Five Classical Music Albums to Listen in April 2025

Bach: B Minor Mass

Julie Rosette, soprano; Beth Taylor, mezzo soprano. Lucille Richardo, Alto; Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Tenor. Christian Imler, bass. Pygmalion; Raphael Pichon, conductor (Harmonia Mundi)

Rafael Pichon and his Pygmalion chorus and orchestra musicians have made some really great recordings over the past few years, from Monteverdi's “Vesper” to Mozart's “Requiem.” But this Bach is truly exceptional. It is not an act of certainty and immoral belief at all, but a monument like the ones that other conductors have created at this Mass. It is human drama, full of the struggles and complexities of our human experience. Above all, it sounds alive.

Blessed with performances and songs of extraordinary virtuosos, Picon appears determined to find the final accent of the expressiveness of the score, and decides to shape the smallest details in his wider service of ideas. It is difficult to not be wiped out by the pure vitality of “Cum St. Spirit,” played as if the gust of the Holy Spirit is cleaning up the past or the imposing grandeur of “et Surrexit.”

Pichon is the most breathtaking interventionist in his first “ed expecto resurrectionem.” He is the moment when Bach invites us into the darkest frailty of his faith. Still, this is Bach, “Donna Nobis Pace,” which, although uncertain at first, grants a new dawn that burns brilliant light. If this is Bach in our time, we are lucky to have it. David Allen

There is a lot to track down the “reverse” string quartet known as the owl. Repertoire repositioning is required, using two cellos instead of two violins. It's a game where you play Baroque and modern materials. One of the cellists, Paul Wianco, also composed the group. Perhaps the most notable thing about the owl is the obvious joy that Wianco, his fellow cellist Gabriel Cabeza, violinist Alexi Kenny and violist Ayane Kozasa find when they play together.

The album's opening number, Wiancko's “When the Night” (a homage to the first three notes of Ben E. King's “Stand by Me.”). After a melancholic intro, the two-minute interlock melodic portion receives loving, precisely etched attention. You will then hear the group's views on the recurror composed by Folk Duo Troll Stilt. A passionate dance by Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh. A gorgeous bite of couperine. And then another Wiancco mixing original.

The closing piece is an arrangement of the group for the finale from Terry Riley's two-hour string quartet, “Salome Dances for Peace.” I left the “unusual bird” in the hopes of the owl committing to an all-lee-lee disc. And it's all a Cooperlin set. Plus, some Wiancko originals. Whatever comes next may take time. For one thing, Wiancko is a new member of the substantially improved Kronos Quartet. However, this kind of audible chemistry means that owl members will once again cooperate. Seth Colter's Wall

Beethoven: Complete String Quartet Vol. 1

Ariel Quartet (Orange Classic)

A good string quartet, despite the words, sounds like a single instrument. At this lively first volume moment of full Beethoven's string quartet viewing, players in the Ariel Quartet meet like a living creature with a single central nervous system that conveys emotional impulses to every part of the body.

In this first set of six quartets released in 1801, Mozartian's freshness mixes with the proper no-doubt, so it is often the middle voice that acts as an engine of confusion. With a needling staccato, crisp articulation and breathtaking tempo, Ariel players bring out the excitability of Beethoven's fast movements. Even slow movements like the heartbreaking Adagio in Quartet No. 1, the longing lyrical is tempered by a restless pulse that moves forward mercilessly. The result is an exhilarating introduction to the classics of a repertoire that restores the lightness and unpredictability of works written by composers who just revolutionised the genre of string quartets. Corinna Da Fonseca-Wollheim

Thomas Ades: Orchestra Suites

London Philharmonic Orchestra. Thomas Ades, Conductor (LPO)

In this world, the composer's moving theatricality and luxurious orchestration pop out of the speakers at the premiere of the suite from Thomas Ades's stage production. Without singers, dancers, or sets, his intentions remain fundamentally clear.

The “Gorgeous Suite” of “Powder Her Face” expands the orchestra army of the original interior opera. Ades sumptuously dials the sleazy and slinky charm of work. His second opera, Shakespeare's adaptation of “The Tempest,” creates a completely different and fascinating world. In the corresponding suite, the eccentric and faint charm of Sprite Ariel is the rustic magical work of Ferdinand and Miranda's newly burning romance.

Adès' musical language is not only recognizable, but also original. He unfolds the familiar sound – the saxophone depicts the magical atmosphere of an unappealing tango or Glockenspiel, harp, and woodwind. The charming mercury keeps the music moving from one penetrated moment to the next.

His way of sound picture encourages the “Inferno Suite” of his ballet “Dante.” The shift meter conveys a creepy, fateful journey beyond Acheron. For Satan, trapped in an ice lake, the slow winds and strings of movement create a chilly, ridiculous state, with the brass moaning deeply and deep into the gut of hell.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ades himself, is surprisingly fluent, conducting even his idioms. In particular, in “Inferno Suite,” the ensemble sketches distinctive scenes of delicate pity, light ock laughs, withered dam losses, matching the versatility of the composition they bring. sama zahr

Brahms: Piano Quartet Nos. 2 & 3

Krishtian Zimmerman, piano; Maria Novac, violin. Catalgina Budnik, Viola. Okamoto Yui, cello (German Gramophone)

All new albums by Krystian Zimerman feel like an event. That's especially true, although he plays surprisingly well, it's rarely a record. Here, in what appears to be the first recording of his Brahms's chamber work, he tackles two lesser known piano quartets of composers in the company of three string instrumentalists who have a trusting relationship that he cannot hear from the start, with these careful, often burning performances.

Like many of Brahms' chamber music, the piano quartet is a symphony work in which the classicist approach to forming fulfills the romantic enthusiasm of the drama. This conflict drives music development and creates friction that creates many hurdles for performers. The latter is all supported here. The four musicians maintain harsh pacing and balance, even in moments when music appears to be driven by pure rage.

Zimerman produces deep, sparkling sounds without overwhelming their colleagues. The slow movements are filled with unsensual aristocracy, and what Celloist Okamoto Yuya plays in his third quartet Andante is the essence of dignified lyricalism. Given the heat they work in the closure movement of each piece, I wonder what can be done in the more famous G-Minor quartet's “Gypsyrond” finale. They should work on the following: David Weininger