Y2K Compliant
Vivien Schweitzer, James R. Oestreich, Anthony Tommasini, and Allan Kozinn
November 27, 2008

The end of the CD era, we have long been told, is near. And it’s true that the onetime flood has narrowed to a flow, sometimes steady, sometimes faltering. But a few major labels and many small ones keep putting out many excellent recordings, as represented by the two dozen examples here, chosen by classical critics of The New York Times as records of the year.

Michael Gandolfi: Y2K Compliant
Boston Modern Orchestra Project, conducted by Gil Rose
(BMOP/sound); $17.99

The Boston composer Michael Gandolfi is drawn to both the rigor of the mid-20th-century atonalists and the melodic breadth and textural lushness of the neo-Romantics. The tension between those qualities, along with a wry sense of humor and an ear for striking timbres, makes the works on this disc irresistible; but more striking, the title piece and Points of Departure show that angularity can be beautiful.

- Allan Kozinn