With so much to cover I’ll dive straight in with our February Recording of the Month. Mahler’s Sixth Symphony concludes Ádám Fischer’s Mahler cycle with the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra (Avi Music AVI8553490), perhaps the finest overall survey of the symphonies to have emerged in the last two decades. “Fisher has a distinctive way with Mahler,” writes Rebecca Franks. “Expect clarity, conviction and a strong connection between conductor and players. All those virtues are on display here.” Recorded the day before Europe went into lockdown, it’s an appropriately bleak way to end the cycle. If you are looking to explore further, I’d wholeheartedly recommend his Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh or Ninth.

On the Record

Our January Recording of the Month is entitled simply Sol & Pat, an effervescent program of duos from violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and cellist Sol Gabetta (Alpha Classics ALPHA757). Centred around substantial masterpieces of the form by Ravel and Kodály, the disc includes Bach and Leclair as well as more modernist music by Ligeti and Widmann (who even manages to riff on the James...