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BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op.68. Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80. Tragic Overture, Op.81. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Marin Alsop (conductor). Naxos 8.557428 (72' 36").
With so many versions of the Brahms symphonies already on disc, it must have been a brave decision to launch a new Naxos cycle. Will it be worth the effort? Well the omens are extremely good, Marin Alsop's unfussy account taking the score at face value, with tempos keeping a nice forward momentum that is good for the symphony's outer movements. The slow movement is limpid and conversational, with many excellent orchestral soloists, and I really like the dancing quality of her third movement. She resists the temptation to jack up the temperature towards the close of the work, the final moments having an air of nobility. The performances of the two overtures are equally rewarding, and, as with the symphony, there is much ebb and flow within the framework of each phrase. Throughout the playing has the polish that we have come to expect from the LPO, the horn solos as distinguished as any on disc, with strings that are elegant and wonderfully burnished brass. All highly persuasive, and a most desirable budget-price purchase, though a little devil inside me wonders what her Bournemouth orchestra would have given her. The sound quality is very good and also comes in SACD (6.110077) and DVD (5.110077)

TIPPETT: A Child of our Time. Faye Robinson (soprano), Sarah Walker (mezzo), Jon Garrison (tenor), John Cheek (bass), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Michael Tippett (conductor). Naxos 8.557570 (69' 17").
In the year that marks the centenary of Sir Michael Tippett's birth, Naxos bring back to the catalogue the composer in his mid-eighties conducting a very emotive plea from a devout pacifist. He was already thirty-nine by the time of the first performance of Child of our Time, its contents finding a place for him among the outstanding composers of the time. To clinch that place in people's minds he introduced five popular spirituals into a work of conventional 20th century influence. His view of the piece was rather loose, passages shaped as if spontaneously created and not always to the letter of the score. Between moments of thoughtful repose, he made the music blaze with an intensity we miss in other recordings. The Birmingham orchestra and chorus were in superb form, the brass aflame with intensity, while the chorus was of high quality. The solo quartet may not be the best known, but they were suitably steeped in the style required for a score based on the English oratorio traditions. The original recording was made and released on the Collins label, and technically one of their finest achievements, the impact, balance, internal clarity and wide dynamic range ideally achieved. There are a number of other very fine versions in the catalogue, but this one is very special.

RAWSTHORNE: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 3. Charlotte Ellett (soprano), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones (conductor). Naxos 8.557480(75' 09").
Naxos's second Centenary celebration comes with a superbly performed disc of music by Alan Rawsthorne, British music's debt of gratitude to Naxos having already gone far beyond repayment. Born in May 1905, he belongs to a forgotten group of British composers, his works coming from both sides of the Second World War. Whether unwilling or unable to change his style, his works avoided the new wave of modernism that flooded Western Europe. He was 19 before he really started studying music, his first composition to receive recognition arriving as late as 1938 when he was thirty-three. In the years that followed the war he produced a flood of new works, including 22 film scores, and a substantial body of orchestral works, including a number of concertos and three symphonies. All were greeted with much enthusiasm, but subsequent performances were few, a fact not helped by the lack of recordings. The three symphonies date from 1950, 1959 and 1964, and from the outset of each work the music grips your attention, its oft-robust quality and immaculate orchestration being listener-friendly. Maybe in the slow movements the thematic material is slightly less rewarding, a reservation that is highlighted by the unfailing vivacity of the following scherzos. So what should you expect? Well think of mixing Vaughan Williams with Malcolm Arnold in his serious mode, and you have these works in a nutshell. To sample go to the final movement of the First Symphony (track 4), which gives the feel of Rawsthorne in general. The recording has both clarity and impact, and I fervently commend it to you.

CANTELOUBE: Chants D'Auvergne. Veronique Gens (mezzo), Orchestre National de Lille, Jean-Claude Casadesus (conductor). Naxos 8.557491 (61' 22").
Released in France last November and now available internationally, versions in SACD (6.110065) and DVD (5.110065) format bringing an added attraction. Veronique Gens' approach is very much the antithesis to my long treasured complete recording of Songs of the Auvergne from Natania Davrath on a now long deleted Vanguard release. Her earthy quality seemed to catch the folk idiom of songs gathered together by Joseph Canteloube and finally published in 1930, though Gens, who was born in the Auvergne, could rightly argue that her sophisticated approach is more in keeping with Canteloube's dressing-up of the basic folk melodies. In total he arranged twenty-seven songs, which unfortunately do not fit onto one CD, Gens selecting twenty-one, including all of those most frequently performed. She has decided to keep the vocal characterisation well within the bounds of restraint, a feature that is often missing in other recordings, allowing the words to speak without unnecessary adornment. The most famous song, Bailero (track 2) is typical of this approach, the relaxed effect sure to give pleasure when alternatives on disc have become irksome. She is particularly appealing in the sensuous songs, Casadesus weaving a transparent web of sound around her, the limpid beauty of the orchestra's woodwind perfectly complementing her voice. Here again it is much different to the rustic quality of Davrath's accompaniment. The recording has greatly helped Casadesus in capturing the inner detail of orchestration, Gens silvery voice caught to perfection. In a not overcrowded market this is a desirable release.

