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.
Ludovico Einaudi and The Toronto Symphony Orchestra refuse to give up their No. 1 and 2 status this week — leaving the top two positions on the Classical Chartz unchanged for the second week in a row.
The Nos. 3 and 4 releases simply switch positions from last week, leaving the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Alexander Shelley with Poema 1. Ad Astra at No. 3, and Alice Sara Ott’s John Field Complete Nocturnes at No. 4. Maria Duenas makes the leap form No. 10 last week to land at No. 5 this week with her album of virtuosic Nicolo Paganini. It’s the largest jump in the Classical Chartz Top Ten.
Brand new to the Classical Chartz altogether is Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki’s new release, titled simply Preludes. The album includes music by Chopin, (including his seminal Op. 28, the 24 Preludes), Bach, Rachmaninoff, Messiaen, and Górecki. According to the liner notes, Lisiecki is looking “to showcase the broad possibilities of the humble Prelude” that takes “the audience on a musical expedition”. Through the album, the young pianist reveals how the musical form evolved over the centuries.
Also new to the Top Ten, Jean-Yves Thibaudet climbs from No. 13 last week to make it to No. 10 this week with the album Khatchaturian. The LA Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel join the French pianist in exploring the works of the rarely recorded Soviet Armenian composer.
Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto in D-flat major, Op. 38, was popular at the time he wrote it in 1936. In fact, it’s the piece that first garnered him serious international attention. Nonetheless, it fell into obscurity in the years that followed, and today is rarely programmed. On the album, Thibaudet includes several other works by the composer, including his Pictures of Childhood.
The music is theatrical and flamboyant, and driven by Armenian folk rhythms and melodies. It’s said to be a passion project for Thibaudet, whose recordings have become eclectic in their aesthetics over the last few years.
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