Enjoy new music with our classical music chart for this week. Our weekly selections are based on sales numbers and simply what albums we love and think you NEED to hear.
For the complete top 20, tune into Classical Chartz with the New Classical FM’s Mark Wigmore every Saturday from 3-5 p.m.
Lang Lang finally relinquishes his hold on the No. 1 spot, falling two to No. 3, and taking room for Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax and Leonidas Kavakos to take over at top spot. Il Divo climb back into the No. 2 position.
Rafael Payare and the Montréal Symphony and their Strauss-Mahler make a respectable climb from 8 to 4, but it’s Il Volo who make the biggest leap all the way from No. 11 to No. 5 with Ad Astra.
Tenors Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginovle — Il Volo — made their public debut on an Italian reality show called “Ti lascio una canzone” (“I leave you a song”) in 2009. They went on to represent Italy in the 2015 Eurovision Contest with the song “Grande amore”. The trio finished with first in the televote and third place overall.
Ad Astra is their first recording of all-original music, in a style that they’ve dubbed popera. The release charts a new direction for the trio after 13 previous albums. With the exception of a cover of the Queen classic Who Wants To Live Forever, the tracks were written for Il Solo by top tier Italian songwriters and producers, including Michelangelo, Federica Abbate, Edwyn Roberts, Michael Tenisci, Stefano Marletta, Federico Nardelli, Luca Faraone and Bungaro.
Also new to the Top Ten is Duruflé Requiem & Poulenc: Lenten Motets by The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge. Harrison Cole plays the organ on the release, with Stephen Layton conducting. It lands at No. 10 this week, rising from No. 13 last week.
Plainsong meets the 20th century in Duruflé’s piece, which has become popular since its composition in 1947, (revised in 1961). It’s paired with Poulenc’s lovely Gloria, and recorded at the Church Of Saint-Eustache, Paris, in a celebration of French choral works.
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