ROWLEY: Piano Concerto Op.49. DARNTON: Piano Concertino. GERHARD: Piano Concerto. FERGUSON: Piano Concerto. Peter Donohoe (piano/conductor), Northern Sinfonia. Naxos 8.557746 (78' 10").
Stop! Just because none of the names are familiar, don't flick past this review, its importance, particularly to Anglophiles, is enormous. Alec Rowley is remembered as a major figure in education, teaching for many years at London's Trinity College, and publishing many books on music techniques. His catalogue of compositions included two piano concertos, Rachmaninov as seen through the eyes of a British composer being a guide to content. Packed with attractive melody, the orchestration is imaginative and colourful. Christian Darnton was born thirteen years later in 1905, and in the 1930's his music enjoyed much success in Western Europe. The Piano Concertino from 1939 shows his music to have contained a charm and piquancy that grips your attention, the second movement as good as anything in the light-classical repertoire. More serious material comes from England's adopted Spanish composer, Roberto Gerhard. Dating from 1951 it is uncompromisingly modern, yet takes little effort from the listener to get into its idiom, and offers the soloist ample scope to demonstrate virtuosity. Like the previous works, Howard Ferguson's Concerto is in three movements, and also comes from 1951, though its English pastoral scene with its changing moods turns the clock back to the 1930's. Throughout the disc Peter Donohoe is a passionate advocate, the clarity of the fiendish opening to the Gerhard is as persuasive as the gentle simplicity he brings to much elsewhere. The Northern Sinfonia's strings prove admirable partners and sound as if they perform the music regularly. Add one of the best Naxos recordings, and you have a release to treasure. At present it is only available in the UK and associated countries, and I simply beg Naxos to make it available worldwide. Till then there are Internet sales.

CAVALLI: Arias and Duets from: La Didone; L’Egisto; L’Ormindo; Il Giasone; La Calisto. Gloria Banditelli (mezzo), Rosita Frisani (soprano), Roberto Abbondanza (baritone), Gianluca Belfiori Doro (countertenor), Mario Cecchetti (tenor), Mediterraneo Concento, Sergio Vartolo (conductor). Naxos 8.660121 (76' 32").
A very useful compendium of major excerpts from the operas of Francesco Cavalli. Crucial in establishing opera as a performing genre, Cavalli stimulated composers in the early 17th century to create a wealth of new works to meet the fast growing interest. Born Pietro Caletti in 1602, but later taking his patron's name, he was to be prolific in this field, writing 32 scores between 1639 and 1673, most of them surviving in their original manuscripts. He focused international attention on Italy as the home of opera, his later invitation to bring his expertise to Paris proving a failure. His return to Venice, where he had become 'Maestro di Capella' at St. Mark's, was also an anticlimax, three of his last six operas failing to attract a favourable reception. He died in 1676 with a large catalogue of works, mainly vocal, and recognised as the most respected of the Italian composers of his time. The five operas represented on this disc represent his major achievements, though few of his complete works have been recorded. Often dramatic, they here cover a wide range of emotions, the music generally quite slow moving, with dramatic content very different to that description in today's terminology. His comedy-drama, Il Giasone, was the most widely performed opera of the century, and track 17 would make a good sampling point. Falling comfortably on the ear, the music throughout the disc is essentially lyrical, though Cavalli was much interested in telling his story in recitatives. Supported by crisply played period instruments, we know little of vocal performing style at the time, the singers here settling for today's approach to Baroque oratorio. It sounds very plausible, with the technical aspects obviously well handled, the engineers finding just a little too much reverberation to be ideal.

POULENC: Sextet for Piano and Wind Quintet. IBERT: Trois pieces breves. MILHAUD: Le Cheminee du roi Rene, Op. 205. FRANCAIX: Wind Quintet No.1 Ralf Gothone (piano), Danish Radio Wind Quintet. Naxos 8.557356 (58' 51").
A disc of pure delight performed by an outstanding group of virtuoso musicians, the whole package I commend to you without any reservation. It contains four delectable works from French composers in the 20th century, the music often naughty but always nice. Opening with the pungency of Poulenc's Sextet, the percussive elements of the piano in contrast to the smooth quality of woodwind, the music often mercurial. Ibert continues this rather mischievous mood, each of the three pieces cramming a lot of music into a short time. We move towards a more classical approach in the works from Milhaud and Francaix, while continuing in those unmistakable French colours. All four composers call for a high degree of technical brilliance, the horn continually performing acrobatic feats, the Danish musicians meeting every requirement with a skill that both excites and delights. The oboe and flute demonstrate outrageous dexterity, while the clarinet appears in arabesques of fiendish difficulty. All of this is wrapped up in sound quality of the highest possible standard. Absolutely fabulous.

