Ten Best Classical Albums of 2022 | Andrew Quint

Here with You features clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Gloria Chien in an exceptionally well-played and well-recorded program that includes the two autumnal Brahms Sonatas. Yarlung recorded Petteri Iivonen’s intense reading of Bach’s D Minor Partita in 2008—it’s now had a well-deserved vinyl reissue. Opera aficionados should check out the arias Mozart wrote between ages 11 and 16, as gloriously sung by soprano Marie-Eve Munger. A Native Hill is a 12-movement choral work by Gavin Bryars based on a 1968 essay by Wendell Berry. Also environmentally themed is Manfred Honeck’s recording of Beethoven’s Pastorale Symphony paired with Steven Stucky’s Silent Spring, which honors Rachel Carson’s epochal book. Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier play Debussy on two pianos, including a compelling transcription of La mer. Upon Further Reflection is a new three-movement piano suite by Michael Tilson Thomas, recorded John Wilson, along with music of Gershwin and Copland. Dvorak’s Legends and Czech Suite contain some of his most memorably melodic material and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin continues to champion the orchestral music of the pioneering Black American composer, Florence Price. Lastly, pianist Igor Levit’s Wagner-themed program is centered on Hans Werner Henze’s sprawling, atonal Tristan but also includes material by Liszt, Mahler, and Wagner himself.

1.Here with You. Brahms/Montgomery/Weber. McGill/Chien. Cedille.

2.Bach: Partita No. 2 in D Minor. Iivonen. Yarlung (45rpm LP).

3.Maestrino Mozart. Munger. Les Boreades de Montréal, Bourque. ATMA.

4.Bryars: A Native Hill. Nally/The Crossing. Navona.

5.Beethoven: Symphony No. 6. Pittsburgh, Honeck. Reference.

6.Debussy: Music for 2 Pianos. Lortie, Mercier. Chandos.

7.Upon Further Reflection. Wilson. Avie.

8.Dvořák: Legends. Czech Suite. Măcelaru/WDR Sinfonieorchester. Linn.

9.Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3. Nézet-Séguin/Philadelphia. DG.

10.Tristan. Levit. Welser-Möst/Leipzig Gewandhaus O. Sony.