The Best and Worst recordings of 2024

This year’s Best of the Year recordings come easily to mind - memorable in every way. While Chandos and BIS (2 of my favorite labels) made the list, I was surprised that Warner - my least favorite label by far - also made the list. Perhaps more surprisingly, BIS also made the worst list - twice!
 
Overall, this year’s worst are not quite as bad as the winners (losers) in that category in 2023, where there were some real stinkers of real distinction. This year’s contenders are the worst more-or-less based on the curve. There were many releases in 2024 which were merely good - mostly uneventful and unmemorable. So to make the worst list, these titles were even less good, less memorable than all the rest.
 
Nevertheless, 2 stood out to me as being particularly sub-par. Interestingly, 1 of them, plus another one in the Runner Up category (and a 3rd recording covered in my “Year in Review” roundup), all come from the same musician (Michael Collins - one on his clarinet, the other two from the podium). So I suppose I can conclude I am simply not a fan of his musicmaking and can stop buying his records. Similarly, the other worst title, plus a runner up, come from the same label (harmonia mundi). And they are there as much for mediocre recorded sound as mediocre performances. There is absolutely no excuse for inferior recorded sound with today’s technology and know-how. Again I see a pattern and will likely avoid this label in the future. 
 
I encourage anyone interested in these recordings to read my full-length reviews elsewhere on this blog. I provide simple, concise summaries here.
 
Best
Sutton Orchestral Works - Seal/BBC Philharmonic (Chandos)
Bacewicz Symphonies - Oramo/BBC Symphony Orchestra (Chandos)
Stravinsky - Slobodeniouk/Sinfonica de Galicia (BIS)
Debussy/Ravel/Attahir - Quatuor Arod (Warner)
“Paris Polonais” - Meccore String Quartet (Chopin University Press)
 
The Sutton disc was a complete surprise. I didn’t know what to expect from this composer. And as it turns out, this is quite simply wonderful music which instantly appeals to the heart and soul, as well as the mind. Creative, interesting and superbly orchestrated, with fabulous orchestral playing and recorded sound - Chandos does it again.
 
Speaking of Chandos, Bacewicz’s Symphonies are not only incredibly accomplished musically (and in orchestration), but this SACD is simply one the most impressive-sounding recordings I have heard. Chandos continues to provide some of the very best state-of-the-art orchestral recordings produced today. And this one is simply stunning. If you like the big, blocked chordal harmonies which inhabit the music of Arnold Bax, you will love these symphonies of Bacewicz. These are stupendous orchestral performances, with outstanding conducting from Oramo. I eagerly await the next volume in the series to appear.
 
The recording of Stravinsky Symphonies is notable for presenting the wonderful Sinfonica de Galicia at their finest. Slobodeniouk is a real orchestra-builder, and he’s developed this orchestra into a world-class ensemble. Their Stravinsky is most impressive - incisive, articulate and musical - and BIS affords them outstanding recorded sound. This is one of the most impressive BIS releases I’ve yet heard.
 
The remaining two titles represent string quartet playing at its absolute finest. Quatuor Arod plays Debussy and Ravel as if discovering them anew. And that’s quite an achievement! They also present a terrific new work, commissioned by them, by Benjamin Attahir. The accompanying documentary DVD movie is a commendable addition, making this a surprisingly worthwhile, well-recorded title from Warner (Erato).
 
The wonderful Meccore String Quartet presents a program of music from Polish composers who studied and lived in France. The music is uniquely original, fascinating and innovative - yet entirely approachable and endlessly rewarding. It is exquisitely played, with sumptuous recorded sound. This is a somewhat hard-to-find title which is worth seeking out; it displays some of the best string quartet playing I’ve ever heard.
 
Runners Up
Dorothy Howell Orchestral Works - Miller/BBC Concert Orchestra (Signum)
“United” - Pacific Woodwind Quintet (Fuga Libera)
 
Dorothy Howell’s orchestral music is sheer pleasure - light, pleasant and smiling - miraculously brought to life by the marvelous conductor, Rebecca Miller, replete with lively orchestral playing and sparkling recorded sound. While the Pacific Woodwind Quintet makes its debut with some interesting music, excellent recorded sound and truly superb playing. My notes describe this group as “jaw-dropping”.

Worst
Schumann String Quartets - Quatuor Hanson (harmonia mundi)
Mozart Symphonies - Collins/Philharmonia (BIS)

I am still baffled why Quatuor Hanson recorded the Schumann Quartets for harmonia mundi. I can only surmise the label needed to fill a gap in their catalog and the Hansons were available to offer their services. I can hear no real musical value in having made this recording. And I can’t believe this wonderful young quartet’s playing sounds so cold and clinical in this music. (Harmonia mundi's icy, up-close recorded sound is certainly partly to blame.)
 
Why BIS decided to let Michael Collins turn the Philharmonia Orchestra into a chamber orchestra and record a much unneeded and completely unnecessary Mozart symphonies series is a complete and utter mystery. Driven, heartless Mozart isn’t something anyone needs. And BIS’s thin, forward recorded sound doesn’t help. I certainly won’t be acquiring anymore in this series. (We can hope they don’t even continue with it.)
 
Runners Up
“Home” - Miro Quartet (Pentatone)
Ferguson/Bliss/Holloway Chamber music - Wigmore Soloists (BIS)
Dutilleux Orchestral Works - Gimeno/Luxembourg Philharmonic (harmonia mundi)
 
The Miro Quartet hasn’t recorded much over the decades, and when they finally do get into the studio, they come up with this dud for Pentatone? With two uninspired commissions and the most dreary rendering of the Barber Quartet imaginable, this makes for a pretty bad showing. It’s too bad; this is a very good string quartet. And one wonders where they ever came up with this program. (As a matter of fact, I’ve been seeing a lot of bad programming choices lately from several groups - two on the Pentatone label alone.)
 
The latest album from the Wigmore Soloists isn’t very good either. I struggled with this one, trying to determine why it’s so disagreeable. Is it because the music isn’t very good, or is it because the bright, excruciating clarinet playing isn’t very good? Or is it the unflattering recorded sound from BIS? In the end, I concluded it’s a combination of all 3. And I’m still baffled why they aren’t recorded in their namesake Wigmore Hall, from which the group originates. I won’t be buying any more recordings of the Wigmore Soloists.
 
The Dutilleux collection on harmonia mundi isn’t bad, it’s just not very alluring - missing too much of the atmosphere and mystery of Dutilleux, especially in Metaboles. You can’t just play the notes on the page without creating something out of it, and think (hope) it’ll come out ok at the other end of the microphones. The recording engineers are just as much to blame as the conductor here, with the orchestra laid out in a flat, 2-dimensional plane, lacking spaciousness. The orchestra plays all the notes with expert precision, but without an inspired vision from the podium, it’s just sound. The Cello Concerto, recorded 4 years later, comes off best.