VIVALDI: Bassoon Concertos in F major RV486; C major RV475; B flat major RV501; D minor RV488; B flat major RV504; C major RV467. Tamas Benkocs (bassoon), Nicolas Esterhazy Sinfonia, Bela Drahos (conductor). Naxos 8.555938 (55' 08").
Though not all in the critics club went as far as my rave review of Tamas Benkocs when the first disc in this complete Vivaldi Bassoon concerto series was issued. I find his playing quite superb; so clean and crisp that the fast passages emerge with uncommon clarity, while he produces a very beautiful sound avoiding that laden vibrato we associate with East Europeans. The composer was in his most predictable mode throughout these works, fast and slow movements alternating, though at least he avoided poking fun at the instrument, as is so often the case. If you want to sample the brilliance of the soloist, who is presently principal bassoon of the star-studded Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, turn to track 8. The orchestral part is hardly distinguished or demanding, Drahos shaping the music with an obvious affection. In an ideal world Benkocs would have been less forward in the recorded balance, but the sound is warm and pleasing.

BACH: Six Suites for Solo Cello, BWV1007-12. Maria Kliegel (cello). Naxos 8.557280-81 (2CDs). (148' 48").
It is difficult to believe that Bach's Six Unaccompanied Cello Suites, which we today hold in such reverence, spent two centuries of neglect after their composition until the great cellist, Pablo Casals, brought them to widespread public attention in a series of recordings made in the late 1930's. To that point they held such little importance that the date of composition remains unknown, while two of the Suites were not even composed for the cello and were subsequent adaptations to form a more imposing series of works. Present day cellists often feel that they have to make a personal statement, and we have on disc some quite eccentric performances. With Maria Kliegel there is sanity, and you can visualise her picking up the instrument and playing these pieces just for their own enjoyment, experimenting with a new approach and musing in the slow movements. If the result is a private rather than a public performance, I equally feel that these are works to be enjoyed even more by the performer than the listener. Kliegel shapes passages with affection, subtle changes of rhythms and tempos used to remove that rectitude which can easily change the suites into a series of exercises. There is an aristocratic poise that avoids the drama Casals brought to the music. Chords are always warm, with the music's lyricism the obvious winner. As you will see from the total time, which is a full twenty minutes longer than some recorded performances, these are spacious views, though they never feel slow. The technical quality of the performances hides the demands the music makes, Kliegel's intonation always in the centre of the note, while the sound quality is wonderfully natural.

SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54. Introduction and Allegro appassionato, Op. 92. Introduction and Allegro, Op.134. Jeno Jando (piano), Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Andras Ligeti (conductor); BRT Philharmonic, Brussels, Alexander Rahbari (conductor); Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Katowice, Antoni Wit (conductor). Naxos 8.557547 (59' 25").
A new coupling of tracks from three of Jeno Jando's previous CDs, bringing together Schumann's complete output for piano and orchestra. The Concerto was one of Jando's earliest recordings for Naxos, and originally linked with Grieg's Piano Concerto. It is a distinctive account, far from the dreamy quality of many other versions, the urgency of his dramatic opening movement continuing into the following Intermezzo. Relaxing in the slow movement, Jando resumes his forward thrust in the finale, the concept well supported by the Budapest orchestra. The two Introduction and Allegros formed the couplings for Jando's Brahms Piano Concerto discs and are more conventional. There is quite a spread of recording dates, but overall the sound quality is pleasing.

SAINT-SAENS: Prelude & Fugue in E flat major, Op.99, No.3. Three Rhapsodies sur des cantiques bretons, Op.7, No.3. Seven Improvisations, Op. 150. Symphony No.3 - Adagio. Fantasie in E flat major. Robert Delcamp (organ). Naxos 8.557285 (76' 35").
Liszt once described Saint-Saens as "the greatest organist in the world", yet the man who spent eighteen years as organist at the Madeleine in Paris, the most prestigious post in France, composed very little for the instrument. Even more surprising, as you listen to this disc, is how little there was of real significance. True the Prelude and Fugue will make the floorboards shake with the power invested in the lower realms, but the Seven Improvisations, which are mostly quiet, are of spasmodic inspiration. To fill the disc the organ solo from the Third Symphony makes the most lasting impression. But before you dismiss the release, a few words about Robert Delcamp's performances are necessary, for his playing has that belief in the music that sends new life pulsing through it. Go to track 11 for a sample, Delcamp bringing a gossamer lightness at the beginning before opening the instrument's lungs in the red-blooded main section. Quite a degree of reverberation, but the fine Stahlhuth/Jann organ at Saint-Martin in Dudelange, Luxembourg, is ideal for the music.

