Do not adjust your browser: this is not my annual ‘recordings of the year’ post, four months early. However, I feel that in my favourite area of classical music – song – there’s been an especially exciting run of releases during 2026: far too many to post about at length, or wait longer to do…
Category: CD review
Around the Globe with Stephen Hough
Sir Stephen Hough takes us on a world tour with his new album Postcards, a charming collection of piano miniatures, souvenirs, if you will, collected over his many years of touring and performing around the globe.
Diverse Voices in Min Kwon’s America/Beautiful
America/Beautiful, devised and performed by American-Korean pianist Min Kwon, is a five-volume collection comprising 76 new piano works by American composers inspired by the iconic patriotic song ‘America the Beautiful
Pianist Olga Chelova offers a unique interpretation of Chopin’s Études
‘In this recording, Chelova takes a strikingly personal and philosophical approach to these pieces: here, she seeks not just to perform, but to reinterpret the very meaning of the étude.’
24 Preludes for Piano by Nicholas Scott-Burt
Da-Hee Kim piano Premiere recording Listen to the opening measures of the sixth Prelude from Nicholas Scott-Burt’s 24 Preludes for Piano, and you might be forgiven for thinking this is actually by J S Bach, with its combination of rigour and elegance, counterpoint and Baroque flourishes. The ghost of Bach is also present in the…
De Profundis – Charles Owen, piano
Playing of poetry, intelligence and quiet authority in Charles Owen’s new release De Profundis
The Mist on the Moors – the piano music of Reginald Redman
British pianist Duncan Honeybourne continues in his quest to bring lesser-known and rarely performed British piano music to the fore with his latest release – a collection of pieces by Reginald Redman.
Thomas Luke: ‘See Me Now’ – a confident, imaginative debut
‘an impressive debut that leaves one wanting to hear more from this confident and imaginative musician’
Schubert’s Winterreise: Love, Loss, and Hans Zender’s Modern Twist
If anything, Zender’s Winterreise is even bleaker than Schubert’s with its strong Expressionist flavour and rich sonic associations with contemporary repertoire and instrumentation.
Retrospecstive 2025: Adrian Ainsworth’s albums of the year
Putting this list together seems to take me a little longer each January, but I firmly believe that – my ‘winning’ approach to organisation aside – it’s simply because I’m privileged to discover so much more great music every year. Without any further delay, then, here are the (20)25 releases I’m keen to bring to…
ARTMUSELONDON 