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.
After several weeks at the top, Jan Lisiecki’s Preludes finally dethrones Ludovico Einaudi’s The Summer Portraits to take the No. 1 spot. In essence, the two switch places from their position last week, with The Summer Portraits ending up at No. 2.
Howard Shore’s Anthology: The Paris Concerts is the fastest rising classical album of the week on The Classical Chartz, leaping from the No. 10 position last week to land at No. 3.
There are three releases that find themselves in the Classical Chartz Top Ten for the first time this week.
The National Arts Centre Orchestra, with soloist James Ehnes, take the No. 4 spot, rising from No. 14 last week, with their Bach: The Complete Violin Concertos. Multi-JUNO and GRAMMY Award-winning violinist James Ehnes has a longstanding artistic partnership with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra that goes back more than 30 years. This ambitious double-disc album, recorded in Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre, also features Concertmaster, Yosuke Kawasaki, who joins Ehnes for Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. Associate Concertmaster Jessica Linnebach joins them to become a trio for the Concerto for Three Violins. Principal Oboe Charles Hamann, Principal Flute Joanna G’froerer, and guest harpsichordist Luc Beauséjour also appear on the release as soloists.
Electronic harpist Lara Somogyi and award-winning pianist/composer Jean-Michel Blais are newcomers to the Chartz, landing at No. 9 with their album désert (Desert). The recording was captured at Lara’s studio in Joshua Tree, California, a remote area. The music was entirely improvised, and comes from the intuitive connections between the two artists. The 11 tracks were inspired by their observations of the day from dawn until dusk. The two artists talk about one of the tracks in a statement.
“escaliers was born in one of those moments when stars align. weaving through hope, doubt, and acceptance, the piece mirrors the steps we take on our serendipitous journey toward discovery and healing…as it ascends and descends, the music reflects the emotional climbs we may encounter, gently reminding us we are not alone. together, we can find solace and strength in both music and each other, illuminating the beauty found in light and shadow, through resilience.”
Nevermind rounds out the Top Ten with Bach: Goldberg Variations, taking the No. 10 spot. Nevermind is made up of Baroque specialists Anna Besson, Louis Creac’h, Robin Pharo and Jean Rondeau, and the quartet adds their own inventive variations to Bach’s masterwork.
They explain in a statement, “We needed only an informal rehearsal to grasp the incredible potential of a transcription for our ensemble. There have been other arrangements, but nobody has ever attempted this one before now, even though our instruments are among those most typically used in J.S. Bach’s chamber music, in his many solo sonatas for flute, violin or gamba with bass continuo and obbligato harpsichord – and they also frequently feature in the arias of his cantatas and Passions.”
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