SAMMARTINI: Maria Addolorata. Il Pianto di San Pietro. Silvia Mapelli (soprano), Sonia Prina (mezzo-soprano), Mirko Guadagnini (tenor), Capriccio Italiano Ensemble, Daniele Ferrari (conductor). Naxos 8.557431 (78' 02").
The second volume of Sammartini's sacred music contains two of his previously unrecorded cantatas. The younger of two musically gifted brothers, Giovanni Battista Saint-Martin, initially became, like his father, as orchestral oboist in Milan. His birth probably took place in 1700, and by the age of 26 was established as Milan's leading composer. Prestigious appointments, mainly linked with the church, allowed him time to create a vast catalogue of works, including a substantial quantity of orchestral scores. Sadly much of his music has not survived, though by the time of his death in 1775 his fame had spread throughout Europe, his style influencing a new generation of composers. His cantatas came close to opera, being a loosely linked group of arias and recitatives preceded by an overture. The two works were published in 1751, though their exact date of composition is not known. The music often throws out challenges to the dexterity of the soloists, as Mirko Guadagnini discovers in Maria Addolerata, his decorations of the main melodic line placing his intonation under scrutiny. He was in much better voice for Il Pianto di San Pietro, with Silvia Mapelli having one of those rather laid-back soprano voices much liked in Italy. The orchestral support appears to come from modern instruments, though it is difficult to tell in the resonant acoustic.

FOSS: Scherzo Ricercato. Passacaglia. Grotesque Dance. Prelude in D. Fantasy Rondo. Four Inventions. 'For Lenny'. Scott Dunn (piano). Naxos 8.559179 (54' 41").
My lasting recollection of Lucas Foss will be his patience as he explained to my wife's group of eleven-year-old underprivileged children - who had never been to a concert in their lives before - just how he composed music. At the interval a couple came running up to me, 'hey mister that were good, wasn't it'. Yes it was good, and if that experience colours my view of this disc, the American conductor/composer still strikes me as offering - if you will only unbutton your ears to something new - piano works that belong to the interesting of the 20th century. The programme, which is spread over much of his compositional life, opens with a very customer-friendly Scherzo from 1953, before moving to a Passacaglia that may need a little of your time to make its mark. The earliest score, Four Inventions, dates from 1938, when Foss was 16 and newly arrived with his parents from their native Germany. It is also his most consciously 'modern' work, and to sample the mature Foss go to the Fantasy Rondo which successfully straddles tonality and atonality. I have never heard of the soloist, Scott Dunn, before, but he is technically very good and has an instinctive feel for the music. To the listener it may not sound all that demanding, but rhythmically it is tricky, the slow passages needing to be shaped with affection. I am not always delighted with the piano tone on American recordings, but this is very realistic and attractive.

COWELL: Four Piano Pieces. Quartet for flute, oboe, cello and harpsichord. Three Anti-Modernist Songs. Suite for violin and piano. Polyphonica. Irish Suite. Continuum, Cheryl Seltzer (harpsichord/piano), Joel Sachs (piano/conductor). Naxos 8.559192 (65' 46").
Released last month in the United States, this is the first of two companion discs of music by Henry Cowell (1897-1965), a name now almost forgotten, though regarded in his lifetime as one of the most innovative composers of the early 20th century. Together with Charles Ives he placed America on the map of progressive modernism, often using the most recent compositional devices. Where Cowell differed from the mainstream radical thinking in Western Europe was in his continued use of melody to which he grafted a layer of new sonorities. He was among the first to use tone clusters, instruments often employed in the most unconventional ways. As with all experimentalists, not all of his pieces worked in practice, and he discarded many of his works. That does make a meaningful anthology of his music difficult to achieve, though the disc would indicate that this is the first volume of an ongoing series. It opens auspiciously with the piano piece, Deep Color, a dramatic piece where we find an early use of tone clusters, this feel of a new musical world continuing into the six movements of a descriptive Suite for Violin and Piano. I could continue eulogising about this excellently performed disc, the Quartet a most absorbing composition, and certainly anyone who enjoys the output of Ives - though Cowell never uses music to shock the listener - should dash out and buy this disc. It is superbly performed by Continuum, a New York based ensemble of indefinite size, their musicians and the vocalist, Ellen Lang, all of outstanding quality.

COWELL: Homage to Iran. Piece for Piano. Vestages. Euphoria. What's This. Elegie. The Banshee. Two Songs. Six Casual Developments. Set of Five. Continuum, Joel Sachs (piano/conductor). Naxos 8.559193 (59' 42").
Continuing in much the same vein as the disc above, the pieces all explore instruments in an innovative way, many of the scores for solo piano played within the body of the instrument, stroking, plucking and banging the strings to create a wealth of new sounds. At their most persuasive, in The Banshee, the effect is quite creepy, as a wind blows through the score, the effects all created from the bowels of the piano. The fresh approach in the two songs largely comes from the keyboard, and I feel these are too contrived for lasting pleasure. Six Casual Developments for clarinet and piano are extremely short, and pass by before they create any strong feelings, the jazz influenced third being the most memorable. Set of Five is a rather more extended and conventional score for violin, piano and percussion, the dancing fourth movement immediately attractive. The performances are all highly persuasive, and the recording quality is all that one could wish. Start with the first of the two discs where the music is challenging and at the same time more engaging.

