Classical

The latest releases reviewed.

BACH/SITKOVETSKY: GOLDBERG VARIATIONS Julian Rachlin (violin), Nobuko Imai (viola), Mischa Maisky (cello) Deutsche Grammophon 477 6378 ****

Dmitry Sitkovetsky, principal conductor of the Ulster Orchestra from 1996 to 2001, made his string trio arrangement of the Goldberg Variations in the Bach anniversary year of 1985 and dedicated it to Glenn Gould. Rachlin, Imai and Maisky don't stint in their approach, and they state the theme, for instance, with the kind of tonal cossetting they might bring to some memory-haunted evocation written in the 21st century. Purists may object, but the playing is consistently fascinating on its own terms. Two performances of the Goldbergs are coming at the National Concert Hall, from pianist Angela Hewitt on June 7th, and Rachlin and Maisky with Maxim Rysanov on November 26th. www.deutschegrammophon.com MICHAEL DERVAN

STRAUSS: DON JUAN; TOD UND VERKLÄRUNG; DANCE OF THE SEVEN VEILS; ROSENKAVALIER SUITE New York Philharmonic/Lorin Maazel DG Concerts 477 6435 ****

DG Concerts is a digital download project which has embraced concert recordings with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The New York Philharmonic's 2005 Strauss performances under Lorin Maazel are the first fruits of the new venture to appear on CD, and they speak well for the enterprise. The recordings capture a sense of occasion, in this case the atmosphere of an old-style martinet drilling his players in tight accounts of some of the most colourful and thrilling pages in the symphonic repertoire. The CD booklet appropriately reproduces printed content from the actual concert programmes. www.deutschegrammophon.com MICHAEL DERVAN

JOHANN STRAUSS II PARAPHRASES AND TRANSCRIPTIONS FOR PIANO By Dohnányi, Tausig, Schulhof and others Naxos Historical 8.111226 ****

These 14 Strauss transcriptions, recorded between 1930 and 1954, are of the kind where if two hands can be made to sound like three, so much the better. Think of the trickery Horowitz used to love, and you'll have the idea. The selection runs to numbers for four hands and one for eight. In truth, two hands provide the best showman- ship, four allow for extra subtlety, and eight is overkill, but fun all the same, if you like that kind of thing. Try Schultz-Evler's "Concert Arabesques" on The Blue Danube, played by the little-known Isador Goodman, to see how your sweet tooth responds to the seemingly endless roulades of musical icing. www.naxos.com MICHAEL DERVAN

MOZART: PIANO TRIOS VOL 2 Florestan Trio Hyperion CDA 67609 ****

This second volume of Mozart trios from the Florestan Trio is on the same lines as the first: highly polished, and with the character of the three players interestingly contrasted. There's a lingering impression, however, that the musicians aren't quite as well inside the pieces here as they were in the earlier instalment. The lightness and deftness of violinist Anthony Marwood is again one of the real pleasures of the trio's playing. But there's something that doesn't quite  mesh, and the overall flavour of the music-making is too weak and diffuse. This is one of those cases where the whole just seems to be less than the sum of its often attractively presented parts. www.hyperion-records.co.uk MICHAEL DERVAN