Orient Express

Don't take this Orient Express as some kind of earnest, educational, investigatory journey. The title is really a catch-all description, which encompasses Khachaturian's Sabre Dance (and other excerpts from Gayaneh); Dvorak's Serenade for Strings, Achron's Hebrew Melody; Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 2; jazz movements by Shostakovich; and lesser-known pieces by Komitas, Ourkouzounov and Casucci. Think of the Take Four Guitar Quartet as a kind of John Hinde, engaging in the musical equivalents of the airbrushing and idealisation behind those famous postcards. Rather than use four equal instruments, the players instead extend the range upwards and downwards for a more orchestral sonority. The results are ear-ticklingly agreeable. url.ie/m283