Classical Highlights for June 2026

This past month we covered some notable new releases of a few of these, including a Messiah by the Irish Baroque Orchestra that attempts to re-create the feel of the work's Dublin premiere. John Storgårds leads the BBC Philharmonic in striking renditions of Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5, while Justin Doyle conducts an excellent reading of the full orchestral version of Haydn's Die sieben letzten Worte unseres Erlösers am Kreuze. More contemporary and less grand compositions are also some of the outstanding things recently recorded. Eva Ollikainen (pictured) and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra survey the symphonies of Arvo Pärt, and the Colin Currie Percussion Group continues its series of Steve Reich albums.