Classical

Latest releases reviewed

NIELSEN: FLUTE CONCERTO, CLARINET CONCERTO; WIND QUINTET Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Sabine Meyer (clarinet), Berlin PO/ Simon Rattle, Stefan Schweigert (bassoon), Jonathan Kelly (oboe), Radek Baborák (horn) EMI Classics 394 4212 *****

The success of his 1922 Wind Quintet encouraged Danish composer Carl Nielsen to embark on a series of wind concertos. The two he completed find extremely fine advocates here, and the strange, combative and often problematic orchestral foils that Nielsen created (solo trombone for the flute, solo side-drum for the clarinet) function exceptionally well. These two concertos often seem to promise more than they can deliver in performance, but here there are no such limitations. And the quintet, which harks back to the good-humoured give-and-take of 18th-century chamber music, is well done, too. www.emiclassics.com  MICHAEL DERVAN

SPOHR: SYMPHONIES 1 & 2; CONCERT OVERTURE IN F Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana/ Howard Shelley Hyperion CDA 67616 ***

The symphonies of the German composer Louis Spohr (1784-1859) have long faded from the orchestral repertoire, where a handful of his concertos retain a precarious toe- hold. His first two symphonies, written in 1811 and 1820, bring elements of romantic sensibility to classical practices, and his skill in felicitous and mellifluous padding out is at times extraordinary. You can see why he was once so admired and why the lack of real tension and bite in his work came to tell against him. Spohr's Second Symphony, by the way, was the work which saw him introduce conducting more or less as we know it today to London audiences. Howard Shelley's nicely turned readings deliver everything with agreeable taste. www.hyperion-records.co.uk  MICHAEL DERVAN

PENDERECKI: TE DEUM; HYMNE AN DEN HEILIGEN DANIEL; POLYMORPHIA; CHACONNE Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra/Antoni Wit Naxos 8.557980 ****

This disc interestingly juxtaposes early and late string pieces by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. His Polymorphia of 1961 is rich in avant-garde effects. In 2005 he added a Chaconne to his Polish Requiem of 1984 in memory of Pope John Paul II, the new music in soundtrack-like, 21st-century neo baroque mode. The Te Deum of 1979-80 revisits romanticism with the freedom of the full arsenal of 20th-century orchestral, vocal and choral techniques. The Hymne an den heiligen Daniel (1997) is more focused and restrained in manner. Throughout, the imprint of Penderecki as a master colourist is impressive in Antoni Wit's expressively committed readings. www.naxos.com  MICHAEL DERVAN

Chinese pianist Lang Lang is celebrated for his crowd-pleasing antics on the concert platform.

He's often musically coltish, too, living in the moment, exulting in interpretative caprice and technical swagger. His latest disc brings his go-for-it approach to bear on two Beethoven concertos. Conductor Christoph Eschenbach is a whole- hearted partner in an enterprise that provides Beethoven playing full of unexpected turns and twists. Lang and Eschenbach conspire to find moments of high drama where other performers see none, ignoring the difference between excitement and excitability. The recording is as upfront as the playing in performances that juxtapose the effective and the merely affected with irrepressible impulsiveness. www.deutschegrammophon.com  MICHAEL DERVAN