Brief Notes

Beethoven Symphonies Nos 1 & 3 Gould Piano Trio et al Naxos 8.574039 While Hummel’s chamber-scale arrangements of Beethoven could never match the originals for oomph, they are deftly crafted. Elegant performances like these help their cause. ( JP) ★★★★

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 Vienna Philharmonic et al DG 483 7505 You’re in safe hands with the Vienna

Phil here. The final symphony in the orchestra’s complete Beethoven cycle, this recording is beautifully controlled and brings new depths to the score.

(FP) ★★★★★

Braga Santos Chamber Works Quarteto Lopes-graça et al

Toccata Classics TOCC 0207

Folky and atmospheric, much of the Portuguese Braga Santos’s chamber music has surprising hints of early 20th-century Englishness about it. A shame about the bathroomy recorded sound. ( JP) ★★★

Castelnuovo-tedesco

Piano Works

Angelo Arciglione (piano)

Digressione Music DCTT100

There’s an air of romance and nostalgia in this luminous set of solo piano pieces by the Italian composer, written while exiled in the US. Performed with poise and clarity. (MB) ★★★

Dandrieu Magnificats Jean-baptiste Robin (organ)

Versailles CVS023

Early 18th-century Dandrieu’s organ music springs to life on the contemporaneous Clicquot in the chapel at Versailles, with its sumptuous reeds, velvety cornet and mighty plein jeu.

(OC) ★★★★

Dupont • Benoit Piano Concertos Howard Shelley (piano) et al

Hyperion CDA68264

Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series stops off in 1850s Belgium to bring us two pleasant, if unremarkable, works. Soloist Howard Shelley adds plenty of sparkle, mind. (JP) ★★★★

Dussek Piano Sonatas Nos 1-3 etc Marek Toporowski (piano) DUX 1578 Three enjoyable sonatas belie little of the 1789 backdrop to their composition, when Dussek fled revolutionary Paris for London.

The Sufferings of the Queen of

France depicts Marie-antoinette’s execution. (RF) ★★★★

Eisler Lieder, Vol. 4 (1917-27) Holger Falk (baritone) et al

MDG 613 2126-2

As with previous releases, Halger Falk’s fourth survey of Eisler songs makes for riveting listening. Pianist Steffen Schleiermacher is a mesmerising partner, helping create often eerie, stark atmospheres.

(OC) ★★★★

riks E envalds

There Will Come Soft Rains etc The Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West Signum Classics SIGCD603 This varied, serene set of choral works only occasionally slips into schmaltzy territory. The choir shines when singing as an ensemble, bringing out E envalds’s clever vocal techniques superbly. (FP) ★★★

Philip Glass Orphée Suite etc

James Strauss (flute) et al

Orange Mountain Music OMM 0142 Though not as mournful as the ‘Venezuelan elegy’ title suggests, these drab arrangements for flute and orchestra are still pretty joyless. The recording balance is a tad awry. (JP) ★★

Mhairi Hall Piano Works

Mhairi Hall (piano)

Strath Records STRATH003CD

This mix of original and traditional airs makes for an enchanting listen as Hall pays homage to Scotland’s wild landscapes and inspiring women. An intimate and beguiling disc. (MB) ★★★

Haydn Piano Sonatas

John O’connor (piano) Steinway 30110 O’connor’s performances are sprightly, but there are some unevennesses of phrasing that, with close miking, are difficult to ignore. That said, the Irish pianist’s unostentatious playing captures Haydn’s gentle humour beautifully. (OC) ★★★

Hummel Piano Concertos Alessandro Commellato (fortepiano) et al Brilliant Classics 95894

The 1825 Böhm piano here adds character and charm to this duo of Hummel concertos. Despite several lapses in pitch, the vigour of the performance carries it through. (FP) ★★★★

Kancheli 33 Miniatures

George Vatchnadze (piano) et al

Piano Classics PCL10198

Kancheli’s delightful Miniatures for solo piano range in style from Satielike stillness to a melodious jazziness reminiscent of Gershwin. Characterfully played here, they’re an enjoyable discovery. ( JP) ★★★★

Daniel Lentz Endings(s) etc

Twilight String Orchestra et al

New World Records 80815-2

A striking pairing of works for string orchestra by the US composer; Continental Divide is utterly ravishing with its shifting harmonic textures, while Ending(s) is drenched in despair. (MB) ★★★★

Liszt The Complete Songs, Vol. 6 Julia Kleiter (soprano), Julius Drake (piano) Hyperion CDA68325

This excellent series continues with a selection performed exquisitely by soprano Julia Kleiter. At the programme’s heart are Liszt’s unmissable four settings of Victor Hugo. (RF) ★★★★

Saint-saëns Ascanio etc

Malmö Symphony Naxos 8.574033 Saint-saëns’s opera Ascanio is barely known today, but its ballet music contains the most delicious Renaissance pastiches. This, alongside a miscellany of other orchestral bits and bobs, makes for a delightful listen. (OC) ★★★★

Baltic Inspiration Works by Arvydas Malcys & P teris Vasks Ippolitov-ivanov Piano Quartet Naxos 8.574073

This collection of piano quartets showcases a breadth of stylistic influences. A worthy intro to the works, which exploit the instruments’ timbral possibilities to great effect. (FP) ★★★

Blooming Improvised Works

Bella Adamova & Michael Gees Challenge Classics CC72818

There’s no doubting the claim that Gees and Adamova are ‘exceptionally gifted improvisers’, but the resulting album is an acquired taste. Ten poems are the starting point for their taxing expedition. (RF) ★★

Jugendstil Songs by Berg et al Camilla Tilling (soprano), Paul Ravinius (piano) BIS BIS-2414

Camilla Tilling is on ravishing form in this beautifully paced album of Romantic and Expressionist songs; the balance between Tilling and Paul Ravinius’s sensitive playing is nigh-on perfect. (OC) ★★★★★

Limitless Works by Lisa Bielawa, Missy Mazzoli, Du Yun et al Jennifer Koh (violin) et al

Cedille CDR 9000191

It’s well worth spending time with this recording. Koh has collaborated with composers, who perform with her on this disc, to create a stimulating programme of duos inspired by topical social and emotional themes. (RF) ★★★★

Magnificat Choral Works by JS Bach, Kuhnau & Schelle Solomon’s Knot Sony 19075992622

A glittering debut recording for the musicians, whose live sound has been decanted beautifully here in celebration of three of Leipzig’s finest. Bach’s offering shines brightest. (MB) ★★★★★

My Outstretched Hand

Works by Aaron Jay Kernis et al San Francisco Girls Chorus et al Supertrain STR014

A brilliant concept: the girls chorus leads a line-up of works set to texts by and about young women. The sustained passages could be stronger, but overall a vivid and atmospheric listen. (FP) ★★★★

Plaisir d’amour Works by Bellini, Debussy, Fauré et al

Angela Gheorghiu (soprano) et al

Decca 483 4999

With songs in eight different languages, on paper this looks like it should be a varied feast. Yet the overall result is rather homogenous. Still, there’s more imagination in the piano playing. (RF) ★★

Saudades Piano Works by

Albéniz, Granados et al

Romain Nosbaum (piano)

Ars Produktion ARS 38 287

Sublime pianism in this bewitching selection of works from Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Argentina; each work pivots between melancholy and joy, love and loss. Gorgeous. (MB) ★★★★★ Reviewers: Michael Beek (MB),

Oliver Condy (OC), Rebecca Franks (RF),

Freya Parr (FP), Jeremy Pound ( JP)