Classical albums of the year: The Leopold String Trio | Jan Lisiecki | ICA Classics | Great Singers Live

Alexander Bryce reviews the best of this year’s classical music releases.
By ALEXANDER BRYCE
Published 23rd Dec 2012, 00:00 BST

The Leopold String Trio

Goldberg Variations

Hyperion

Recordings of well-known music appear regularly among new CDs, so it was no surprise that albums by J S Bach came thick and fast this year. The Leopold String Trio’s recording highlighted just how many of Bach’s works were composed for performance by talented amateurs as much as professionals. The pleasure gained and given wasn’t entirely classless, however: harpsichords weren’t instruments that everyone could afford so music like this essentially served the well-to-do.

Jan Lisiecki

Mozart’s Piano Concertos 20 and 21

DG 479 0061

The Canadian pianist played Mozart’s piano concertos with obvious assurance and skill, despite his youth. Signed up by the Deutsche Grammophon label as a recording artist at the age of 15, Lisiecki only graduated from music school last year, and is obviously a pianist to watch out for.

ICA Classics

Sir Adrian Boult conducts Brahms and Elgar

ICAC 5063

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It was radio that provided mass access to classical music. Record label ICA specialises in “archive” concert broadcasts, and three of its recordings scored top marks this year, two featuring the grim-faced German conductor Otto Klemperer in masterly and authoritative mood. Sir Adrian Boult’s 1970s BBC Proms performances of Brahms’ Third and Elgar’s First Symphonies topped Klemperer, however, with conducting as fresh and invigorating as any more recent recording.

Great Singers Live

Lucia Popp

BR Klassik 900306

More live German broadcasts featuring the Slovakian soprano Lucia Popp and demonstrating both the beauty of her voice and quality of her technique. Recorded at the height of her international career.

Kathleen Ferrier

Centenary Edition

Decca 478 3589

The career of Kathleen Ferrier, the centenary of whose birth was celebrated this year, ended far too early. Decca issued a digitally remastered 14-CD box set of every recording she made for them, together with a bonus DVD film. This was a hugely enjoyable commemoration, fresh-sounding and vibrant, and my recording highlight of 2012.