BRAHMS: String Sextet No. 1 in B flat, Op. 18. String Sextet No. 2. in G major, Op. 36. Silke-Thora Matthies, Christian Kohn (piano duo). Naxos 8.554417 (74' 33").
Oh dear, here I go again, a string player getting all precious about his beloved music being turned into something quite different. I suppose it is simply that however well you play a piano, you cannot match the singing quality of strings for which these works were written. So what if we had never known the original versions, what would we have made of these works? We would certainly be commenting on the sense of power in the outer movements of both sextets, and particularly the storm unleashed in passages of opus 18's second movement. Yet I doubt whether they would have held a place of great esteem. The Second Sextet depends almost totally on the conversation and interplay of the differing timbres of the string instruments, and here there is nothing the duo can do but play it in pianistic terms. As with all the discs in this series the sound quality is bold and lifelike, and pianists will find something to enjoy in the stunningly brilliant playing.

DEUTSCH: The Maltese Falcon. George Washington Slept Here. The Mask of Dimitrios. High Sierra. Northern Pursuit. Moscow Symphony Orchestra, William Stromberg (conductor). Naxos 8.557701 (75’ 42”).
Composing background music for Hollywood’s ‘bread and butter’ film output was Adolph Deutsch's task, never really gaining the popularity or fame of Korngold, Steiner, Herrmann or Newman, yet musically he was very much their equal. His name would not suggest that he was born in London in 1897, and began taking piano lessons at the age of five, being admitted as a junior student at The Royal Academy of Music the following year. His arrival in the United States, at the age of thirteen, found him besotted by the sounds of American popular music. There followed years working in a publishing house, arranging music for dance bands, conducting on Broadway, and eventually gravitating to Hollywood. Deutsch found himself picking up assignments that the more famous were too busy to do. It proved profitable, with 53 feature films being composed for Warners, before moving to MGM where he became the Music Director for some of the most famous musicals filmed in the States. The present disc shows his diverse output in five film scores from the 1940’s.The dramatic Maltese Falcon and High Sierra starring Humphrey Bogart, sitting next to the comedy, George Washington Slept Here, with Jack Benny in the lead role. Much of the music by his famous contemporaries was destroyed after use, so that there is irony in a Deutsch archival collection of 43 film scores. The Moscow musicians are equally impressive in the passages composed in the style of Gershwin, or the dark and sinister backdrop that ends in the Northern Pursuit’s violent gun battle. The engineers have generated a sound stage of high impact, combined with total transparency.

AURIC: Le Belle et la Bete. Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Adriano (conductor). Naxos 8.557707 (62' 06").
Georges Auric became part of Les Six, a group of French composers more notorious by reputation than by the actual music they composed. Auric, in most respects, was the most conventional of the group, having studied with d'Indy at the Paris Conservatoire. He was a prolific film composer with around 130 scores for French, German, Italian and American companies. Best known for the score to Moulin Rouge, in later years he was equally prolific in the comedies filmed in the UK. In 1946 he composed the score for Cocteau's Le Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast). It was a gorgeous otherworldly piece of writing that takes Ravel's music as its starting point, the shimmering harmonies suddenly erupting in riots of colour. Far more symphonic than is norm in the film industry, it receives a most affectionate performance from Adriano and the Moscow musicians. First released on Marco Polo in 1996, and still internationally available on that label, it is now reissued in North America on Naxos.

KORNGOLD: Captain Blood. ROZSA: The King's Thief. STEINER: The Three Musketeers. YOUNG: Scaramouche. Brandenburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Devreese (conductor). Naxos 8.557704 (65' 14").
Very much a disc where you 'spot the odd man out', Victor Young being the Chicago-born composer among three of Hollywood's most prized immigrants from Western Europe. Yet he too was trained in Poland, his intention being a career as a solo violinist, and he was to spend many of his formative years working in Europe. So much is clear in Scaramouche, its Hollywood gloss forming a thin veneer over the long sweeping melodies that have more than a whiff of Russian and British influences. Yet it was the young Erich Korngold that became Hollywood's prime capture, his scores in the 1930's and 40's for a whole series of swashbuckling adventures some of the finest film backdrops of the era. The lure of Hollywood's gold tempted the Hungarian-born Miklos Rozsa from his glittering career as a symphonic composer in Europe, and he was eventually to write more than 100 scores for MGM over the period 1948-62. As you will read in this month's review of a disc devoted to Steiner, his entry into films was somewhat less predictable. In this vigorous and vivid score, he showed he could as good as any in big adventure films, the swaggering gait of The Three Musketeers brought perfectly to life. Why the dream team of the Brandenburg, Devreese and their thrilling sound engineers did not go on to make many more film recordings I can never understand. So let's rejoice in what we have, the disc originally released on Marco Polo, and is still available in that format, but now makes an appearance on Naxos in North America.

