Rostropovich BACH Cello Suites (2 DVD)

 CELLO SUITES - DVD 1

CELLO SUITES - DVD 2

• Subtítulos: ‏ : ‎ Inglés, Alemán, Francés, Español
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Xuefei Yang / Elias String Quartet BACH Concertos

CONCERTOS

St. Lawrence String Quartet / Todd Palmer OSVALDO GOLIJOV Yiddishbbuk

This is an amazing recording. It will leave you drained of emotion and speechless with admiration... Lullaby and Doina incorporates Jewish and Gypsy themes, part slow and sad, part wild and motoric, with a radiant violin solo soaring above the woodwinds. Yiddishbbuk...is inspired by a line from an apocryphal psalm: "No one sings as purely as those who are in the deepest hell..." It's first movement commemorates three children who perished in the Nazi concentration camp Terezin. Golijov evokes their anguish in music that is by turns wild, raucous, slashing, mysterious, eerie, and always heart-rending. Tremolos flutter up above aching dissonances, alternating with organlike, sustained chords; slides and crashes sound like strangled death cries. Dreams and Prayers...are depicted in music that is calm, mysterious, meditative and devout, but intermittently breaks into traditional dance tunes, and builds up to several tremendous climaxes. The clarinet speaks, sings, sobs, screams, and prays in true klezmer style. The playing is fabulous, the total effect mesmerizing, but the real miracle is that this young Canadian quartet and American clarinetist can identify so completely with a culture surely worlds away from their own. (Edith Eisler)

Leif Ove Andsnes SCHUBERT Late Piano Sonatas

Leif Ove Andsnes has made many excellent recordings for Virgin and EMI over the long years of his association with those two labels. One thinks of his harrowing Janácek, his exhilarating Grieg, his ravishing Chopin, and his staggering Nielsen discs. Unfortunately, this two-disc set coupling Schubert's last four piano sonatas is not one of Andsnes' better efforts. It's not that his technique isn't as impressive as before. In the stormiest pages of the C minor Sonata's opening Allegro and the thorniest pages of the A major Sonata's central Andantino, Andsnes articulates every line, harmony, and rhythm with the utmost clarity and precision. It's that Andsnes seems out of touch with the spirit behind the music. Where one wants lyrical rapture in the A major Sonata's closing Allegretto, dramatic tension in the B flat major Sonata's opening Molto moderato, and intimacy in the same sonata's central Andante sostenuto, Andsnes seems stuck on the surface of the music, turning in perfectly balanced but ultimately uninvolving performances. Recorded in three different places at four different times between 2001 and 2006, EMI's digital sound here is nevertheless consistently clear, round, and deep. (James Leonard)

Jascha Heifetz THE MASTER VIOLINIST

The majority of these performances will be very familiar to Heifetz collectors and so will the transfers. Discs one and two were remastered in 2006 whilst the bulk of the remaining pieces date to work carried out in 1992-93. The selection certainly meets with my approval ranging across the repertoire as it does and I particularly commend the selection of the smaller pieces which occupies discs five and six and the 1935 Bach recordings enshrined in disc four. The sole item from the 1920s is also here; the Menuet I and II from the Partita in E which was recorded on an early electric in 1925 in Camden, New Jersey.  

Heifetz had recorded the Sibelius with Stokowski at the end of 1934 but it remained unissued at the time and didn’t materialise until it was issued in the multi-volume set devoted to the ‘Philadelphia Orchestra Centennial Collection - Historic Broadcasts and Recordings 1917-1998.’ His first commercially issued recording was with Beecham and this justly famous traversal kicks off this set. I’d just note that its ethos is vividly at a remove from the performances of Anja Ignatius and Georg Kulenkampff to cite two near contemporaneous performances. The subtly sustained expressivity exemplified by Heifetz can be heard at full tilt here. For the Tchaikovsky and Glazunov Concertos he was partnered by Barbirolli, who had earlier recorded the Tchaikovsky with a very different Russian player, Mischa Elman. This represents probably Heifetz’s best playing in the Tchaikovsky – at thirty-six he was at his peak. The Glazunov is virile, taut, expressive, full of shading, very different from Milstein’s more aristocratic approach. On this evidence it’s a pity Barbirolli didn’t explore the Glazunov symphonies.
CD 1 - CD 2
CD 3 - CD 4
CD 5 - CD 6

