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.
Arcadi Volodos (Schubert & Schumann) and Sofiane Pamart (Movie) retain their grip on the top two positions of the Classical Chartz this week, resting at No. 1 and 2 respectively. Jeehee Han’s Reinecke: Flute Works moves up from o. 5 to take the No. 3 position, while Jan Lisiecki’s Mozart steps down from No. 3 to No. 4.
Sinfonia of London’s French Orchestral Favourites makes the leap from No. 7 to round out the top five spots on the Classical Chartz.
There are two newcomers to the Classical Chartz Top 10 this week: Himari and Red Violin, jumping from No. 15 to end up at No. 8, and Plucked Bach III by Alon Sariel, which rises three steps from No. 12 last week to come in at the No. 9 spot.
The full name of Himari’s recent Decca Classics release is John Corigliano: The Red Violin Caprices. Corigliano wrote the music for the film The Red Violin.
Himari is a teenage prodigy who began studying the violin at three years of age, and is one of the youngest-ever applicants at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 2025, she became the youngest woman to ever sign with Decca Classics. She has taken home first prize at more than 40 international competitions.
For her first performances of new music, she chose to play John Corigliano’s Red Violin Caprices on a recital tour in 2024, inspired by hearing it at the Curtis Institute. She talked to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra blog about the work.
It sounds beautiful, but it’s really difficult to play,” she said. “I carefully planned the program myself, ensuring it was varied in its opening; I believe it’s truly wonderful.”
Violinist Joshua Bell created the arrangement for violin and piano, performed by Himair and Chelsea Wang.
Plucked Bach III is the third and final exploration of Bach and Baroque repertoire by Alon Sariel, an Israeli mandolinist and lutenist. The release adds the Ottoman bağlama and a rare Tuscan-type mandola to his sound world of plucked instruments.
On the album, he plays Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005 on the archlute, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I on the Tuscan mandolin, the Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 on the Tuscan mandola), and from his Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, 1725 on the Ottoman bağlama, the Musette in D Major, BWV Anh. 126 (Attributed to J. S. Bach). He also includes Bach’s Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 on the tuscan mandolin, and his Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 on the mandolin.
Music from other and much more rarely heard Baroque composers round out the album, including Nicola Matteis (c. 1670–1737) Alia Fantasia in A Minor on the mandolin), Johann Paul von Westhoff (1656-1705) Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor on the mandolin.
“We live in a restless world,” Sariel told The Violin Channel. “I hope the album helps listeners find some peace and serenity.”
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.