TIOMKIN: Red River. Moscow Symphony Orchestra and Choir, William Stromberg (conductor). Naxos 8.557699 (64' 08").
Over the years Stromberg and the Moscow Symphony have placed on disc the music for the great Hollywood films, performed with the size of orchestra not always available for the original soundtrack. Splendid as the series has been, the Moscow forces have excelled themselves for this epic Western, Red River. The film was described as the 'Greatest Spectacle Ever', Dmitri Tiomkin reflecting that in a score of tremendous strength and dynamic vitality. Tiomkin was born in St. Petersburg in 1894, his composition teachers being no less than Glazunov and Busoni. It was as a pianist that he made his early living, arriving in the United States in 1929 as performer and composer. He was soon in demand in the film industry, eventually producing around 140 film scores. Never typecast, he worked on a whole range of films, though he was best suited to those where he could write large stretches of music rather than synchronised snippets. He received many awards for Red River, completed in 1948, the score still regarded among his finest. Released internationally a couple of years back and still available on Marco Polo, this Naxos reissue is restricted to North America.

SALTER/SKINNER: The Invisible Man Returns. Son of Frankenstein. The Wolf Man. Moscow Symphony Orchestra, William Stromberg (conductor). Naxos 8.557705 (75' 37").
Though from two completely different backgrounds - Hans Salter a pupil of Alban Berg and Franz Schreker, and Frank Skinner a largely self-taught American - their collaboration was to produce some of Hollywood's most scary horror film scores in the 1940's and 50's. Of the three films on this disc, Salter is attributed as the major provider for The Invisible Man Returns, with Skinner the first named for the remaining two. By today's standards they are quite mild in content, both composers in those days having to settle for a conventional orchestra to create the special effects. Maybe this time round the famous Moscow/Stromberg partnership did not quite burn with the passion we usually find, though the disc is highly desirable to film buffs. It is a reissue for the North American market of a Marco Polo release that is still available in that format world-wide.

KILAR: Bram Stoker's Dracula. Konig der letzten Tage. Death and the Maiden. The Beads of One Rosary. Pearl in the Crown. Cracow Philharmonic Chorus, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (Katowice), Antoni Wit (conductor). Marco Polo 8.225153 (63' 39).
Born in Poland in 1932, Wojciech Kilar is best known around the world for his film scores, his symphonic music sadly ignored for it is of the highest importance among 20th century composers. Having studied at the Katowice State Music School, he eventually arrived in Paris as a student of Boulenger. Before his time in Hollywood he had composed over a hundred scores for Polish films, the strong repetitive rhythms and colourful orchestration having become his trademark. The section Vampire Hunters from Dracula finds Kilar using all his skill to create new sounds, while the 16th century story of The King of the Last Days explores a pseudo-chant style that is derivative of the music of Carl Orff. The Death and the Maiden's scary tale of revenge is more classical in content, a nice piece of concerted string writing forming the opening track, The Confession. The orchestral playing is stunning, and film music addicts will be absolutely thrilled. Originally released and still available internationally on Marco Polo, this Naxos reissue is restricted to North America.

STEINER: King Kong. Moscow Symphony Orchestra, William Stromberg (conductor). Naxos 8.557700
Maximillan Raoul Walter Steiner, born and trained in Vienna as a classical musician, became one of Hollywood's most famous composers by a pure twist of fate. He was working in London at the outbreak of the First World War, and finding himself unable to return home, took temporary sanctuary in the United States. Without money he took whatever employment he could find, mainly orchestrating the music of other highly popular composers. Many relied on immigrant classically trained Europeans to undertake this task, a fact the general public never appreciated. Among those who owe much to Steiner were Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern and George Gershwin. He moved to Hollywood in the early 1930's and in 1933 was to compose the music for the blockbuster film, King Kong. The animation of the massive gorilla, which terrorises New York, may now look primitive, but in 1933 it was a revelation, and largely through Steiner's music we feel sorrow for this pathetic animal. At the time sound recording was still in its infancy and Steiner worked with an orchestra of around forty musicians packed into a small studio. John Morgan has now recreated the score, believing that, for instance, Steiner had included saxophones to add weight in place of a large woodwind department. Morgan's version was placed on disc by William Stromberg conducting the Moscow Symphony Orchestra in 1996, and is now reissued on Naxos. The sound is big and red-blooded, the Moscow musicians bringing colours to the score that Steiner would have loved to hear. Presently this disc is only available in North America, but remains on Marco Polo elsewhere.

HERRMANN/NEWMAN: The Egyptian. Moscow Symphony Orchestra, William Stromberg (conductor). Naxos 8.557702 (71' 28")
As with the Salter and Skinner disc reviewed above, we have two composers from different social and musical backgrounds, Herrmann with his training as a symphonic composer, and Newman coming to Hollywood after years working in New York’s Broadway theatres. They were to give Hollywood some of the great film, both masters in the craft of scene painting; Newman with a series of major epic scores, while Herrmann remained true to his background and worked in symphonic mode. For the big ‘blockbuster’, The Egyptian, the duo was to capture in sound the public concept of life in Egypt centuries ago. In every way it was music of symphonic stature, the orchestra used as a source for the most fascinating sounds. For this recording the score has been reshaped as a continuous musical experience and contains the 30 sections in the order of the original film. That sound track has already appeared on CD, but with the advent of modern sound, the Moscow disc takes us to a new spatial experience. First issued on Marco Polo and still available in that format, this reissue is for the North American market.