Manuel Barrueco BACH & DE VISÉE

Robert de Visée The so-called 'baroque' guitar is a recognizable ancestor of today's classic instrument, but whereas the modern instrument has six single strings, the earlier one had five octave- or unison-tuned pairs of strings. These latter usually stood in some form of re-entrant tuning i.e. the lowest-placed strings were not always the lowest-pitched ones, and this produced ambiguous textures (which, if any, are the bass notes) that the modern guitar cannot imitate. At the same time it is possible to produce adaptations that are satisfactory in their musical effect, and the unidentified arranger of the items by Visee in this recording has done just that. Visee, court guitarist to Louis XIV of France, and one of the most refined composers of music for the five-course guitar (all those who composed for this idiosyncratic instrument also played it), left 12 suites of 'baroque' constitution, some clearly inviting the player to choose his movements (as Francois Couperin did in his ordres), as well as a number of other separate pieces. Suite No. 11 may be and here is played in its entirety. Lully was Visee's superior at court but the tribute paid in the arrangement of the Ouverture from Lully's ballet La grotte de Versailles was a sincere one. Barrueco delivers this ornament-encrusted music in magnificent style.
The items of Bach deserve no lesser encomium, for Barrueco is one of the most cultured guitarists on the present world stage. The annotator, Matthias Henke, bypassing the ambiguity of its inscription, avers that ''[BWV998] can be termed an original work for the lute'', a view not widely shared even by lutenists, who believe it to have been intended for the lute-harpsichord. Indeed, the scholar Eugen Dombois considers the allegro to be the least likely of the three movements to have been meant for the lute, but according to Henke ''[it] takes us entirely back into the world of the lute''. Fortunately, no such doubts attend the quality of Barrueco's performance of either this (probably assembled, rather than originally written in that form) triptych or BWV1004, borrowed from the violin and much in vogue with guitarists at the moment. However, few are likely to match the poise, style and comprehensive command that Barrueco brings to the music in this finely engineered recording, one of the best I have heard for a long time.' (Gramophone)

Manuel Barrueco / Plácido Domingo RODRIGO Concierto de Aranjuez - Fantasia para un Gentilhombre

This CD contains the umpteenth recordings of the Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia para an gentilhombre, of which there are already so many versions that the nomination of an all-time best defies my humble capacities. Suffice it to say that these are amongst the very best and, if these works are absent from your collection then [this] will serve you very well. Barrueco and [David] Russell are members of the guitar's top-drawer elite - giving performances of crystalline clarity - and they are both excellently supported by their orchestras... Barrueco adds two solos, neither one yet dulled by overfamiliarity. The Zarabanda lejana, Rodrigo's first solo work for the guitar, is given with the utmost expressivity, and Un tiempo rue Italica famosa, a tribute to the history of a once-famous Roman city near Seville, is delivered with panache; rapid passages in Rodrigo's guitar works are almost invariably scales, here (and elsewhere) appropriately testifying to the influence of flamenco.
Barrueco has one more trump card to play - his partnership with Plácido Domingo in four songs, selected from those for which Rodrigo himself has made adaptations for the guitar of the original piano accompaniments (the texts are given in four languages). Their coming together was no public relations exercise, for both are longstanding devotees of Rodrigo's music, and it shows. The partnership extends through the whole of this recording, in which Domingo also conducts the orchestra, an exercise in which both parties demonstrate their happy meeting of minds. (Gramophone)

