Brief notes

This month’s selection features chapters, encores, myths, melodies and more

Boccherini Six Symphonies Orchestra of the 18th Century/ Marc Destrubé Glossa GCD921131 Boccherini’s affinity with Haydn is immediately apparent in these six lively symphonies, bursting with memorable melodies and busy polyphony. The Orchestra of the 18th Century’s renderings of these affable, bustling works have an attractive snap and tang to them. (SW) ★★★★★

Matthew Coleridge Requiem

The Choir Of Royal Holloway;

Southern Sinfonia/rupert Gough Convivium CR081

Like all good Requiem masses, Matthew Coleridge’s reaches into the soul and lifts it skyward, but his prominent cello lines throughout serve to maintain a vital, grounding thread. Additional works, such as the beautifully still And I saw Heaven, make this a recording to cherish. (MB) ★★★★★

P Harrison Chamber Works Robert Plane (clarinet); Gould Piano Trio Resonus RES10313

Here’s an important survey of Pamela Harrison (1915-90), yet another gifted woman composer whom history has overlooked. Unsurprisingly, these are all worldpremiere recordings; elegantly played, each is a lyrical, evocative and occasionally witty treat to be discovered. (MB) ★★★★

Jung Jaeil Listen

Jung Jaeil (piano); Budapest Scoring Orchestra Decca (digital only)

This doesn’t quite measure up to Jaeil’s first (and quite recent) Decca release. The plaintive piano melodies are pleasant enough, with some a little over-eager to tug at the heartstrings. The shadow of Craig Armstrong and Philip Glass lingers and I can’t gelp but feel I’ve heard it all before. (MB) ★★

Locatelli • Vivaldi Harmonic Labyrinth; Four Seasons

Chloe Chua (violin) et al

Pentatone PTC 5187 062

There’s a palpable energy in this detailed live recording, Chua’s album debut. The Vivaldi’s familiar characteristics dazzle in a performance that is way beyond the teenager’s 16 years, and she equally navigates Locatelli’s Harmonic Labyrinth with supreme confidence. (MB) ★★★★

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto Kirill Troussov (violin) et al

Orchid Classics ORC100214 (EP)

The first in a series of live EPS, the much-loved Mendelssohn sits well on Troussov’s ‘Brodsky’ Stradivari of 1702. To the first movement he brings a nervy, surging energy, while in the third he charges ahead, almost stumbling, but conveying the thrill of highwire live performance. (CS) ★★★★

Nielsen Symphonies Nos 1 & 3 Danish National Symphony Orchestra/ Fabio Luisi DG 486 3478

In Luisi’s hands, the Third Symphony enthrals at every level, from the high-octane thrills and spills of the opening Allegro espansivo to the evocative distant voices of the following Andante pastorale. The First Symphony fares well here too. ( JP) ★★★★★

Nielsen • Szymanowski

Violin Concertos

Anna Agafia (violin) et al Claves CD3057 Though a former figure skater and actor, Agafia is nevertheless a deeply committed violinist, who brings her sweet tone and dextrous technique to these highly charged concertos. Complementing the narrow vibrato is a steely, sinewy quality, infinitely capable of meeting – and matching – the works’ myriad technical challenges. (CS) ★★★★

Petersen Symphony No. 3

Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra Profil Medien PH22069

Wilhelm Petersen (1890-1957) was one of those poor souls snubbed for writing tonal music in an era when critical ears were largely turned elsewhere. This world premiere recording of his Third Symphony, with its Mahler-like fanfare opening and Brucknerian sense of scale, gives us a welcome hint of what we’ve been missing.

