Our selection this month includes Myths, Unsung Heroes and a little Sondheim

Asger Baden If the Music Stops They’ll Eat Him Up

Asger Baden (piano, electronics)

Neue Meister 0302077NM

There’s a delicious ambiguity about this solo effort from the Danish composerpianist. It’s a rich and complex soundworld of piano, percussive effects, strings and synths but with an improvisational quality. Baden paints with sound, and the pictures are immersive and sometimes unsettling. (MB) ★★★

Bartók Violin Sonatas etc

Franziska Pietsch (violin),

Maki Hayashida (piano)

Odradek ODRCD419

Pietsch and Hayashida are uncompromising in their approach to the pair of sonatas. The works’ jagged edges and silken curves are expertly navigated, while the shorter folk dances afford the listener several moments of unmitigated pleasure. (MB) ★★★★

Bowen • Coleridge-taylor • Hinton Chamber Works

Tippett Quartet et al

Dutton Epoch CDLX7386

There’s a dazzling sheen to both the recording and performance of these British chamber works. I’ll always love the lilting Larghetto of Coleridge-taylor’s Piano Quintet in G minor, but it’s a real treat to discover Arthur Hinton and his own colourful Piano Quintet. Bowen’s Phantasie positively fizzes. (MB) ★★★★★

E Coates London Suite etc Slovak National Symphony Naxos 8.555178

Okay, this is a reissue of a 1992 recording but it’s too good not to share here. The orchestra brings just the right amount of fun and flair to these familiar works by one of Britain’s light music heroes. The London Suite is just the tip of an enjoyable iceberg. (MB) ★★★★

Gesualdo

Dolcissima mia vita – Madrigals Collegium Vocale Gent/ Philippe Herreweghe PHI LPH036

These one-to-apart performances are perfect for navigating the gnarly dissonances and extreme expression of Italy’s controversial Renaissance great, as emotions run from ecstasy to deepest pain. (JP) ★★★★★

Michael Harrison

Seven Sacred Names

Roomful of Teeth et al

Cantaloupe CA21157

This single, hourlong work by Michael Harrison is ethereal, embedded in a knotty,

Indian soundworld. Designed as a companion to Nature’s Hidden Dimension, a book by astrophysicist WHS Gebel, the work is made up of complex rhythmic patterns.

(FP) ★★★★

Hindemith

Symphony ‘Mathis der Maler’ etc ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra/marin Alsop

Naxos 8.574283

Hindemith’s reputation as a soulless, functional operator is belied by the three works here, which are, in turns, witty (Das Nusch-nuschi), eerily unsettling (Sancta Susanna) and dramatic (Symphony ‘Mathis der Maler’).

All are performed with admirable flair and passion by Alsop and her Viennese forces. ( JP) ★★★★

Ivanovs Symphonies Nos 15 & 16 Latvian National Symphony Orchestra SKANI LMIC126

Edgy, angst-ridden, occasionally a little sinister and often enthralling, the Latvian Janis Ivanovs’s soundworld in these symphonies is not a million miles away from that of his contemporary Shostakovich. Well worth exploring. ( JP) ★★★★

Glen Gabriel Jansson

Norse Mythology Various Artists Audio Network ANW3521

This is a calling card for Jansson’s talents as an orchestral storyteller and ought to get him plenty more offers of work in movies. Broad orchestral strokes and hearty choir are brought together in impressive style, and the melodies are good. (MB) ★★★

Medtner • Rachmaninov • Tchaikovsky Piano Works Nikolay Medvedev (piano) Quartz QTZ2143

There’s something wonderfully unshowy about Medvedev’s performance here, despite the glittering quality of such works as Tchaikovsky’s Grand Sonata in G major. Other pianists might be tempted to showboat, but this is a pianist with poise and precision. (MB) ★★★★

Paderewski • Szymanowski Violin Sonatas

Alena Baeva (violin),

Vadym Kholodenko (piano)

Frederick Chopin Institute NIFCCD075 There’s plenty of brilliant discoveries here by Szymanowski and Paderewski, particularly the latter’s Violin Sonata in A minor. It’s played with great virtuosity and confidence, qualities which are occasionally missing from the rest of the programme. (FP) ★★★

Pratté Grand Concert for harp and orchestra

Delphine Constantin-reznik (harp) et al BIS BIS-2570

A formidably talented harpist, Antoine Edouard Pratté was the toast of Swedish music circles in the mid-19th century. Deftly played and recorded in superb sound, this concerto plus two solo works make a fine introduction to his compositions. ( JP) ★★★★

Sondheim A Little Night Music – Suite (arr. Eric Stern)

Opus Two

Bridge BR4010

Short but very sweet, this suite by Eric Stern based on Sondheim’s classic musical is a winner. Opus Two – aka violinist William Terwilliger and pianist Andrew Cooperstock – have a ball with the familiar tunes, which are perfectly suited to this intimate chamber setting. (MB) ★★★★

Stamitz Four Symphonies Kölner Akademie

CPO 555 3442

For an overall impression of Stamitz’s style here, think of Haydn in one of his feistier moods. The real star of this album, though, is the Le jour variable Symphony, which is like an earthier forerunner of Beethoven’s Pastoral.

( JP) ★★★★

Crossroads

Works by Previn, Schemmer et al Aleksey Semenenko (violin),

Artem Belogurov (piano)

BIS BIS-2545

As well as a violin sonata by André Previn, BBC

New Generation Artist Aleksey Semenenko and his duo partner present premiere recordings of jazz-influenced sonatas written in the 1980s. The Schemmer is a particularly joyful discovery. (FP) ★★★

Labyrinths

Works by Max Richter et al Orchestra of the Swan

Signum Classics SIGCD694

Following on from its debut album Timelapse, the Orchestra of the Swan presents a wildly eclectic programme, which makes for an exciting listen. While some of the ensemble playing could be tighter, the solos are ethereal and thoughtful. (FP) ★★★

Of All Joys

Works by Dowland, Gibbons, Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass et al Attacca Quartet

Sony Classical 19439936062

The new release from the Brooklyn four-piece places Philip Glass’s String Quartet No. 3 at the centre, alongside works by Pärt, Allegri and Gibbons. Despite some lapses in tuning and cohesion, it’s the well-considered programme that carries this album. (FP) ★★★

Paganiniana

Works by Paganini, Schnittke, Kreisler, Milstein et al

Pavel porcl (violin)

Hänssler HC20069

The works featured on this recording are either by Paganini himself or have been written in tribute to the great virtuoso. Despite an unforgiving acoustic, porcl delivers a bold, dynamic performance. Plenty to enjoy here. (FP) ★★★★

Vision / Unsung Heroine

Works by Bingen, D’aurenga, Ventadorn, Rudel et al

The Telling

First Hand Records FHR123

Vision and Unsung Heroine were concertplay films released by The Telling in 2020, the soundtracks of which are heard here. Both are austere, serene and highly evocative, telling the stories of Hildegard von Bingen and Comtessa de Dia, a 13th-century female troubadour. (FP) ★★★★

Wonderful World

Works by Fauré, Strauss, Gershwin et al

Christian-pierre La Marca (cello) et al; Orchestre de Paris

Naïve V7362

Whether in Fauré and Saint-saëns or Gershwin and Einaudi, much of La Marca’s recital has the feel of a laid-back soirée in the company of musical chums. Knottier moments such as Turkish composer Fazil Say’s Four Cities provide a welcome change of pace. ( JP) ★★★

Reviewers: Michael Beek (MB), Freya

Parr (FP), Jeremy Pound ( JP)