Brief Notes

Our collection of 25 further reviews includes poems, preludes and planets

Boccherini Stabat Mater etc Orchester Le Phénix et al Coviello Classics COV 91813 Boccherini’s take on the Stabat mater is largely restrained and reflective, with little in the way of showpiece dramatics. Soprano Núria Rial is an effortlessly elegant solosist. ( JP) ★★★★

Crumb Makrokosmos etc Yoshiko Shimizu (piano) et al Kairos 0015029KAI A brilliant exploration of George Crumb’s Makrokosmos, inspired by Bartók. Beauty, violence, peace and strange sounds emerge out of mysterious nocturnal worlds. (RF) ★★★★

Daugherty Night Owl Virginia Symphony Orchestra/joann Falletta Hampton Road Classics 012 Recorded at its live premiere, this is an evocative tone poem based on photos of an American landscape, its people and a long-gone steam railroad. Short at 24 minutes, but a total joy. (MB) ★★★★

Debussy Préludes, Book 1 etc Javier Perianes (piano) Harmonia Mundi HMM 902301 Where Alexander Melnikov chose a period Erard piano for Book 2 of the Préludes, Javier Perianes plumps for a modern Steinway to complete the set with Book 1. Both approaches work, and Perianes packs in the colour and detail here. (RF) ★★★★

Debussy • Ravel Piano Works Joseph Moog (piano) Onyx ONYX 4204 Some people like difficult lives. Here Joseph Moog decides to pair Debussy’s tricky Etudes with that other keyboard Everest, Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit. He meets all the technical challenges, and it’s an interesting listen. (RF) ★★★

Fauré Piano Works Nicolas Stavy (piano) BIS 2389 Ignore the rediscovered Sonate (it’s fussy and second-rate) and go straight for the D-flat Nocturne, played deliciously. Warm, inviting acoustic from BIS. A balm of a recording. (OC) ★★★★

Goldmark Symphony Poems Vol. 1 Bamberg Symphony Orchestra/fabrice Bollon CPO 555 160-2 No shortage of gorgeous orchestrations and soaring tunes here – Goldmark’s tone poems blend Wagner, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schumann, and are none the worse for it. (OC) ★★★★

Kuhnau Complete Sacred Works Opella Music, camerata lipsiensis/ Gregor Meyer CPO 555 190-2 Kuhnau, Bach’s predecessor at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, wrote utterly sublime cantatas and masses – the musicians here do them justice, and with a warm recorded sound. (OC) ★★★★

Olsen The Planets etc Signe Asmussen (soprano) et al Da Capo 8.226128 Five chamber works, four world premiere recordings. Combining oriental and western influences, Olsen’s style is often spare and infused with melancholy but, at times, quite beguiling. (JP) ★★★★

Ponce Orchestral Works Orquesta Sinfonica de San Luis Potosi/ José Miramontes Zapata Toccata Classics TOCC 0502 From the lushly atmospheric opening of Chapultepec to the boisterous finale of the Merlin Suite, this is a useful introduction to Ponce beyond the guitar. The playing has its ragged moments, alas. (JP) ★★

Quayle String Quartets Nos 1-3 Avalon String Quartet Naxos 8.559851 In his three string quartets Matthew Quayle recalls composers from Bach to Barber. He tackles everything from grief to the dislocation of modern life, although his style isn’t always distinctive. Good performances. (RF) ★★★

Schreck Christus, der Auferstandene Sachsischer Chamber Choir et al Rondeau ROP616566 Christ, the Risen One contains moments of beauty but it’s a long old listen and the music doesn’t often rise to the occasion. Chorus and soloists give it their best shot. (OC) ★★★

Schubert String Quartet No. 15 etc Stradivari Quartet RCA Red Seal 19075896212 Two fragments from incomplete Schubert quartets pave the way for the expansive G major Quartet, the composer’s last. The Stradivari Quartet is on neat though not inspirational form. (RF) ★★★

R Strauss • Wagner Chamber Works Norbert Anger (cello) et al Oehms OC 1701 Strauss and Wagner prove here that they are masters of chamber music as well as the operas they are most well known for. These pieces are full of passion, played here with conviction. (FP) ★★★★

Haydn Wood Orchestral Works BBC Concert Orchestra/gavin Sutherland Dutton Epoch CDLX 7357 There’s more than a hint of The Dambusters in Wood’s (much earlier) Festival March, which opens this set of mostly unrecorded – and wonderfully British – orchestral suites. Gems all. (MB) ★★★★

Angel Heart A Music Storybook Lisa Delan (soprano) et al Pentatone PTC 5186 731 Jeremy Irons is the captivating narrator in this gorgeous fairytale, accompanied by beautifully arranged songs, familiar and newly-minted. (OC) ★★★★

Au coeur des Alpes Folksongs from Switzerland Marie-claude Chappuis (mezzosoprano) et al Sony Classical 19075903102 A disc of Swiss folksongs sponsored by Gruyère producers? It may sound cheesy, but is really rather charming and, complete with yodelling, beautifully sung. ( JP) ★★★

Baïka Works by Khachaturian et al Nemanja Radulovi (violin) DG 479 7545 A fiery whirlwind of an album from the virtuosic Francoserbian violinist; the Khachaturian Violin Concerto and new takes on Scheherazade are fabulous showpieces. (MB) ★★★★★

Beyond Works by Liszt, Bach, Prokofiev et al Katharina Treutler (piano) ARS 38 261 Treutler delivers a dynamic selection of works exploring the vast capabilities of the piano with good sound quality. It won’t set the world alight, but it’s a pleasant listen. (FP) ★★★

The Bounds of Our Dreams Works by Ravel et al Alain Lefévre (piano) et al Analekta AN 2 8874-5 Between familiar Ravel and Rimskykorsakov is Walter Boudreau’s contemporary Asylum Concerto. As its name implies, it’s a rowdy beast, its demands well negotiated here by Alain Lefèvre. (JP) ★★★★

Music for My Love... Vol. 2 Works by David Matthews et al Ukranian Festival Orchestral/paul Mann Toccata Classics TOCC 0370 An impressive second collection of works dedicated to the late Yodit Tekle, with David Matthews’s A June Song a highlight among many. (MB) ★★★

Nature’s Solace Works by Schumann, Brahms et al Stephan Loges (bass-baritone) et al Signum Classics SIGCD554 Loges and Burnside are a responsive duo and this is an intuitive set of songs with real light and shade throughout. (FP) ★★★★

Ovation Works by Glass et al Angele Dubeau; La Pieta Analekta AN 2 8746 An eclectic concert recording placing Saintsaëns and Enescu alongside Glass, Richter, Einaudi, Morricone and Hisaishi; and they sit together very comfortably, too. (MB) ★★★

Seasons of Tango Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Emotion-orchestra et al Melody MEL CD 10 02544 This tango arrangement of the Four Seasons oscillates between familiar Baroque soundworlds to entirely new harmonic landscapes. Rip-roaring fun. (FP) ★★★★

Women of Music: Songs Works by Wieniawski, C Schumann et al Urszula Kryger (mezzo-soprano) et al Dux DUX 1524

Miniatures by female composers from the 19th and 20th centuries are often overlooked in recordings, despite their intelligent and impassioned writing, as this disc proves. Chaminade’s are delivered with particular power. (FP) ★★★ Reviewers: Michael Beek (MB), Oliver Condy (OC), Rebecca Franks (RF), Freya Parr (FP), Jeremy Pound ( JP)