CLASSICAL

Latest releases reviewed

HANDEL: ORGAN CONCERTOS OP 4
Matthew Halls (organ), Sonnerie/ Monica Huggett (violin) Avie AV2055
*****

Handel's organ concertos were originally conceived as interludes in the performances of his oratorios in London. His liberation of the organ from the confines of the church into the secular surroundings of the concert hall resulted in some of his most delightful music. Matthew Hall's invigorating flourishes at the very start of the concerto (No 4 in F) which opens this new disc will advise any listener of his or her likely response to this most good-humoured strand in Handel's output. Hall is clearly engaged in a successful attempt not only to convey what Charles Burney called "the wonderful fertility and readiness" of Handel's own playing, but also to emulate his "most perfect accuracy and neatness of execution". With alert playing from the 10-player ensemble led by Monica Huggett, this is a disc to put a smile on anyone's face. www.avierecords.com

Michael Dervan

STRAVINSKY: THE FIREBIRD; PETRUSHKA
Philharmonia/Robert Craft Naxos 8.557500
****

Robert Craft was Stravinsky's assistant for the last 23 years of the composer's life, and nearly half a century ago was the first conductor to tackle Schoenberg and Webern comprehensively in the recording studio. Naxos is restoring to circulation recordings of all three composers Craft made in the 1990s, and this latest instalment has the distinction of including an "original" version of The Firebird, with distinctive details not otherwise represented on disc. The performance is attractive, a paradoxical mixture of straight delivery and sumptuous sensuality. Petrushka, played in the familiar 1947 orchestration, is again distinctive, kept under forward pressure yet also done with a kind of slyly observant insouciance. www.naxos.com

Michael Dervan

MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO 8
Christine Brewer, Soile Isokoski, Juliane Banse, Birgit Remmert, Jane Henschel, Jon Villars, David Wilson-Johnson, John Relyea, City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Chorus, City of Birmingham Symphony Youth Chorus, Toronto Children's Chorus, CBSO/Simon Rattle EMI 557 9452
***

Simon Rattle's new recording of Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand was made during performances at Symphony Hall in Birmingham last July. Colin Matthews's sleeve note records that "The Eighth, almost throughout, attempts to be objective and monumental," and Rattle's performance is in accord with that description. It's self-consciously analytical, sometimes even in its moments of exuberance, and the wealth of momentary detail it encourages listeners to observe tends to be communicated at the expense of a broader sense of sweep. The distancing effect is accentuated by a lack of body in the sound of the large choral groups that Mahler called for, and the orchestra +can find itself overly dominated by the solo voices. This often sonically splendid recording is for those wanting to focus on the trees rather than the wood in Mahler. www.emiclassics.com

Michael Dervan

BACH: SOLO VIOLIN SONATAS & PARTITAS
Oleg Kagan (violin) Warner Elatus 2564 61885-2 (2 CDs)
***

The Russian violinist Oleg Kagan (1946-90), long a favoured duo partner of Sviatoslav Richter, and dedicatee of works by Schnittke, Gubaidulina and Denisov, is a player with a cult following. The German Live Classics label was originally set up to promote his work and now features over 30 discs of live recordings. Appearances on major labels have been rarer. These solo Bach recordings, which originally appeared on Erato, were made live at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in 1989, a year before his early death. They show the self-abnegating purity of manner and the fervent, gripping intensity for which he was renowned. The raw immediacy of the live situation and the occasional audience intrusions will not be to everyone's taste. www.warnerclassics.com

Michael Dervan