Martha Argerich CHAMBER MUSIC

This 8 CD boxed set is another in a series to commemorate the art of Martha Argerich in her 70^th birthday year. How lucky we all are as music-lovers to have the chance - where we don’t already own them - of obtaining these fantastic performances by a true artist. The title of one of the articles in the accompanying booklet is “The spirit of collaboration”. That sums up this set, for Argerich has, for many years, eschewed solo performances in favour of the collaborative process where she shares the platform with a whole range of world class colleagues, some very well known and some less so. You can be sure that if she wants to play with them they are at the very top of their musical game. I recently reviewed her solo and duos set which I described as “an embarrassment of riches”; this is an even greater one: 8 CDs of performances of the works of 9 composers in which she is accompanied by a total of 23 different musicians! The choice of repertoire cannot be faulted, involves plenty of variety and shows Argerich as a perfect fellow musician whether in duos, trios, quartets, quintets or septet. (Steve Arloff)  

 

Alfred Cortot / Jacques Thibaud / Pablo Casals BEETHOVEN - SCHUBERT - MENDELSSOHN - SCHUMANN - HAYDN Piano Trios BRAHMS Double Concerto

Unlike string quartets, which had behind them a tradition of stable partnership, piano trios were mostly adventitious ensembles until in 1906, at Cortot's instigation, he, Thibaud and Casals got together, rapidly acquiring a unique reputation and an enthusiastic following. Each of the three had already made a name as a soloist but though their characters and temperaments differed widely one from another, they fused together in a way remarkable for the unanimity of their musical thinking and their apparent spontaneity of expression. In the quarter-century of the ensemble's existence, its repertoire, as Jean Loubier's excellent detailed note here reveals, consisted of 30 works, about a third of which however were played once only: the recordings gathered here are of the works the team played most often.
The performance of Schubert's B flat Trio made in 1926 when none of the three artists had yet reached the age of 50, was one of the earliest great classics of the recorded chamber music catalogue (many of us treasured for years those four 78rpm discs), and its present transfer to CD serves to show that one's recollected admiration is not merely nostalgic. This is a vivid recording, with splendid drive in the first movement; and Casals opens the Andante with a beautiful cantabile tone yet avoids sentimentality. The recording, a bit shallow, is nevertheless astonishingly good, considering when it was made. Beethoven's Kakadu Variations, from the same sessions, have an extraordinarily wide dynamic range but there is some obtrusive noise at the start. Has any work except Dohnanyi's Variations on a Nursery Song ever contained such a misleadingly grave long introduction to an ingenuous theme? Thibaud's light, dancing solo variation is a delight.
From the technical point of view the 1927 recordings are much less good. No fewer than four engineers are jointly credited: did they disagree among themselves? At any rate, the Haydn G major Trio is much too closely miked, producing a thin whistle on the violin and edgy tone in the Poco Adagio (the second half of which is affected by scratchy surface noise). Performance-wise too this is disappointing: the famous 'Gipsy' Rondo starts untidily and there are several imperfections of ensemble later in the semiquavers. Mendelssohn's D minor Trio, recorded at the same time, is set a little more distantly, but the string tone in the Andante (which tends to plod) and the Scherzo is unpleasantly wiry. The best things here are the turbulence of the first movement, Casals's gentle calm in its second subject, and Cortot's sensitive shaping of the theme of the Andante. The Mozart/Beethoven variations for cello and piano are marred by gritty, crackly sound.
In 1928 the artists moved into London's Small Queen's Hall for the other two trios here. The sound produced, though variable, shows a distinct improvement; the piano tone is fresher in the Beethoven than the Schumann (where, probably because of the instrument's almost inevitable domination, the engineers seem to have distanced it more). The Schumann is notable for the warm, spaciously romantic reading of the first movement and the vitality of the finale (which should have followed the slow movement immediately, without the gap inserted here): Casals can be heard grunting from time to time. There is some surface noise in the last two movements of the Archduke Trio, and Cortot lets the team down with some wrong notes and untidy trills, but overall this is an impressive performance, particularly in the lightness of the Scherzo and the sense of mystery in its Trio.
Cortot's technical unreliability again becomes noticeable in the Kreutzer Sonata, recorded in Paris in 1929: he is fractionally behind Thibaud in places, and his left hand makes a bad boss-shot at the sonata's final bars. But there is a wonderful sense of urgency and forward impetus in the first movement, and Thibaud brings a gentle grace (despite some portamentos that in the present day may appear exaggerated) to the theme of the Andante's variations. A fortnight earlier the three colleagues had met in Barcelona to record the Brahms Double Concerto with Casals's own orchestra (which he had founded ten years earlier) conducted by Cortot. The start of the recording is dispiriting, with cramped orchestral sound and thin tone from the soloists, but the engineers somehow manage to adjust matters, and for the bulk of the work the sonority and presence worthily reflect Thibaud and Casals's intense fire and emotionalism. These three historically important and well-filled discs valuably document these great artists.' (Gramophone)

