Classical music: Here is Holiday Gift Guide No. 5 — the Best Classical CDs of 2015 as chosen by critics for The New York Times.

By Jacob Stockinger

The holidays have started and the shopping days left are winding down.

And just in time, this past week, the critics for The New York Times have published their selections for the Best Classical music Recordings of 2015.

Here is a link to that listing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/arts/music/best-classical-recordings-2015.html?_r=0

Of course, this is not the first such list or holiday gift guide that The Ear has posted.

On Black Friday, The New York Times published a classical music gift guide that The Ear linked to:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2015/11/28/classical-music-its-small-business-saturday-here-are-classical-music-gift-suggestions-from-the-critics-for-the-new-york-times/

Then The Ear published similar lists by the BBC Music Magazine and the Telegraph newspaper:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2015/11/27/classical-music-here-are-the-best-classical-music-cds-of-2015-according-to-the-bbc-music-magazine-and-the-telegraph-newspaper/

And yesterday The Ear published the 2015 Grammy nominations, which also offered some outstanding suggestions:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2015/12/11/classical-music-the-new-grammy-nominations-can-serve-as-a-holiday-gift-guide/

You will notice that there are some duplications, such as the CD of Daniil Trifonov and Yannick Nézet-Séguin performing various themes and variations by Sergei Rachmaninoff – plus some by Trifonov himself — on a Deutsche Grammophon CD (below).

Such agreement is a good indication that the recording in question is truly outstanding and will appeal to many tastes. The Ear sure likes that particular recording.

Same goes for tenor Jonas Kaufmann’s CD of arias by Puccini, which you can sample through the famous “Nessun dorma” from “Turandot” in a YouTube video at the bottom. What a big, beautiful voice! And he seems as home in Puccini as in Wagner!

You will also notice that each year seems to see an increasing role for new music. Whether that means the new music is getting better or the critics have just altered their priority remains to be seen.

Whatever is the case: Happy Buying! Happy Receiving! Happy Listening!

And be sure to leave your own suggestions from your own listening experience in the COMMENT section.

The Ear wants to hear.

 

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Posted in Classical music
Tags: arias, Arts, Baroque, BBC, BBC Music Magazine, Beethoven, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, Compact Disc, concerto, critics, Daniil Trifonov, Deutsche Grammophon, Early music, Frédéric Chopin, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Jonas Kaufmann, Ludwig van Beethoven, Music, Nessun Dorma, New York, New York Times, opera, Orchestra, Piano, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Russia, Sergei Rachmaninoff, The New York Times, theme and variations, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, YouTube