Classical

The latest releases reviewed

MOZART: PIANO CONCERTO IN C MINOR K491; SCHUMANN: PIANO CONCERTO Evgeny Kissin (piano), London Symphony Orchestra/Colin Davis EMI Classics 382 8792 ***

Evgeny Kissin is a charismatic performer whose turns of breathtaking virtuosity keep audiences on the edge of their seats with excitement.

The first fruit of his new contract with EMI, however, highlights his musical unpredictability. The romanticism of his approach to Mozart's C minor Concerto can sound almost half- hearted, and it's not helped by a certain woolliness in the orchestrally bass-rich recording.

There are moments of greater vitality in the Schumann, but there's also an unsuccessful exaggeration of contrasts, and too much of an effect of chomping through the passagework. There are much simpler and more effective courses through these pieces than Kissin has found here. www.emiclassics.com

MICHAEL DERVAN

PERFECT STATE, THE MUSIC OF CIARÁN FARRELL Various performers  RTÉ lyric fm CD 113  **

I first came across the music of Ciarán Farrell (born 1969) at a young composers' concert in 1995, when his Shannon Suite for guitar was the standout piece. That was later recorded on CD by John Feeley, and turns up again here in a less interesting version with saxophone. But the composer's music has remained a real rarity on concert programmes.

This RTÉ lyric fm CD explains why. Farrell has become a commercial composer, working in the kind of musical commonplaces that form the frequent background to television programmes and advertisements. Saxophonist Gerard McChrystal and the Smith Quartet almost make a silk purse out of The Pilgrim's Return, but the orchestral pieces (with the RTÉCO under David Brophy), are poorly conceived, played and recorded. www.rte.ie/shop

MICHAEL DERVAN

RUSSIAN LEGENDS Live Radio Recordings Brilliant Classics 8713 (100 CDs) **** 

These treasure trove recordings come from concert tapings, with all that implies in variability of sound, fallibility of finger, and intrusions of audience noise. This is unsanitised music-making. Risks are taken and accidents happen. But there's often a sense of occasion that more than compensates.

Among the many gems are the astonishing 12-year- old Evgeny Kissin in Chopin's two piano concertos, and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich in a selection of works written for him by Prokofiev, Britten, Khachaturian, Tishchenko, Knipper, and Sauguet. Pianists Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels and Lazar Berman cut impressively through swathes of repertoire, as do David Oistrakh, Leonid Kogan, Viktor Tretyakov and Gidon Kremer on violin. And Daniel Shafran offers some of the most emotional solo Bach playing you're ever likely to hear. www.dreamlines.ie MICHAEL DERVAN