Andreas Brantelid / Marianna Shirinyan / Vilde Frang CHOPIN Cello Sonata - Piano Trio - Grand Duo

It is grand to hear novice players so successfully take on three of Chopin's chamber pieces, the Cello Sonata, Piano Trio, and Grand Duo for cello and piano. There have certainly been great recordings of these works in the past -- one thinks immediately of those by Mstislav Rostropovich and Jacqueline du Pré -- but the energy, enthusiasm, and sincerity that cellist Andreas Brantelid, pianist Marianna Shirinyan, and violinist Vilde Frang bring to this music more than justifies preserving their performances. Brantelid has a big but nuanced tone, an elegant but impressive technique, and an obvious affinity for the music, and he is well-matched by Shirinyan's polished technique and empathic accompaniments and Frang's easy virtuosity and lyrical interpretation. The ensemble is poised but comfortable and the interpretations are cogent and compelling. Captured in close but smooth digital sound, these performances deserve to be heard by anyone who loves this music, or great chamber music playing. (James Leonard)

Vilde Frang NIELSEN - TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concertos

Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang made her debut in 2010 with a pairing of concertos by Sibelius and Prokofiev. She repeats the formula here with works by Nielsen and Tchaikovsky, a somewhat risky move. But the fact is that she's exceptionally good in these repertories. Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, is in a way a work constrained by its tremendous virtuosity and the long performing tradition of which it is a part. It's hard to come up with something really new to say to it, but Frang makes a strong contribution with a graceful reading that avoids the tendency to push the big passages of the outer movement to a point just short of (or, in concert, just past) where a string breaks from the effort to get maximum volume out of it. Instead she favors detailed shaping of complicated stretches of passagework. It's quite distinctive, but the real news here is the Nielsen Violin Concerto, Op. 33, which had its premiere in 1912 and is not terribly often performed. It's a complex work in a mixture of idioms, from what annotator David Fanning calls neo-Baroque (actually much of it anticipates the sparkling neo-Mozartian language of the opera Maskarade), to developing figuration that anticipates the structures of Nielsen's symphonic works, to Tchaikovskian passages. These last help tie the program together in a novel way: how did Nielsen, a generation after Sibelius, react to the sounds of Tchaikovsky in his head? The Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Eivind Gullberg Jensen is not much more than workmanlike, but this is overall a fresh treatment of some highly familiar music and some that is less so.  (James Manheim)

