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. You can check out the whole Top 20 list here.
There’s a bit of a shuffle in the Classical Chartz Top Ten this week. The number 1 and 2 spots have been reversed over last week, with Ludovico Einaudi’s Solo Piano taking of the top position, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s The Miraculous Mandarin stepping down one rung to land at No. 2.
Likewise, Hania Rani’s Sentimental Value stepped up one spot to become the new No. 3 this week, while Hauser’s The Swan stepped down an equal distance to become No. 4. Olivia Belli’s Daimon holds fast at the No. 5 spot for a second week in a row.
Interestingly, Alice Sara Ott and Jóhann Jóhannsson: Piano Works, re-enters the Top 10, rising up an impressive ten positions from No. 16 last week to become this week’s No. 6. The German Japanese pianist has developed a reputation for recording the works of lesser known and less prominent composers. In Jóhann Jóhannsson: Piano Works, she brings the music of the contemporary Icelandic composer (1969 to 2018) to a wider audience. Jóhannsson is known for an eclectic catalogue of works that includes music for theatre, dance, film, and TV, along with concert pieces. The album includes world premiere transcriptions of his film music, as well as some of the pieces from his solo albums Orphée and Englabörn.
Ott talks about his music in a Deutsche Grammophon release. “What’s so incredible about Jóhannsson’s music,” Ott writes, “is how his compositions, originally written for larger ensembles and different instruments, translate so beautifully to the piano. Within this more focused and intimate sound world, the writing reveals hidden nuances and enhances the purity and clarity that are so intrinsic to his music.”
Anna Lapwood and the Chapel Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge, and their album Arise, Shine, are the newcomers to the Classical Chartz Top Ten this week. The album jumps up from No. 13 last week to land on the No. 10 position.
The album, a personal project, marks the end of Lapwood’s tenure as Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Her appointment to the position was seen as a significant boost for women organists, and encouraged many young people to take on the venerable instrument.
The mixed program of music is imbued by the warmth of her close connection with the choir and its members. It contains two of Lapwood’s own compositions — Arise, Shine and An Irish Blessing — which she wrote to commemorate significant people and moments that arose during her tenure.
The rest of the track list includes contrasting works that take a contrasting approach to sacred texts, including Ubi Caritas by Maurice Duruflé and Ola Gjeilo, and O Sacrum Convivium by Olivier Messiaen and Lucy Walker, along with well known and beloved works such as Abide With Me, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and Silent Night.
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