Best Classical Music of the 2010s

In chronological order. This list was compiled by going through the “Best Music – Year by Year” lists from 2010-2019 and finding all the classical music releases.

  1. Karol Szymanowski – Symphony No. 3 (“Song of the Night”)/ Violin Concerto No. 1 (Vienna Philharmonic, Pierre Boulez; Christian Tetzlaff) (2010)
  2. Charles Ives – Violin Sonatas (Hilary Hahn, violin; Valentina Lisitsa, piano) (2011)
  3. John Luther Adams – Inuksuit (Inuksuit Ensemble) (2013)
  4. Sergei Rachmaninov – All-Night Vigil (Latvian Radio Choir/Sigvards Klava) (2013)
  5. San Fermin – San Fermin (2013)
  6. Dawn Upshaw & Maria Schneider – Winter Morning Walks (2013)
  7. Caleb Burhans – Evensong (2013)
  8. Henri Dutilleux – Correspondences and Other Works (Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor) (2013)
  9. David Lang – Death Speaks (Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, Owen Pallett & Shara Worden) (2013)
  10. Dmitri Shostakovich – String Quartets Nos. 13-15; Alfred Schnittke – String Quartet No. 3 (Pacifica Quartet) (2013)
  11. John Luther Adams Become Ocean (Seattle Symphony Orchestra) (2014)
  12. Harrison Birtwistle Chamber Music (Lisa Batiashvili, Adrian Brendel, Till Fellner, Amy Freston & Roderick Williams) (2014)
  13. Lou HarrisonWorks for Chorus and Violin with American Gamelan (Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, conductor) (2014)
  14. Igot Levit – Piano Works of Bach, Beethoven and Rzewiski (2015)
  15. Andrew Norman – Play (Boston Modern Orchestra Project) (2015)
  16. Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 10 (Boston Symphony Orchestra) (2015)
  17. Anthony de Mare – Liaisons — Re-imagining Sondheim From The Piano (2015)
  18. Anna Thorvaldsdottir – In the Light of Air (International Contemporary Ensemble) (2015)
  19. Hans Abrahamsen Let Me Tell You (Barbara Hannigan; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Andris Nelsons) (2016)
  20. Nathaniel Dett The Ordering of Moses (May Festival Chorus; Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; James Conlon) (2016)
  21. Franz Liszt Transcendental Études (Daniil Trifonov) (2016)
  22. Philip Glass – Einstein on the Beach (DVD) (Michael Riesman, Philip Glass Ensemble, Kate Moran, Helga Davis, Antoine Silverman, The Lucinda Childs Dance Company (2016)
  23. J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations (Mahan Esfahani) (2016)
  24. Dmitri Shostakovich Under Stalin’s Shadow: Symphonies 5, 8 and 9 (Andris Nelsons, Boston Symphony Orchestra) (2016)
  25. Christopher Rouse Seeing/Kabir Padavali (Talise Trevigne; David Alan Miller; Orion Weiss; Albany Symphony) (2016)
  26. G.F. Handel Israel In Egypt (arr. Mendelssohn) (Lydia Teuscher, Benjamin Hulett, The Choir of The Kings Consort, The Kings Consort, Robert King) (2016)
  27. Magdalena Kožená Monteverdi (La Cetra, Andrea Marcon) (2016)
  28. Hector Berlioz Les Troyens (Orchestre Philharmonique De Strasbourg; John Nelson, conductor) (2017)
  29. Philip Glass Piano Works (Vikingur Olafsson) (2017)
  30. Jean Sibelius Piano Works (Leif Ove Andsnes) (2017)
  31. John AdamsThe John Adams Edition (Berlin Philharmonic) (2017)
  32. J.S. Bach ‘Goldberg’ Variations (Beatrice Rana, piano) (2017)
  33. Danish String Quartet Last Leaf (2017)
  34. Franz Schubert Die Schöne Müllerin (Christian Gerhaher, baritone; Gerold Huber, piano) (2017)
  35. Bela Bartok – Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (Christian Tetzlaff) (2018)
  36. Ólafur Arnalds – Re:Member (2018)
  37. Florence Beatrice Price – Symphonies Nos. 1 And 4 (John Jeter, Fort Smith Symphony) (2019)