Vilde Frang / Michail Lifits BARTÓK - GRIEG - R. STRAUSS Violin Sonatas

Following her successful debut album of violin concertos by Jean Sibelius and Sergey Prokofiev, Vilde Frang turns to chamber music for her second release on EMI, in a program of violin sonatas by Edvard Grieg, Béla Bartók, and Richard Strauss. These are not obscure works, but they are infrequently played and less often recorded, so Frang's choices make the disc interesting, as well as a bit of a gamble. Grieg's Violin Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 8, is characteristically lyrical and melancholy, despite the piece's predominantly major tonality, and the tunefulness of this youthful work makes it immediately accessible. The Sonata for Solo Violin by Bartók is austere, angular, and harmonically bracing, so listeners who expect a relaxing experience should instead prepare for a challenging modernist work that requires considerable concentration. Strauss' Violin Sonata in E flat major, Op. 18, returns to the sweet melodious strains of Romanticism, yet because it is an early work, it will surprise listeners who don't know that it bears more resemblance to the music of Schumann than to that of the mature Strauss. In the two sonatas for violin and piano, Frang and her accompanist Michail Lifits are completely in accord, and their interpretations of the music are fully realized in robust rhythms, sympathetic exchanges, and long-breathed lines. In the Bartók, Frang carries the music alone, and is thus exposed to the bête noire of solo violin playing, the apparent scratchiness of double and triple stops. These, along with Bartók's strident dissonances and dry expressions, may make this sonata difficult to appreciate on first hearing. But because the sonata places demands on both performer and listener, Frang was bold to include it and deserves credit for an exceptional performance. (James Leonard)

Sergey, Lusine & Vladimir Khachatryan BRAHMS - BACH - RAVEL - CHAUSSON - WAXMAN Music for Violin and Piano

This wide-ranging programme in EMI's Debut series is like a musical calling-card for Sergey Khachatryan (born in Armenia in 1985), who submits himself to daunting tests of virtuosity (triumphantly surmounted in Ravel and Waxman) and musicianship. And it's his musical abilities that make the biggest impact, along with his fine, rich, malleable tone.
In the Waxman it's the dark, fatalistic side of Carmen that predominates. The Brahms springs no interpretive surprises--the second and fourth movements are particularly successful, the Adagio splendidly expressive at a flowing tempo, the finale played with driving energy.
In Brahms and Ravel, Khachatryan is partnered by his sister (she, too, looks very young in the photos, but her age isn't stated). Her contribution is very positive, especially in the Brahms finale and the later stages of Tzigane, when both violin and piano revel in the music's kaleidoscopic textures while having fun with idiomatic rubato and tempo variation.
The Bach 'Chaconne' is impressive, too, for its polish and fine rhythmic control, but Khachatiyan does have something to learn about playing 18th-century music — in particular, to use the slurs to add light and shade to the phrasing, rather than ironing out the difference between slurred and separate notes. His father provides a very sensitive accompaniment in the Chausson. This is another beautiful performance, though ideally I'd have liked more tonal variety and sense of culmination as the Poenze progresses.
Sergey Khachatryan will, I'm sure, further extend his range and capabilities, but meanwhile it's a great pleasure to make the acquaintance of such a talented artist. (Duncan Druce, Gramophone)

Alison Balsom ARUTIUNIAN - MacMILLAN - ZIMMERMANN Trumpet Concertos

British trumpet player Alison Balsom has established herself as one of the leading performers on her instrument in the early 21st century. This 2012 album features three modern and contemporary concertos for trumpet. Balsom is phenomenally secure in her technique and in the musicality she brings to each of the pieces. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lawrence Renes, and the Scottish Ensemble, led by Jonathan Morton, provide colorful and energetic accompaniment. Bernd Alois Zimmermann's 1954 Trumpet Concerto is the standout work on the album. It is certainly one of the most distinguished, substantial, and immediately appealing trumpet concertos of the 20th century. It is subtitled "Nobody knows de troubles I see," and uses the melody of the spiritual as the basis for its sophisticated musical development. Like many of Zimmermann's works, its themes are political and he changed the title from "seen" to "see" to highlight the ongoing struggle for racial equality throughout the world, with pointed reference to the lingering racist attitudes of National Socialism in post-war Germany. It's an intensely dramatic and inventive piece; Zimmermann interweaves the original spiritual with jazz influences and modernist techniques in a way that's emotionally direct and thoroughly engrossing. Balsom negotiates its extreme demands with complete assurance. The Trumpet Concerto in A flat by Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian, written in 1950, bears the stamp of the Soviet demand that music be immediately entertaining for the proletariat. The concerto is tuneful and uses folk material and for the most part sounds like it could be the soundtrack for an "exotic" adventure film. What it lacks in musical sophistication it makes up for in the opportunities it gives the soloist to really shine melodically. James MacMillan's 2010 concerto Seraph, which Balsom premiered, is an inoffensive but not especially profound work, characterized by pleasant, lyrical note-spinning. EMI's sound is pristine, balanced, and nicely ambient. (Stephen Eddins)

