http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/19/arts/music/classical-critics-pick-the-top-music-recordings-of-2014.html 2014-12-19 02:29:02 Classical Critics Pick the Top Music Recordings of 2014 The classical music critics of The Times pick the best recordings of 2014, from orchestral explosions to intimate songs. === HERE it is: the annually anticipated choices from the classical music critics of The New York Times of the best recordings of 2014. First, though, a qualification: None of us remotely claims to have heard all the recordings of note released this past year. Still, among the ranks of music lovers, we are probably more aware than many of the range of what’s been issued. In the end, these are personal choices. The only ground rules were that we agreed not to duplicate one another’s selections, and that we would not pick more than five each. Looking over the complete list, I am struck, as in recent years, by how much the small independent labels, including new ones, have been breaking through with exciting recordings. The majors are still making news, of course, with projects like Sony’s boxed set of the complete Beethoven piano concertos featuring the pianist How much money these projects will earn for the institutions, and how the small labels will fare over time, is hard to say. For now, though, lovers of classical music are the clear beneficiaries. JOHN LUTHER ADAMS: ‘BECOME OCEAN’ BACH: ‘THE ART OF FUGUE’ BACH: ‘THE GREAT 18 CHORALES’ BACH: THE SIX PARTITAS ‘THE BEETHOVEN JOURNEY’: FIVE PIANO CONCERTOS, ‘CHORAL’ FANTASY BEETHOVEN: PIANO TRIOS (OP. 70, NO. 2) AND OPUS 97 ‘ARCHDUKE’ BERNSTEIN: ‘WEST SIDE STORY’ CALMUS ENSEMBLE: ‘MADRIGALS OF MADNESS’ HARRISON BIRTWISTLE: CHAMBER MUSIC HARRISON BIRTWISTLE: ‘THE MOTH REQUIEM’ DVORAK: SYMPHONIES AND CONCERTOS DVORAK: SYMPHONY NO. 6, AMERICAN SUITE ELGAR: SYMPHONY NO. 2 ‘IMAGINARY PICTURES’: MUSSORGSKY, SCHUMANN ‘MASTERPIECES IN MINIATURE’ CARL NIELSEN: SYMPHONIES NO. 1 AND NO. 4 (‘THE INEXTINGUISHABLE’) ‘RAMEAU: PIèCES DE CLAVECIN’ ‘FREDERIC RZEWSKI: PIANO MUSIC’ SCHUBERT: THE LATE PIANO SONATAS ‘SCHUMANN: THE SYMPHONIES’ SIBELIUS, THOMAS ADÈS: VIOLIN CONCERTOS ‘S_TRAITS’ TRIO MEDIAEVAL: ‘AQUILONIS’ ‘VIGILATE!’ WEINBERG: SYMPHONY NO. 10, INSTRUMENTAL WORKS