The French mezzo-soprano Héloïse Mas, laureate of the latest Queen Elisabeth Competition for singing in 2018 is accompanied by a high-powered team comprising the London Handel Orchestra and Laurence Cummings – currently one of the most highly reputed conductors for this repertory – in a magnificent programme of Handel arias. The main thread of these "Anachronistic Hearts" is woman: woman betrayed, abandoned, abused, desired, her emotions passing from joy to doubt, then from sadness to rage, resulting in vengeance, even death. From the 18th century to the present day, powerful and mysterious women are always to be found at the heart of opera. However, their power was originally quite anachronistic: in a world ordered by men, the voices of women dominated the stage, often in male operatic roles, and provided proof for many critics that the world of opera was a world upside down. And the submission of women to men had been reversed not only on stage but also by their frequent responsibilities as stage directors and managers of opera houses. They thus provoked at the time a mix of admiration and moral panic concerning the impact of these "outlaws" on impressionable young women (and men). Amongst all the great composers of opera, Handel was without question one of the most convincing with regard to the dramatisation of these characters. From Poppea to Dejanira, from Alcina to Ariodante – not forgetting Lucretia broken by rape, these historic representations of women also enable them to be more readily projected into our contemporary epoch. And if one removes the original context (as was often the case in the 18th century), they open up inexhaustible horizons for forming a new framework, the emotional and visual dimensions of which are inspired by the music of Handel. The arias here are thus of absolute modernity, and the palette of feelings that Héloïse Mas brings to each of these characters make her first disc as soloist a feast for all listeners. © Muso

Recording Handel's operas can be tricky. Overly immaculate studio readings tend to rob the long chains of recitatives and arias of the immediacy they need to stay interesting; and live recordings tend to be messy, not to mention noisy. This Agrippina, by Jean-Claude Malgoire and La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, and starring Veronique Gens as the titular anti-heroine, certainly suffers from some "live-itis:" the orchestra isn't always sharp, orchestra and singers are occasionally out of phase, and there is plenty of audience and stage noise. But the quality of the musical performance is very high, the music never loses its sonic focus or clarity, and the energy of the live performance brings the drama to the foreground. Veronique Gens is a vocally arresting Agrippina, and the strength of her performance is a big reason for the success of this recording. Most importantly, she is as interesting in her many recitatives as she is in her arias, all of which are sung with style and smart ornamentation. Philippe Jaroussky, Ingrid Perruche, and Nigel Smith are also excellent. Malgoire keeps things moving at a furious pace, never allowing the drama to sag, and for the most part he illicits clean and stylish playing from the ensemble; the unavoidable warts that result from live performance shouldn't bother most listeners too much. The continuo playing is especially good, adding rhythmic depth and interest to the recitatives and the orchestral texture in general. © TiVo

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An absolute delight, the first full-length album from singer-songwriter supergroup boygenius truly plays to its members' individual and collective strengths. (Credits extend to Autolux's Carla Azar on drums and Jay Som's Melina Duterte on bass.) Each is allowed to shine equally, taking lead on their own songs—but also bring out surprising, shining qualities in the others. "True Blue" sounds like a track from one of Lucy Dacus' solo records, filled out with pure harmonies and grand, low-key drama. Dacus is brilliant at pinpointing fine, evocative details—bandmate Phoebe Bridgers says of her, "Lucy's a noticer"—and there's no shortage in this tale of real, messy friendship that thrills and bruises: "When you moved to Chicago/ You were spinning out … When you called me from the train/ Water freezing in your eyes/ You were happy and I wasn't surprised." Julien Baker's vibrant "$20," likewise, delivers her trademark nervous edge, but the trio take it to unexpected places: First, Bridgers and Dacus thread a gossamer string of ethereal sweetness through Baker's earthiness; later, the three sing over each other in a glorious round robin of conversation until Bridgers, desperate to get her message across, shreds her throat raw yelling out "Can you give me $20?!" They trade lines on "Not Strong Enough," playing around with Cure guitars (acknowledged in Baker's verse: "Drag racing through the canyon/ Singing 'Boys Don't Cry'") and interpolating Sheryl Crow ("Not strong enough to be your man/ I tried, I can't"). That one builds to an excellent '80s anthemic bridge, with the three chanting "Always an angel, never a god." "Cool About It" summons a Simon & Garfunkel-style folk melody and layers on 2023 cleverness with thoughts like, "I took your medication to know what it's like/ Now I have to act like I can't read your mind." "Satanist" delights in off-kilter and herky-jerky chords à la early Weezer, before sliding sideways into a woozy dreamscape. Even a tossed-off lark like "Without You Without Them"—with sweet, a capella Andrews Sisters harmonies—charms. Bridgers' "Emily I'm Sorry" is particularly moody and moving, while stoic "We're in Love" is a stark portrait of Dacus and a guitar for nearly eight tear-jerking minutes before the others float in for support. Perhaps the most revealing is "Leonard Cohen," so intimate you can hear fingers sliding on strings. It's a true story about the trio's friendship and a time Bridgers was so excited to play an Iron and Wine song for her bandmates that she lost track of her surroundings. "On the on-ramp you said/ 'If you love me you will listen to this song'/ And I could tell you were serious/ So I didn't tell you you were driving the wrong way on the interstate/ Until the song was done," Dacus sings, before showing off their grateful love for each other: "Never thought you'd happen to me." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz 

