The 5 Must-Hear Classical Albums This Week, featuring James Ehnes & Alban Gerhardt
22 June 2026
This week we discover new recordings of music by Brahms, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Dvořák, Beethoven and Julius Eastman
James Ehnes vn Andrew Armstrong pf (SCMS Records)
This is the beginning of a new era for James Ehnes, his first recording for SCMS Records, a collaboration with the Seattle Chamber Music Society. You can read all about this project in Andrew Farach-Colton's recent interview with the violinist. This is not Ehnes and Armstrong's first Brahms recording, they recorded the Op 120 Sonatas (arranged for viola and piano) for the Onyx label a couple of years ago – an Editor's Choice in December 2024.
Lukas Geniušas pf Sinfonieorchester St Gallen / Modestas Pitrėnas (Alpha)
In his review of this new album, Jeremy Nicholas writes: 'It’s one of those recordings when everyone is on the same page from beginning to end, and palpably enjoying themselves. Lukas Geniušas, one of the brightest talents of his generation, brings an admirable variety of touch and colour to both scores, with some delicious jeu perlé passages (specially in ‘Contrastes’, the second section of the Tchaikovsky) and nonchalant Lisztian bravura in the Schubert.' This was an Editor's Choice recording in the July issue of Gramophone.