WAXMAN: Operation Burma. Moscow Symphony Orchestra, William Stromberg (conductor). Naxos 8.557706
Born with the name Franz Wachsmann, he paid for his own musical training from money working in a bank. It was in Berlin that he came into contact with people in the film industry, and he found employment both as an orchestrator and conductor. A fight with a young Nazi prompted him to leave Germany with his wife, and after a brief period in France, arrived in Los Angeles, changing his name to Waxman. Readily finding employment in Hollywood, his scores were an instant success, much of his early output was linked with horror movies. By the 1940’s he was one of the most famous film composers, and in 1944 composed the score to Objective, Burma!, one of many Hollywood films that rewrote the history of American involvement in the Second World War. Waxman’s score was mutilated and used in several later films, so that when John Morgan examined the parts for this recording he found many sections missing. Using the film sound track he has patiently reconstructed these parts and has returned them to the original score. For this recording Morgan has used the large orchestra that would have been available to Waxman, Stromberg drawing stunning playing from the Moscow musicians. Originally released in September 2000, the sound quality was very good, the sheer weight of the orchestra wonderfully captured. Presently this Naxos disc is only available in North America, but remains on Marco Polo elsewhere.

STRAUSS: Der Rosenkavalier. Maria Reining (Marschallin), Sena Jurinac (Octavian), Hilda Gueden (Sophie), Ludwig Weber (Baron Ochs), Alfred Poell (Faninal), Hilde Rossel-Majdan (Annina), Peter Klein (Valzacchi), Walter Berry (Commissar), Anton Dermota (Italian Singer), Chorus of Vienna State Opera, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Kleiber (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111011-13 (3CDs). ( 196' 28").
I quite simply plead with you - however many Rosenkavaliers you have - to buy this one, as fifty years on since it was recorded it remains without question the most beautiful performance placed on disc. I use the word 'beautiful' advisedly, for Erich Kleiber lavishes love and affection on every note in the score, taking the Vienna Philharmonic to a level of sensuous loveliness that even that great orchestra has rarely achieved. You grow tired of reading those many reviewers too idle to listen to reissues, and have simply regurgitated an ill-advised review that appeared when the LPs were first issued, even accusing Kleiber of rushing, when his is one of the most expansive accounts on disc. And as for the badly treated Maria Reining, her Marshallin is one of the most unaffected and charming ever placed on disc. Sure she does not sound the matronly person so many over-admired singers bring to the role, but Strauss never meant the character to be other than a young woman. Naturally it is Sena Jurinac and Hilde Gueden who steal the honours, their young voices floating effortlessly through the work, and in Ludwig Weber we have the Baron Ochs who will probably never be equalled. He never misses the humour, but at the same time never makes Ochs into a fool, his voice ripe and wonderfully smooth. Indeed all of the singers were so well versed in Strauss's parlando style, it now seems a forgotten art. Add sound quality that totally belies its age, and in many places gives inner detail lost in more recent recordings, and you soon forget its vintage, the balance between singers and orchestra so well judged. Naxos's transfer to CD is superb, and here you truly have one of the great opera bargains.

STRAUSS: Salome. Christel Goltz (Salome), Julius Patzak (Herod), Margareta Kenney (Herodias), Hans Braun (Jokanaan), Anton Dermota (Narraboth), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Clemens Krauss (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111014-15 (2CDs). (123' 34").
Two new versions of Richard Strauss's opera Salome appeared towards the end of 1954, both emanating from Vienna and, irrespective which came first, they were our earliest experience of the sonic marvels that were to become part of the LP era. Even at that time it was still considered a highly debauched opera, made even worse now that we could luxuriate in a full frontal exposure to the Strauss's erotic orchestral scoring. The Decca version started with the major advantage of the most highly respected Strauss conductor of the day, Clemens Krauss, his approach never sparing the garish aspects. At the same time his performance was never as fragmented as in the later Vienna Philharmonic recording conducted by Solti, sections such as the Dance of the Seven Veils here totally integrated into the opera as a whole. Though little known today, Hans Braun was to be the most imposing and saintly Jokanaan on disc, and before I make reservations, this is a recording far greater than its individual singers, with Krauss - who was to die a few months later - ensuring that this was an unforgettable experience. In fact most of the cast was later to be surpassed on disc, Christel Goltz having the power and range, but made a shrewish Salome, while Patzak sang Herod rather than characterising the role as we would expect today. Down among the minor roles were names later to become famous, Anton Dermota a particularly fine Narraboth. Heard on modest equipment the sound is still mighty impressive, and only when you move upmarket does its age become apparent. There are additional 'bonus' tracks of other recordings of extracts from the opera, including four other versions of the closing scene. The great Ljuba Welitsch will always be the benchmark against which others are valued, but it is a version sung in French by Marjorie Lawrence and dating from 1934 that captured my attention. Never has every word so dripped with sex as she conjures up, just massaging intonation at bit, but keeping perfectly to the atmosphere of this sordid conclusion.