Antonio Vivaldi's Le Quattro Stagioni is one of the most beloved works in Baroque music, and even the most casual listener can recognize certain passages of Spring or Winter from frequent use in television commercials and films. Yet if these concertos have grown a little too familiar to experienced classical fans, Max Richter has disassembled them and fashioned a new composition from the deconstructed pieces. Using post-minimalist procedures to extract fertile fragments and reshape the materials into new music, Richter has created an album that speaks to a generation familiar with remixes, sampling, and sound collages, though his method transcends the manipulation of prerecorded music. Richter has actually rescored the Four Seasons and given the movements of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter thorough makeovers that vary substantially from the originals. The new material is suggestive of a dream state, where drifting phrases and recombined textures blur into walls of sound, only to re-emerge with stark clarity and poignant immediacy. Violinist Daniel Hope is the brilliant soloist in these freshly elaborated pieces, and the Konzerthaus Kammerorchester Berlin is conducted with control and assurance by André de Ridder, so Richter's carefully calculated effects are handled with precision and subtlety. Deutsche Grammophon's stellar reproduction captures the music with great depth, breadth, and spaciousness, so everything Richter and de Ridder intended to be heard comes across.© Blair Sanderson /TiVo

Max Richter's 2012 Recomposed album was an enormous success, topping charts in many countries (not just the usual classical-oriented ones) and making its way onto numerous soundtracks, including that for the television series Bridgerton. For those rare souls who haven't encountered it, it was a sort of contemporary remake of Vivaldi's Four Seasons violin concertos, using the originals as thematic source material to a greater or lesser degree and subjecting them to electronic treatment. It has become almost as ubiquitous as the concertos on which it was based. Now, Richter has remade Recomposed, even recomposing it a bit; the new album is just under four minutes shorter than its predecessor. He also recruits London's ethnically diverse Chineke! Orchestra, gives them gut-stringed period instruments on which to play (the players were using these for the first time, and this works quite a bit better than you might expect), and collaborates with a new violinist, the wirier Elena Urioste in place of Daniel Hope, and also uses "period" electronics, playing a vintage Moog synthesizer himself. Deutsche Grammophon's notes reassure classical listeners that they may not recognize the difference between the Moog and the earlier contemporary electronics, and perhaps this is a problem as well for the many young electronic music fans who have come to Richter, but for anyone around in the 1970s, Richter's bass lines and sonic washes will be quite recognizable. Is Richter simply trying to milk his original concept? Maybe, but in a sense, this was and remains the point. Richter has written that he wanted to use period instruments on the original Recomposed recording but couldn't interest recording companies in the idea. They add a fresh wrinkle to the sound, and the whole new project is an intriguing attempt to see what remains of Vivaldi in an era when music evolves through remixes and through sampling of earlier material rather than being fixed and discrete. There is even a "Levitation Mix" of the "Spring 1" movement, as if to say that the process will continue beyond its latest iteration. It's safe to say that this release has something to offer even to those who know the original Recomposed album well, or for that matter, who know the original Four Seasons well.© James Manheim /TiVo

In 2017, Sampha lit up the world with his debut solo album Process, which delved into the grief of losing his parents and unveiled an incredibly sensitive side to his music. Since then, the London-based artist has embarked on numerous collaborations with heavyweights like Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Solange, Kanye West, and FKA Twigs. The impact of this period on Sampha’s work is clear – perhaps none more so than in his second album Lahai, inspired by the birth of his daughter in 2020.Crafted with delicacy and a quiet strength, Lahai certainly stands out as a musical highlight of 2023. The album presents a succession of exquisitely mastered ideas, whether it's the oddly energetic "Suspended," a tale of Sampha’s state of bliss, "What If You Hypnotise Me?" featuring a haunting piano performance by Léa Sen, or the single "Only," which clearly bears the influence of modern soul. Sampha continues to explore intimacy supported by impeccably crafted production, and undoubtedly, he delivers his best project to date. © Brice Miclet/Qobuz

Although it hasn't been publicized as much as it should, the turn of conductor John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London toward concert repertory, as opposed to film music and crossover sounds, is one of the most welcome developments on the recording scene over the last decade. There could hardly be a better example than this recording of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé in its complete version. Ravel buffs will be interested in this 2023 release because Wilson, during COVID-19 lockdowns, made a fresh edition of the work, basing it on original rehearsal markings. For general listeners, there is likely to be a sensation that something is different but that it is hard to pin down. It is not even enough to distract from the performance itself, which is superb. Daphnis et Chloé has been proposed as an instrumental counterpart to the piano work Gaspard de la nuit in terms of sheer technical difficulty. The textures are almost impossibly subtle. To gauge the depth of Wilson's accomplishment, sample the "Danse légère et gracieuse de Daphnis" from the first part, with its incredible wind filigree at the beginning. Wilson's control over the Sinfonia of London Chorus, here and elsewhere, is extraordinary; it seems to enter imperceptibly as a quiet wash but then to have been a critical part of the texture all along. This album made classical best-seller lists in the autumn of 2023, and it was being heard by far more people than simply Ravel enthusiasts.© James Manheim /TiVo

