The Best New Classical Albums of 2025: Corelli's Concerti Grossi from Berlin
The Best New Classical Albums of 2025
Album #18
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerti Grossi Op. 6, 1-6
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Mayumi Hirasaki, Violin
Label: Pentatone
Released: June 20, 2025
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Arcangelo Corelli’s 12 Concerti Grossi Op. 6 have long been some of my favorite works from the baroque period, and so any new album of the concerti attracts my interest. Recently, the outstanding period instrument group Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin released a wonderful new album on the Pentatone label in which they recorded the first six concertos with the solo violin honors being done by the young Japanese violinist Mayumi Hiraski.
If you are not familiar with Corelli, what are you waiting for? While certainly not as well-known or prolific as his fellow countryman Antonio Vivaldi, one could argue Corelli was the more original of the two. But that is really beside the point, because when the music is this enjoyable, there is no need to argue over academic matters. What is important, however, was Corelli’s role in the development of the concerto form, and some of the composers that used Corelli as a guide in their own concertos include Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Telemann, Geminiani, Locatelli, Torelli, and Couperin.