Minor (American Record Guide).
“McGegan’s conducting is knowledgeable and assured…” — James A. Altena, Fanfare
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/1ULvH4YAcae7huEkmGLtSP
Day 3: Anthony Romaniuk & Nicola Boud – Brahms: Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 120 No. 2
This recording brings together two late masterworks by Brahms: the Op. 120 Clarinet Sonatas and the Op. 117 Intermezzi for piano, written in the tranquil setting of Bad Ischl.
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/5SKPqoH6nYGAHrGpwAnH0F?si=lPNT12C6Sn-SECokK8dGww
Day 4: Peter Harvey – Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem (J.S. Bach Stiftung St. Gallen)
Recording of BWV 27 and Brahms' Requiem with Rudolf Lutz and the Bach Stiftung St. Gallen live from Kirche St. Johann, Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Listen here “Siehe, ich sage euch ein Geheimnis”: https://youtu.be/cJAskpMeTFQ?si=VAK3NdY6hkKNho6Z
Day 5: Clare Hammond – British Piano Concertos (BIS)
Clare's album of piano concertos by Walton, Britten and Tippett with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and George Vass has been praised in The Times for its "crisp artistry" while Gramophone described her "exquisitely variegated tonal palette, deft touch and quiet authority" as "truly things of wonder".
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/0aYEtdBkHrY8DsI4q0cnU9?si=YtByw6wwSkawJYAUYUf53w
Day 6: Francesca Chiejina – Elgar: The Kingdom (Signum Records)
Elgar’s grand choral masterpiece finds new life in this powerful recording under David Temple, featuring the Crouch End Festival Chorus, London Mozart Players, and a stellar cast of soloists including Francesca Chiejina and Dame Sarah Connolly. Recorded in the restored Victorian Theatre at Alexandra Palace, the performance combines dramatic sweep with deep expressive tenderness.
''Francesca Chiejina shines in the Virgin Mary's glorious set piece "The sun goeth down" - and my goodness, what thrillingly refulgent top notes at the words "The Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole wold." — Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHsfpgKOBbk
Day 7: Amjad Ali Khan, Ayaan Ali Bangash & Amaan Ali Bangash – Meditations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Music performed by Amjad Ali Khan and sons with spoken reflections by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Amjad Ali Khan said: "Our album ‘Meditation: Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’ is a project close to our hearts. It brings together the spoken wisdom of His Holiness with original music that invites reflection, stillness, and compassion. Throughout our lives, we have been inspired by his teachings and this collaboration allowed us to create something that carries his message of peace and hope in a new way."
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/53ieadYxDz93hOY3heQFbT?si=NNNgxv7kTO6ZwzHe3Xc-lg
Day 8: Helen Charlston (with Sounds Baroque) – If the Fates Allow (BIS)
Helen Charlston’s debut solo album for BIS is a beautifully curated programme of Purcell and contemporaries, exploring songs that wrestle with questions of fate, reason, and the human heart. Charlston’s expressive storytelling and the ensemble’s sensitive support make this a compelling journey into 17th-century song.
“Charlston’s mezzo is a quality instrument… absolute purity and precision allied to a sober beauty of tone.” — Alexandra Coghlan, Gramophone
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/1ej27S5bQukQPnYG3hPiGI?si=3OnLV3ACRZSZa_aRF00sKw
Day 9: Mahan Esfahani – The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (Hyperion)
Mahan Esfahani brings his distinctive combination of scholarship and brilliance to one of the most iconic works in Western music. His interpretation of Book 1 of the Well-Tempered Clavier is thoughtful, imaginative, and full of finely sculpted detail, reflecting his deep engagement with Bach’s compositional world.
Listen here: https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68451/2
Day 10: Xavier Sabata, Alicia Amo, Tiento Nuovo, Ignacio Prego – Napoli inedita (Aparté)
This vibrant recording revives rarely heard Neapolitan arias by Sarri, Vinci and Vignola, performed with flair by Xavier Sabata, Alicia Amo and Tiento Nuovo under Ignacio Prego. The album offers a rich glimpse into the expressive and virtuosic world of early 18th-century Naples.
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/1qGHtBaYNd1H6Rpz6lQ3VF?si=3nF1nL34THmS56dWcFxKDQ
Day 11: The Gesualdo Six – Radiant Dawn (Hyperion)
Exploring the interplay of light and dark, Radiant Dawn moves from shimmering dawn to moonlit stillness through a beautifully curated programme of vocal and instrumental works. With trumpet and voices weaving together across centuries, The Gesualdo Six offer a meditative, atmospheric musical journey.
