Returning to the classical chart this week are five titles: Stella Maris, a 2005 collection of medieval and modern sacred music sung by Trio Mediaeval (no. 7); a recording of Shostakovich and Prokofiev violin concertos by Sarah Chang, with Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic (no. 17); the Philadelphia Orchestra's first recording with the new Cooper Memorial Organ in Verizon Hall, featuring soloist Olivier Latry in music of Barber, Poulenc and Saint-SaêŠns (no. 20); an all-Mozart disc from 2005 by pianist Richard Goode (no. 21); and Mychael Danna's score for the film The Nativity Story (no. 25).
The top four titles on the chart are the same as the last two weeks: Yo-Yo Ma's Appassionato, followed by Sting's John Dowland CD Songs From the Labyrinth and his DVD/CD set The Journey and the Labyrinth: The Music of John Dowland, with Joshua Bell's Voice of the Violin at no. 4. Soprano Anna Netrebko's Russian Album rose from eighth to fifth place, while Yundi Li's disc of Chopin and Liszt piano concertos tumbled from no. 5 to no. 22. Hilary Hahn's recording of violin concertos by Paganini and Spohr, which had slipped to no. 22 last week, bounced back to no. 12.
The new arrival on the Billboard classical crossover chart this week, at no. 20, is A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane by the Turtle Island String Quartet. And while the top three spots are still held by Josh Groban's Awake and two discs by Il Divo, this has been a good week for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir: its Broadway album, Showtime, leapt from no. 16 to no. 4, while two of the group's other titles, Then Sings My Soul (no. 13) and Love Is Spoken Here (no. 16), returned to the chart.