Reissues

JS Bach Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin

Doremi DHR-8065-6 (1974) 130:22 mins (2 discs) These newly remastered archival recordings by violinist Theo Olof were made at the start of his decade-long leadership of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Warmly recommended. ★★★

François Couperin Premier livre de clavecin, Ordres I, II, III

Harmonia Mundi Gold HMG 5035152 (1970) 132:40 mins (2 discs)

Canadian keyboardist Kenneth Gilbert is a doyen of early music; his pioneering recording of Couperin’s Pièces de clavecin deserves its revival – these first three books shimmer. ★★★★

Crumb Metamorphoses (Book 1); Five Pieces for Piano

Mode mode 303 (1985/2017) 53:53 mins

In Crumb’s Metamorphoses dedicatee Margaret Leng Tan embraces every extended technique demanded – including cawing in Wheatfield with Crows (Vincent Van Gogh). ★★★★★

Dodgson Piano Sonatas Nos 2, 4 & 5

Claudio CC431-2 (1998) 59:10 mins

Bernard Roberts was a long-standing supporter of Stephen Dodgson’s six whimsical piano sonatas. In this first volume, No. 2’s jittery scherzo energises, while No. 4’s ominous cantabile delights. ★★★★