As 2024 comes to a close, Cannopy presents a curated list of the classical releases we were listening to this year. And thanks to our recent partnership with the streaming platform IDAGIO, you can listen along to the list below with a free 30-day subscription! Visit www.idagio.com/cannopy to get this exclusive offer.

1) Brahms: Symphonies

Chamber Orchestra of Europe | Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin| Deutsche Grammophon

“It was breathtaking – a sentiment also echoed by the conductor, as he bowed to the concertmaster. Euphoric applause greeted the end of a performance in Baden-Baden’s Festspielhaus, and no one knew who should bow to whom: the conductor to the orchestra, the audience to the conductor, or everyone to the composer Johannes Brahms? The cause for this excitement was Brahms’s Second Symphony, which is nicknamed “Lichtentaler” because Brahms had completed it in Baden-Baden’s Lichtental district. And now, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the symphony received a performance that became one of the greatest moments witnessed in this concert hall: uncompromisingly transparent textures illuminated the orchestration, but were only seemingly embedded in an easily conquerable soundscape. ─ Lotte Thaler, notes from the recording.

2) J.S. Bach: Complete Cello Suites

Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello | harmonia mundi

Bach’s Cello Suites do indeed accompany us, cellists, throughout our lives. We encounter them while still very young, by tackling the less technically challenging movements. For me, it started with the Bourrée from the Third Suite. I was 10 years old. [...] My connection to the Bach Suites began there, and this music has never left me since. When you are quite young, you play it spontaneously, you celebrate life. Then in adolescence, you start to question yourself, to go through moments of genuine doubt. At the age of 17 or 18, you turn to the great masters of the past, to their countless recordings that have set the standard, and you ask yourself: ‘How should I do it? What could I add to all this?’ When I was in my twenties, I had a tendency to sink into deep thought and serious questioning... And in Bach, I found a source of support. In those moments of uncertainty, I felt particular kinship with the Fifth Suite, with the turmoil and disarray that are at the core of its structure. ─ Jean-Guihen Queyras, excerpts from an interview by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker for accompanying texts to the recording

3) Mozart: The Sonata Project - Salzburg

Yundi Li, piano | Warner Classics

“PLAY MOZART IN MEMORY OF ME.” Frédéric Chopin 

Those heartbreaking words, which the Polish composer whispered on his deathbed, perhaps best describe the essence of what we discover when embarking on the divine, angelic musical journeys of Mozart. Chopin was, of course, deeply inspired by the music of the Salzburgian master. He shared an understanding of the very same story that lies behind Mozart’s music – a profound belief in the importance of the exquisite order of virtues that surpass all the elements that create art. The pursuit of this divine alignment has the potential to teach the human soul about moral virtues, and music has the strongest potential to create an impact in that education. After all, we don’t listen to good music just for fun; we tend to realise the importance of its message – the captivating story of a greater order and a glimpse into a potential reality of the divine. The power to open the door to this reality is what we call “genius”. ─ WLP London Ltd, notes from the recording

4) Tchaikovsky: The Seasons

Bruce Liu, piano | Deutsche Grammophon

One can empathise with, if not understand, the whirlwind of sudden stardom that has grabbed Bruce Liu’s life. “I’ve gone from being a student to not having much time at home for a whole year, being constantly on tour,” he admits.  Perhaps no pianist in the world has had the career acceleration and ascension Bruce Liu has had in the last three years. The Montreal-raised artist sprang to fame in 2021 with his win at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, and has since garnered over 70 million streams with his debut record Waves (an exploration of French masters from Rameau to Ravel to Alkan) and Young Talent of the Year honours from Opus Klassik. One could also likely empathise with the need to take a break. As it turns out, Liu’s break involved a trip to the Siemens-Villa on the southwestern outskirts of Berlin, far from the halls that an artist of his stature would normally perform in. Here, he settled into a retreat of sorts, a veritable cabin in the woods to explore Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. — Nolan Kehler for Cannopy

CANNOPY x BRUCE LIU

Interview conducted by Michael Zarathus-Cook

5) The Vienna Recital

Yuja Wang, piano | Deutsche Grammophon

Piano recitals customarily begin with a work from the Classical period followed by Romantic repertoire and, perhaps, a contemporary composition, concluding with a virtuoso showpiece. Yuja Wang frequently defies that tradition. In this album taken from her highly acclaimed 2022 Vienna recital, selections from different eras are mixed and matched in a seemingly freewheeling yet ultimately cohesive manner, with one work’s thematic makeup and expressive possibilities evoking or suggesting what is to come. It’s not unlike an exhibition encompassing multiple artists in which the curator has given careful consideration to the gallery’s dimensions and the size of each painting. Here, analogously, a palpably organic flow and sense of cumulative momentum define the peaks and valleys of Yuja Wang’s provocative programme. For example, the mercurial shifts of mood and texture throughout “Málaga” from Albéniz’s Iberia dovetail into the yearning, declamatory sound world that dominates Scriabin’s Third Sonata, where Yuja Wang generates galvanic yet supple momentum in the finale’s ricocheting patterns. ─ Jed Distler, notes from the recording 

6) Chopin: Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35 "Funeral March" - Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 "Hammerklavier"

Beatrice Rana, piano | Warner Classics

I have played a lot of Beethoven with orchestra but very little solo. I haven’t played a Beethoven sonata in public for more than ten years. Not because I don’t like them – I absolutely adore Beethoven – but I’ve always felt this kind of frustration with it in recital. So with lockdown having removed the pressure of the stage, I decided I really wanted to get to know more about Beethoven, to spend more time with him. And what’s the most challenging sonata requiring a lot of time to study? The “Hammerklavier”, of course! Normally, with a busy diary and so many pieces to learn, I don’t have that kind of time to experiment. ─ Beatrice Rana, in conversation with Jeremy Nicholas; notes from the recording

7) Bach

Alexandre Tharaud, piano | Warner Classics

Transcribing Bach for piano means being part of a long and imposing tradition. Following in the footsteps of Schumann, Liszt, Busoni, Kempff and a multitude of other giants of the piano wielding their pens, a callow pianist attempting the genre might easily blanch with apprehension. And yet the transcriptions that Alexandre Tharaud offers us on this album have no cause to blush by comparison, holding, as they do, such a powerfully instinctive as well as affective connection with this music, its heritage and its future. ─ Abel Saint Bris, notes from the recording

8) Sibelius: Violin Concerto; Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1

Oslo Philharmonic, conducted by Klaus Mäkelä | Janine Jansen, violin | Decca Music Group Ltd

9) Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 KV 456 & 21 KV 467

Bösendorfer Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, conducted by Howard Griffiths | Jonathan Fournel, piano | Alpha Classics

This CD is Jonathan Fournel’s first experience of making a recording with an orchestra. “It was an unforgettable and unbelievable collaboration,” says the young pianist, “and I’m grateful that I was able to share the studio with Howard Griffiths and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. The choice of which concertos to record was quickly made and we settled on the concertos in B flat major K. 456 and C major K. 467. As we prepared the recording, it was as if a treasure map were unfolding before my eyes. Some paths of course were more obvious than others. Although both concertos have a dramatic aspect that allows for free interpretation — as if all the instruments were different characters in a story — their individuality and atmospheres are very different. I feel very honoured to present this recording to my listeners, as it documents an important step in my life as a musician.” ─ Amélie Boccon-Gibod, notes from the recording 

10) Haydn: London Symphonies Vol.2 Symphonies No. 94 "Surprise", No. 95, No. 98 & No. 99

Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, conducted by Paavo Jarvi | Sony Music Labels Inc.