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. Read about the full Top 20 here.
Josh Groban’s Gems hangs on to the No. 1 position for a second week, following a rapid rise through the Classical Chartz Top ten. Next in line is Yuja Wang and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Shostakovich: Piano Concertos, which likewise remains in the same spot as it occupied last week at No. 2.
Esther Abrami’s Women, which made a splash on the Top Ten for the first time last week, rounds out the top spots at No. 3.
What’s new this week? Anna Lapwood, the British organist who’s risen to international fame via her TikTok videos, comes in at No. 6 with her album titled Firedove. It rises from the No. 12 position last week.
While it’s undeniable that social media popularity has played a role, it’s also true that Lapwood is a ridiculously talented musician and more. Along with her career as an organist and multi-instrumentalist, Anna Ruth Ella Lapwood MBE is a choir director, and radio and TV presenter, often for the BBC Proms. She’s also the official Organist of the Royal Albert Hall, and is Artist in Association with the BBC Singers.
Anna was born in Buckinghamshire, her father an Anglican clergyman, and her mother a medical professional. From an early age, she began studying piano, violin, viola and composition, first at the Junior Royal Academy of Music. She became the principal harpist for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the Junior Academy Symphony Orchestra.
Lapwood was appointed Director of Music of Pembroke College, Cambridge, UK in 2016. At just 21, she made history as the youngest person to every occupy the post at an Oxford or Cambridge university college.
She has dedicated her career to both the organ as an instrument, and to helping other women organists and composers. And, as a recording artist, she has released albums as a singer and conductor, as well as in the role of organist.
Anna was was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2024.
Of Firedove, with a tracklist that includes everything from Bob Dylan to Duruflé, she says,
“I wanted to create an album where the listener doesn’t quite know where it’s going to go next. There are lots of little easter eggs in there that you wouldn’t expect – even the first appearance of the choir – and a through-line of flight and spreading wings, because this does feel as though I’ve found what I want to say as an artist. I’m very proud of it.”
Brand new to the charts, Yunchan Lim’s latest release debuts at No. 8 with his Cliburn-Winning performance of Rachmaninoff’s 3rd piano concerto from 2022. It’s been recently released on the Decca Classics label. The YouTube video capture of his performance garnered 16 million views.
“From the moment we started playing together, I noticed just how incredibly musical Yunchan was, and that he seemed like an old soul, rather than a young performer,” said conductor Marin Alsop, who was moved to tears by his performance back in 2022.
You can hear what all the fuss was about, and have it for your very own, on disc or to stream.
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