Eroica Trio BEETHOVEN Triple Concerto Op. 56 - Piano Trio Op. 11

 Beethoven's music is ideally suited to the Eroica Trio's vigorous style, and, for this release, the group has chosen two works that offer ample opportunities to flex its musical muscles--the Triple Concerto and the Opus 11 trio. The Triple Concerto is a study of contrasts and textures, an exploration by the composer of all the possibilities available through various instrumental, thematic, and harmonic combinations. The members of Eroica play with their usual intensity, determination, and skillful musicianship. The work has long been a staple of their repertoire, and their complete familiarity with the piece is apparent as they adroitly move through it with confidence and a sense of purpose. The conductor-less forces of the Prague Chamber Orchestra prove themselves to be capable, responsive collaborators.
Beethoven originally composed his Opus 11 trio for clarinet, cello, and piano, but later created a version for the standard piano trio instrumentation. The work's technical demands make it an ideal vehicle through which the ensemble can express its collective virtuosity, perfect for its full-throttle approach. Eroica gives an energetic reading of the work, playing it with gusto and panache, as well as great finesse. This well-executed program is a fine showcase of the group's distinctive musical personality. (ArkivMusic)

Martha Argerich and Friends LIVE FROM LUGANO 2010

Martha Argerich's involvement with chamber music has dominated the later part of her career, so it's easy to think of her name with the words "and friends" tacked on, and to visualize the large and diverse retinue of famous musicians who have recorded with her. This triple-disc box set from EMI Classics presents live recordings from the 2010 Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, several of them collaborations with Argerich, notably in works by Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, and Béla Bartók, as well as a performance of Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, where she is the featured soloist with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana. Fans of Argerich, for whom money is no object, may buy this set on the strength of these four recordings, overlooking the eight other performances that do not include her. But other listeners may balk, feeling that the packaging is misleading and the program is lopsided, offering much less of Argerich than the title and cover photo suggest. In any event, these performances are a mixed lot in a program that includes loud, bravura playing and quieter pieces and subtler reflections, and from a roster of some of the leading musicians regularly performing in Europe. Violinist Renaud Capuçon and cellist Gautier Capuçon are perhaps the best known, and each performs with Argerich in pieces by Schumann. Celebrated pianist Stephen Kovacevich also joins Argerich in the Bartók Sonata for two pianos and percussion, so this certainly is noteworthy for the match-up. But the rest of the set should be sampled before purchase, because name recognition is not enough to guarantee satisfaction. EMI's sound quality is good, considering the concert venue. (Blair Sanderson)

Martha Argerich and Friends LIVE FROM LUGANO 2011

The Martha Argerich Project, presented annually at Lugano, Switzerland, has yielded many exciting sets of live recordings for EMI, all starring its namesake but prominently featuring many musicians she enjoys working with, both established artists and rising talents. Live from Lugano 2011 encapsulates the tenth of these festivals, and this three-disc package offers selections by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Ravel, and a name new to many of the participants: Juliusz Zarebski. This 19th century Polish composer is represented by a piano quintet he composed a few months before his death in 1885 at age 31, and Argerich has recorded this piece for the first time here. The obscurity of the work may compel some listeners to play it first, and that's not a bad way to explore the set, which need not be appreciated in sequential order. Zarebski's music is not widely known, but the quintet's brooding Romanticism and passionate outpourings hold a special appeal that Argerich's fans will respond to immediately. Once the Zarebski work has been heard, the rest of the program can be absorbed at leisure. The mix of a piano concerto, chamber pieces, and keyboard works is evenly spread out, so there is little chance of aural fatigue, and the variety of musicians and styles keeps the tone of the proceedings fresh. Of course, there is a great deal of vigorous and splashy playing -- note especially Argerich's high octane performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major -- and rough edges abound with all this virtuosity, so don't expect the most polished or refined performances. EMI's sound is quite good for concert recording, though the focus on the instruments is a little variable, due to the microphone set-ups.(Blair Sanderson)