After the double album of the Violin and Harpsichord Sonatas with Kristian Bezuidenhout, here is the next instalment in a Bach recording adventure that began nine years ago with a set of the Sonatas and Partitas. Isabelle Faust, Bernhard Forck and his partners at the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin have explored a multitude of other works by Bach: harpsichord concertos, trio sonatas for organ, instrumental movements from sacred cantatas etc. All are revealed here as direct or indirect relatives of the three monumental Concertos BWV 1041-43. This fascinating achievement is a timely reminder that the master of The Well-Tempered Clavier was also a virtuoso violinist! © harmonia mundi

Several factors converged to put this release on classical best-seller charts in the autumn of 2023. One was the arrangements by Thomas Oehler of Bach's keyboard partitas, which seem tailor-made for Britain's Classic FM network. The idea of arranging keyboard works for orchestra would have seemed familiar enough to Bach, but these are not historically oriented performances but works but pieces "re-imagined for small orchestra." Much of the load is carried by the winds, with the strings entering a bit sentimentally to smooth out edges, and the concept is quite easy on the ears. The instrumental configuration of each partita movement is nicely chosen to match the movement's character. The program concludes with a new work by Oehler himself, and it is recognizably from the same pen as the Bach arrangements. Another factor in the album's success may have been the presence of the nearly octogenarian Trevor Pinnock as conductor, still associated with novel projects and still having the ability to shape an ensemble into a precise unit. Perhaps the biggest contributor is the Royal Academy of Music Soloists Ensemble (with an assist from students of the Glenn Gould School). These are student musicians, and the freshness they bring may be indefinable, but it is there. To boot, Linn contributes bright, appealing sound recorded at the Snape Maltings Concert Hall. Ideally suited to enliven one's drive home, this is a standout among popular Bach recordings. © James Manheim /TiVo

Conductor Paavo Järvi, just a few years into his tenure with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, says that he undertook this set of Mendelssohn symphonies (plus the incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, which one wouldn't learn from the graphics) because he thought Mendelssohn was underappreciated. Of course, none of the music here is obscure, but Järvi has a point; a complete set of the symphonies, with a fully thought-through fresh approach, is not so common. The tendency these days is to play Mendelssohn with influences from the historical performance movement (or even actually with historical instruments), and Järvi's interpretations show those influences in their quick tempos and emphasis on transparency. However, the difference from other recent readings is that Järvi does it with a substantial orchestra of 70 players, giving the music the heft that a serious work like the Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 52 ("Lobgesang") requires. It is quite a feat on the conductor's part to keep the lightness at this size, but Järvi manages it, and pieces like the well-worn Saltarello finale of the Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 ("Italian"), positively sparkle. Järvi's tempos are fast, possibly too fast to catch the growing ambition in the Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11, but the set can be heard from start to finish without the slightest hint of dragging. Everything except the "Lobgesang" was recorded not at the Zürich Tonhalle but at the rather cavernous Tonhalle Maag, which was probably not for the best, yet this is an impressive Mendelssohn set by any standard, and it made classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2024.© James Manheim /TiVo

Several recordings have explored the relationship between Mozart and the city of Mannheim, which he visited several times. This Deutsche Grammophon release by the Freiburger Barockorchester and conductor/violinist Gottfried von der Golz may be the best of them. The annotations refer to how Mozart basked in the high regard in which he was held in Mannheim and to how impressed he was with the famed court orchestra there. However, after hearing this release, the listener may be tempted to go even further and assert that the music of Mannheim exerted a strong influence on Mozart in the late 1770s. The entire first half of the program here consists of world premieres, and all of them sound Mozartian. Why? Most of them point toward the big-boned movement structures Mozart loved, even if they don't expand them as far as Mozart would later in his career. Consider the first movement of Christian Cannabich's Symphony No. 55 in C major, with its long passages that move only slowly off the home key; one can hear any number of Mozart movements as proceeding from this idea, and one also wants to hear some more of the numerous and almost completely unplayed symphonies of Cannabich. Even less known are the Mannheim composers Georg Joseph Vogler, Christian Danner, and Carl Joseph Toeschi, and their contributions are eminently listenable. Mozart wraps the program up with a recitative and aria and the unnumbered Symphony in C major, K. 208, assembled by the composer from other music; it absolutely fits in here. The performances are idiomatic, and the sound is excellent. A valuable contribution from von der Goltz and company that landed on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023.© James Manheim /TiVo