“A mesmerising journey from dawn to dusk… ingenious and moving… The Gesualdo Six do not let us down.” — BBC Music Magazine
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/5GCBO8zMJDWHVF7euwyERv?si=RIiGXsc2S-62mIqUHX-2XQ
Day 12: Alberto Miguélez Rouco & Los Elementos – José de Torres: Misa de Difuntos para Luis I (Château de Versailles Spectacles)
Alberto Miguélez Rouco and Los Elementos bring to life José de Torres’s 1725 funeral mass for the young Spanish King Luis I, paired with Corselli’s monumental Dies Irae. This recording vividly evokes the splendour of the Real Capilla de Madrid within the resonance of Versailles’ Royal Chapel.
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album/73UB3XjQdrqMS3uoBPdpEV?si=0A4RskysQRmviNY5pCpmxw
Day 13: Ruby Hughes – Errollyn Wallen: Orchestral Works
Ruby Hughes joins the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor John Andrews for this wide-ranging portrait of Errollyn Wallen’s orchestral writing. The album traverses over two decades of Wallen’s music, revealing its emotional depth, rhythmic vitality and expressive power.
“Compellingly delivered by Ruby Hughes… chants of ‘shame!’ draw us into Ophelia’s inner world.” — The Guardian
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/track/25xeBM21DLYIj3xWDXjij9?si=b94c944243f14b24
Day 14: Zubin Kanga – Dance Suite (music by Alex Groves)
A reimagining of baroque dance forms for the 21st century, Dance Suite channels club-culture sonics into four vivid, rhythmically exhilarating tracks. Zubin Kanga’s virtuosic performance (using keyboard, laptop and ROLI Seaboard) creates an electrifying blend of acoustic and electronic sound worlds.
“Grimy, thorax-quaking bass… rhythmic prestidigitation… a virtuosic performance.” — Flora Wilson, The Guardian
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/track...
Day 15: Peter Harvey – BWV 138: Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz (Hänssler)
Part of the Internationale Bach Akademie's Vision-Bach project with conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann and the Gaechinger Cantorey
Listen here: https://youtu.be/41ctcnhabIw?si=bIKn4-f0cSiappWk
Day 16: Laurence Cummings – Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 2, 3 & 5 (Live)
Laurence Cummings leads the Academy of Ancient Music in a live performance of three of Bach’s most beloved concertos. His direction from the harpsichord lends immediacy and vitality.
“Cummings… delivered the first-movement cadenza as one imagines Bach himself might have done — with pauses for emphasis and subtle variation.” — The Times
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/track/6fiz1vwTNMMVQWj9hMBbLJ?si=4f8b910d863240da
Day 17: Daniel Kidane – Titan (London Symphony Orchestra, Jack Sheen)
Daniel Kidane’s Titan receives its world-premiere recording in this release. The work displays Kidane’s vivid sonic imagination and rhythmic dynamism, brought to life with clarity and energy by Jack Sheen and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album...
Day 18: David Hill – Weir: In the Land of Uz & Beach: The Canticle of the Sun
David Hill leads Yale Schola Cantorum in a deeply considered and authoritative recording of Judith Weir’s In the Land of Uz and Amy Beach’s radiant Canticle of the Sun. Both works are presented with clarity, conviction and a strong sense of narrative.
“Textural sparseness… beautifully rendered by Yale Schola Cantorum under David Hill.” — Gramophone
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/track/7gsR9QhVTvLlhZZZWiXbmd?si=7512cad4bbc84c72
Day 19: Nick Pritchard – Little Wanderer (Signum Records)
Little Wanderer takes its title from William Blake and brings together songs by Benjamin Britten, Imogen Holst and Daniel Kidane, exploring a range of imagined and emotional landscapes. Tenor Nick Pritchard and pianist Ian Tindale perform Britten’s folk song arrangements and Winter Words, alongside songs by Imogen Holst and the first recording of Daniel Kidane’s Songs of Illumination, commissioned by Leeds Lieder in 2018. English song has been central to their collaboration for over a decade.
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/album...
Day 20: Christian Curnyn – Maurice Greene: Jephtha
Christian Curnyn and ensemble revive Maurice Greene’s Jephtha, a landmark 1737 English oratorio brimming with expressive arias, dramatic recitatives and spirited choruses. This recording sheds new light on a pivotal but underperformed work.
“Clean and spirited performances… a work well worth getting to know.” — The Times
Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/track/5HOSwmJFTpIM2gGKqS3SN4?si=bd9bfe104cbb4096