Martha Argerich and Friends LIVE FROM THE LUGANO FESTIVAL 2006

All too often, chamber music collaborations between established, accomplished soloists do not yield favorable results. Merely putting together virtuosic musicians does not mean they will play well together. Such is not the case with this recording of Martha Argerich's 2006 festival in Lugano. This album represents an amazing synthesis of well-known artists, musicians just coming into their own fame, as well as compositions ranging from standard repertoire to rarely heard works. Argerich's decision to include violinist Renaud Capuçon and brother Gautier Capuçon was wise indeed, as their energetic and fiendishly virtuosic playing is nearly enough to carry the CD on its own. All of the music-making is simply top-notch, yet there are still ensembles that truly stand out. The first such remarkable performance is of Schumann's Piano Quartet, Op. 47, with Argerich herself at the helm joined by brothers Renaud and Gautier Capuçon and Lida Chen. The quartet breathes amazing new energy and life into a composition that is frequently given a backseat to the piano quintet. Schumann receives another boost in the performance of his Piano Trio, Op. 63, this time by pianist Nicholas Angelich joined again by the Capuçon brothers. Both of these Schumann interpretations could stand alone as reference recordings of the works. As for lesser-known works, the Taneyev Piano Quintet is perhaps the weakest piece on the program primarily due to the slightly poorer sound quality. The three-disc set concludes with the Schnittke Violin Sonata and a concerto for cello (again with Gautier Capuçon) and wind orchestra by Friedrich Gulda. Anyone the least bit interested in chamber music should give this album a try. (Mike D. Brownell)

Alison Balsom SOUND THE TRUMPET Royal music of PURCELL & HANDEL

It would seem that Alison Balsom has become about as popular as a classical trumpet player can be. She has a half dozen well-received recordings. She plays the Haydn with warmth and grace, with a clear, penetrating tone. Her cadenza in the first movement is ideal in demonstrating her virtuosity without distracting us from the (eventual) flow of the movement. In this new disc, expertly accompanied by Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert, she plays mostly transcriptions and all on natural, valveless trumpets. She calls such instruments “an adventure.”
One of her adventures, which does sound entirely natural, is taking the second countertenor part on Purcell’s Sound the Trumpet, playing alongside the countertenor Iestyn Davies. As the part was meant to have trumpet-like phrases as well as introduce a trumpet later, this transcription seems virtually to be taking Purcell at his word. Not so inevitable is Handel’s Oboe Concerto with the trumpet taking the solo part. It’s hard to hear this concerto without an oboe echoing in one’s head, but, according to Balsom, the performance is meant to extend our understanding of the emotional range of the trumpet. Davies is also heard to great effect on Handel’s Eternal source of light divine, where Balsom sounds virtually heavenly in her responses. Lucy Crowe is heard in “The Plaint” from The Fairy Queen. Again, Balsom is a sensitive second voice. Balsom and Pinnock have assembled suites of music from Purcell’s longer works, and made a somewhat new thing out of Handel’s Water Music. At times they make the trumpet sound like a plaintive voice: Mostly it is celebratory and outgoing, or dignified and martial, as in the Overture to Atalanta. The recorded sound is excellent; the playing superb. I am sure that these performances won’t replace the original settings, but they cast a fresh, charming light on music many of us already know.(Michael Ullman)