Latest CD releases reviewed

PROKOFIEV: COMPLETE SYMPHONIES
London Symphony Orchestra/Valery Gergiev Philips 475 7655 (4 CDs) ****

The delectable wit of Prokofiev's Classical Symphony (his first) and the brutal cut and thrust of his Second could hardly be further apart. The public has always loved the one and given the other a miss, leaping over two symphonies fabricated out of stage works, to meet up with the composer again in the war-time Fifth and even graver Sixth. The Seventh, curiously simple and deep, also gets occasional airings. Valery Gergiev's live recordings with the LSO are well grounded - the sound balance has what you might call a low centre of gravity. Gergiev's approach is consistently rewarding, the bite is sharp, the composer's macabre side sympathetically represented, and his lyricism also caught with delicacy. Both the original 1930 version and substantially longer 1947 versions of the Fourth Symphony are included. www.deccaclassics.com  Michael Dervan

SIBELIUS: WORKS FOR VIOLIN AND ORCHESTRA
Tapiola Sinfonietta/Pekka Kuusisto Ondine ODE 1074-5 ****

The major work here is the set of six Humoresques of 1917, done in a manner that shuns the conventions of virtuoso display and almost casually makes light of the technical challenges. Kuusisto's deftness and at times gossamer touch are thoroughly modern in style and serve to make the most of the music's engaging, offbeat character. The two Serenades of 1912 are altogether closer to the world of the well-known Violin Concerto (not included here as Kuusisto recorded it back in 1996) and the connection makes the Serenades' ongoing neglect in the concert hall all the more surprising. Kuusisto's performances are full of attractive surprises. The disc also includes an even rarer, frothy, almost frivolous Suite, Op 117, from 1929 (Sibelius's last numbered composition), and the gently appealing incidental music for Strindberg's 1908 Swanwhite. www.uk.hmboutique.com  Michael Dervan

MONTEVERDI: MADRIGALS BOOK 5
Delitiae Musicae/Marco Longhini Naxos 8.555311 ****

Monteverdi's Fifth Book of Madrigals, first published in 1605, is the proverbial million miles from the jolly pieces the word madrigal can conjure up. These performances by the all-male voices of the Italian ensemble Delitiae Musicae under Marco Longhini are spaciously conceived, allowing the singers time to dwell in the moment and savour the heart-tugging dissonances and unexpected turns that are at the expressive core of music dealing with unrequited love. Just as the madrigals themselves stirred up controversy when they were new (igniting a debate about the direction of modern music), these performances have a focus and intensity that may strike some listeners as over-ripe. I found the effect consistently gripping, in spite of the occasional excess of haze from the overhang of reverberation in the church-based recording. The CD booklet has both original texts and English translations. www.naxos.com Michael Dervan

SHOSTAKOVICH: THE TALE OF THE PRIEST AND HIS WORKER, BALDA; LADY MACBETH SUITE
Russian Philharmonic Orchestra/Thomas Sanderling Deutsche Grammophon 477 6112 ****

The 29 numbers of Shostakovich's The Tale of the Priest and his Worker, Balda were written for an animated film by Mikhail Tsekhanovsky that never reached completion. The high farce of a Russian folk tale gave Shostakovich ample opportunity to indulge his penchant for the gaudy and the grotesque in a style that was likely to win popular appeal. Conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky prepared an orchestral suite from the work, but Thomas Sanderling's sprightly new recording is the first to offer the swoons and gyrations of the romping, highly pictorial music, complete with nine vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra. The disc also includes a short Suite consisting of three interludes from the harrowing opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. www.dgclassics.com Michael Dervan