( JP) ★★★★

Kevin Puts The City etc Baltimore Symphony/marin Alsop Naxos 8.559926

The marimba provides propulsive, bubbling energy, although its lack of timbral variety can pall. Like any great metropolis, The City grabs your attention from the off and doesn’t let go. The meditative oboe concerto Moonlight seeks calm and resolution in a divided Trumpera US. (SW) ★★★

Schubert Mass in A f lat, D678 Kammerchor Stuttgart et al

Hänssler Classic HC22041

Though not entirely devoid of drama, this is not a blood-andthunder affair. What you do get, however, is a supremely elegant performance from Frieder Bernius and his forces, with a delightfully light touch in moments such as the Benedictus. ( JP) ★★★★

Turina Complete Piano Trios David Mata (violin), Aldo Mata (cello), Patricia Arauzo (piano)

IBS Classical IBS192022

Turina packed a lot into these four works for piano trio, from the sophistication of the Parisian salon to the folky charms of his Spanish homeland. On the one hand, these performances don’t skip as lightly as some; on the other, the players bring a certain weightiness to the music’s more cerebral moments. (JP) ★★★

Wellesz Chamber Music

Veles Ensemble et al

Toccata Classics TOCC0617

Wellesz matured in the early 20th-century Viennese world of Schoenberg et al, but spent his later decades in Oxford. You can hear both Austrian expressionism and English pastoralism in these late works, played with extraordinary sensitivity by the Veles Ensemble and friends. (SW) ★★★★

Big House Works by Haydn et al Ruisi Quartet Pentatone PTC 5187 040 This album unites works spanning four centuries, from Locke to Leith by way of Haydn. The Ruisis unify the programme with gorgeous, historically informed playing – delicately shaded and minimally vibrated, yet warm and welcoming. The new commission, Oliver Leith’s Big House, melts the harmonic language of his forebears to uneasy effect. (CS) ★★★★

Chapters – A Double Bass Story Works by Debussy, Ravel et al Dominik Wagner (double bass), Lauma Skride (piano) Berlin Classics 0302929BC Championing the ‘versatility’ of the double bass, this undoubtedly attractive album is nonetheless a little one note. Wagner’s interpretations are elegant and sensitive, betraying no hint of his instrument’s awkward bulk, but there are few faster or energetic pieces to balance a programme of unrelenting lyricism. (CS) ★★★

Encores Works by JS Bach et al Arioso Quartett Wien Gramola 99274 There’s much in this programme of postconcert bonbons to delight, and the Arioso Quartet are certainly capable and polished. A perfunctory, almost calculated, quality to the interpretations, however, robs them of flexibility and excitement. (CS) ★★★

Folk Themes Works by Coleridgetaylor, Komitas, Liszt et al

Karine Poghosyan (piano)

Navona NV6495

Piano music based on folk motifs from Britain/sierra Leone to Hungary. The music often surges forth with a folkish zeal, and the warm, lyrical performances reach their expressive peak in the works by Poghosyan’s fellow Armenian, Komitas. (SW) ★★★

Mirrored in Time Works by Dowland, Dessner, Muhly et al Jörgen van Rijen (trombone); Alma Quartet BIS BIS-2616

The Concertgebouw principal trombonist curates a selection showcasing his instrument’s dynamic and emotional chamber possibilities by pairing new works with old. Whatever you make of the pairings (some work, others are at odds), it’s always a pleasure to hear an instrument in something of a new light and Van Rijen’s gleams. (MB) ★★★

Myths and Melodies – Music between the Wars Works by Prokofiev, Messiaen, Ravel et al Stefan Hempel (violin); Daniel Seroussi (piano) Audite AUDITE97810

A nicely curated selection of interwar works for violin and piano, including soulful miniatures from Prokofiev and a somewhat rambling Messiaen Fantaisie. Korngold’s beguiling incidental pieces from Much Ado About Nothing recall a more straightforward prewar world. (SW) ★★★★

Piano Miniatures From China Works by Tan Dun et al

Edward Han Jiang (piano)

Grand Piano GP929

Infused with the spirit of Debussy, Tan Dun’s delightful Eight Memories in Watercolor is the highlight of this collection of short pieces that range from sprightly to dreamily evocative. Edward Han Jiang’s own Children’s Corner is great fun too. (JP) ★★★★

Reviewers: Michael Beek (MB),

Jeremy Pound (JP), Charlotte Smith (CS),

Steve Wright (SW)