The Well-Tempered Ear
Gramophone Magazine names the Best Classical Recordings of 2022 by each month | January 9, 2023
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By Jacob Stockinger
Maybe you have a holiday gift card to use.
Or maybe you have some leisure time to explore new recordings for your pleasure.
You’re in luck.
Various media have recently named the Best Classical Recordings of 2022. Whether you stream them or use compact discs or listen to vinyl, over the next week or two The Ear will feature some of them.
One of the most prestigious and well respected lists is provided by the British publication and website, Gramophone Magazine (below).
The link below is just to the December 2022 choices. But in it you can find links by the month to other outstanding selections.
Like many other links now, you can also find links to complete reviews of individual albums, and can even listen to excerpts from the named performances.
Also like many international lists, this one often reflects a not-so-subtle bias — usual towards the artists in the home nation where the organization is based. So look for a lot of British performers and composers.
Still, you can find many outstanding choices to spend those gift cards on. Or just to explore for pleasure whenever you have the time and desire.
Here is one example.
When he first heard it, The Ear was fascinated by Paul Wee’s outstanding and astounding performance of the virtuosic solo piano transcription by the 19th-century French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan of Mozart’s famously sublime and dramatic Piano Concerto No. 22 in D minor, K. 466 (below in a photo of the album cover and in a YouTube video).
Very handy if you don’t have access to an orchestra! Plus you hear the composition in a new and insightful way — as often happens with transcriptions.
What do you think?
Do you have a favorite new recording from 2022?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
An outstanding local concert came on Dec.14 with fine performances by the Middleton Community Orch., especially in Beethoven’s violin concerto with teen prodigy Julian Rhee clearly enjoying himself – he, his prize Stradivarius, and (almost always) the orchestra were in great form.
Earlier, in November we were delighted by thrilling performances of ‘Salome’ by Madison Opera, a very fine ‘Don Carlos’ by Lyric Opera, and an entertaining production of ‘Albert Herring’ by UW Opera – all in 3 weeks!
The Dec. issue of Gramophone told us of a rare recording of Handel’s ‘Amadigi di Gaula’ – with luck some of this music will be featured locally during next summer’s
Handel Aria Competition, an event (and season!) to look forward to!
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Comment by Dan Shea — January 9, 2023 @ 3:55 pm