August was a barren month for recordings, for me anyway, http://www.colinscolumn.com/augusts-record-of-the-month/ (if not the Proms, http://www.colinscolumn.com/category/bbc-proms-2022/), save for the wondrous Bach/Schoenberg I included, which I shall keep by me for the duration, a lifetime.

And ‘constant companions’ is what it’s all about – plenty of contenders for September: whether Berg from Andrew Davis & James Ehnes, http://www.colinscolumn.com/sir-andrew-davis-and-the-bbc-symphony-orchestra-record-alban-berg-including-the-violin-concerto-with-james-ehnes-for-chandos/, Augustin Hadelich’s Britten and Prokofiev Violin Concertos, http://www.colinscolumn.com/recuerdos-augustin-hadelich-records-violin-concertos-by-britten-and-prokofiev-with-wdr-sinfonieorchester-and-cristian-macelaru-for-warner-classics/, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru, while his disc of Dvořák Legends, http://www.colinscolumn.com/released-today-september-2-cristian-macelaru-wdr-sinfonieorchester-record-dvoraks-legends-and-czech-suite-for-linn/, has been in and out of the CD player, so too Haydn String Quartets from the Takács foursome, http://www.colinscolumn.com/released-today-september-2-the-takacs-quartet-records-haydns-opuses-42-77-103-for-hyperion/. Nor would I want to be without Haitink’s LSO Brahms, http://www.colinscolumn.com/lso-live-bernard-haitink-conducts-brahms/, or Igor Levit’s Tristan, http://www.colinscolumn.com/column-post-5000-igor-levit-records-tristan-for-sony-classical/.

I have now reached the end of the September show, save for the mention of two standout releases (invidious as it is to single them out amongst so much… treasure), and they are: Martin Roscoe’s ‘Hammerklavier’ Sonata, http://www.colinscolumn.com/martin-roscoe-records-beethovens-hammerklavier-for-deux-elles/, and the latest (penultimate) release in Martyn Brabbins’s exceptional Vaughan Williams Symphony Cycle, http://www.colinscolumn.com/martyn-brabbins-the-bbc-symphony-orchestra-record-vaughan-williamss-sixth-eighth-symphonies-for-hyperion/, in which details abound afresh – e.g., Symphony 6, first movement, track 1, 4:23, trombones – all faithfully captured by recording engineer Simon Eadon. Great music.