Classical

The latest classical albums reviewed

TCHAIKOVSKY: ROCOCO VARIATIONS; PROKOFIEV: SINFONIA CONCERTANTE

Gautier Capuçon (cello), Mariinsky Orchestra/ Valery Gergiev

Virgin Classics 6944860 ****

These are both works with alter egos, Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations through the familiar version prepared by Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, who gave the first performance. Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante is an early 1950s, Rostropovich- inspired reworking of the Cello Concerto of 1938. Gautier Capuçon's approach to both is rather unorthodox. He talks of the "refined inventiveness" of the Tchaikovsky and the "calm power and serene strength" of the Prokofiev, and, in these live recordings, he puts his vision into practice. Everything is that bit lighter than you might expect, the Tchaikovsky taking its tone from the theme, the Prokofiev approached in a way that allows neither cello nor orchestra to sound stressed out. Intriguing. www.emiclassics. com

MICHAEL DERVAN

BACH: VIOLIN AND VOICE

Christine Schäfer (soprano), Matthias Goerne (baritone), Hilary Hahn (violin), Münchner Kammerorchester/ Alexander Liebreich

Deutsche Grammophon

477 8092 ***

Collections of arias from Bach cantatas, masses and passions are normally the prerogative of singers. But while there are two first-rate voices involved in this new Deutsche Grammophon offering, the collection is actually the brainchild of violinist Hilary Hahn. She took inspiration from Bach performances as a youngster and has long wanted to find collaborators for an album combining violin and voice and Bach. The performances are an unusual mixture of the expert, the comely and the homely – old-fashioned, middle-of-the-road in terms of style, but perfectly turned in terms of violin playing, and always vocally agreeable, even though Goerne's tone is sometimes a little too woolly. www.dgwebshop.com

MICHAEL DERVAN

BALTIC EXCHANGE

Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge/Stephen Layton Hyperion CDA 67747

Think of Baltic choral music and you probably think of something by Arvo Pärt. This new CD leaves him aside, and offers works from all three Baltic states: the 29-minute Missa Rigensis and Laudibus in sanctis by Ugis Praulins, and A cycle of Fricis Barda poems by Maija Einfelde (both Latvians), Benedictio by Estonian Urmask Sisask, and Angelis suis Deus and Pater noster by Lithuanian Vytautas Miskinis. The Baltic states have long traditions of massed choral singing (choirs of thousands and audiences of hundreds of thousands), and that history is reflected in the impeccable choral finish of these often overtly referential pieces, offering flavours from the Renaissance to the post-war avant-garde and minimalism. The excellent performances suggest Einfelde as the most probing of the composers. www.url.ie/4qdb

MICHAEL DERVAN

FERGUSON: PIANO SONATA; DISCOVERY; BAGATELLES; PARTITA

Raphael Terroni, Vadim Peaceman (pianos), Phillida Bannister (contralto)

Naxos 8.572289 *** 

Belfast-born Howard Ferguson (1908-99), known to generations of piano students for his editions of classic works, was also a composer, whose music has been recorded by the likes of Ferrier and Heifetz. But the self-critical Ferguson, a romantic spirit in an era of much unromantic music, stopped composing around 1960, on the basis that he had said all he had to say. His 1940 Piano Sonata is an often brooding emotional response

to the death of his mentor, the pianist Harold Samuel. The neo-classicism of the Partita for two pianos is anything but dainty or light. These new heartfelt performances serve the music well, save for the song-cycle Discovery, where Phillida Bannister sounds too dutiful. www.naxosdirect.ie

MICHAEL DERVAN