MAHLER: Symphony No.5 in C sharp minor. Lieder und Gesange aus der Jugendzeit. Desi Halban (mezzo), Bruno Walter (piano); Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York, Bruno Walter (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.110896 (77' 57").
Bruno Walter was particularly associated with Mahler's Fifth Symphony, an early recording with the Vienna Philharmonic having a more loose-limbed approach than his New York version from 1947. If Walter stops short of the angst we have come to expect in modern recordings of the score, his tempos throughout are urgent, particularly so in the famous Adagietto. There is ample excitement in the outer movements, the opening of the work full of red-blooded impact. Maybe the fast speeds do rob the finale of those moments where we have come to expect a degree of nobility to emerge. That said we have to regard Walter as one of the finest Mahler conductors, and it is tragic that he did not live to record in the period when it was possible to encompass the wide dynamic range the composer envisaged. You only have to go as far as the opening cymbal clash to know this recording's vintage, but nothing dampens ones admiration of his concept. Desi Halban has a pleasing voice, but sounds rather breathless in the faster songs, and there have been more persuasive recordings made since this one.

BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas No.30 in E major, Op.109; No. 31 in A flat major, Op.110; No. 32 in C minor, Op.111. Artur Schnabel (piano). Naxos Historical 8.110763 (65' 02").
So we come to the final three of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas in the landmark and first recording of the complete cycle. Artur Schnabel was considered to their finest exponent in the first half of the last century, and if there have been some quibbles regarding his interpretations along the way, where a sense of impatience coloured his view, this last group follows Beethoven to the letter of the scores. At the same time Schnabel seems overwhelmed with the sadness that continually surfaces as the composer comes to the end of his life. There are moments when this veil is removed, as in the second movement on the Thirty-first, and happiness surfaces, but these are fleeting. Occasional slips in the performances, fingers becoming somewhat untidy in the opening movement of the Thirty-second, are few and far between, and while the sound quality at the opening of the Thirtieth is rather harsh, the transfers are in keeping with Naxos's high quality. There are two further volumes of Beethoven's piano music to come in the series, but the sonata cycle is one that every serious collector must own.

MOZART: Die Entfhrung aus dem Serail - Konstanze, Konstanze, O wie angstlich. Die Zauberflote - Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schon. Don Giovanni - Dalla sua pace; Il mio tesoro. WEBER: Der Freischutz - Nein, langer trag’ ich nicht…Durch die Walder. MEHUL: Joseph - Champs paternels. FLOTOW: Martha - Ach so fromm. GODARD: Jocelyn - Berceuse. OFFENBACH: Les Contes d’Hoffmann - Il etait une fois a la cour d’Eisenach; O Dieu, de quelle ivresse. BIZET: Carmen - La fleur que tu m’avais jetee. RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Sadko - Hindulied. WAGNER: Die Meistersinger - Am stillen Herd. Morgenlich leuchtend. NESSLER: Trompeter von Sakkingen - Behut dich Gott. KIENZL: Der Evangelimann - Selig sind die Verfolgung leiden. D’ALBERT: Tiefland - Zwei Vaterunser bet’ ich. Schau her, das ist ein Thaler. PUCCINI: Turandot - Non piangere, liù. Nessun dorma. Richard Tauber (tenor), various orchestras and conductors. Naxos Historical 8.111001 (77' 46").
Sadly most people will remember Richard Tauber from the films that he made in the later part of his life, and from the operetta snippets that he recorded. That is sad, for though I fervently believe his singing of operetta has never been surpassed, it was his operatic roles that he took in the early part of his career that marked the peak of his vocal powers. Even as a very young man in his early twenties he was considered the finest Mozart tenor of his day, and one who knew how to work his voice to provide those gorgeously floated notes. Technically every thing was in place, and was linked with immaculate intonation and perfect diction. We experience all these virtues in the group of five Mozart arias that open the disc, though tempos at times tend to drag. That he could become a heldontenor when required is in evidenced in the Weber, or why not a passable Italian for the two Turandot arias? His French sounded self-conscious, particularly in the famous Berceuse, though his Flower Song from Carmen is a perfect example of lyric singing. But of all the twenty-one tracks it is the rarely heard Zwei Vaterunser bet’ ich that sums up all that was ideal in his singing. Made over the period 1926-46 the sound quality on the original discs was variable, a description that also applies to the accompaniments that hit rock bottom in the out of tune playing in Champs paternels.

SULLIVAN: The Sorcerer. Fisher Morgan (Sir Marmaduke), Neville Griffiths (Alexis), Jeffrey Skitch (Dr. Daly), Muriel Harding (Aline), Ann Drummond-Grant (Lady Sangazure), Peter Pratt (John Wellington Wells), Donald Adams (Notary), D’Oyly Carte Opera Company Chorus, The New Symphony Orchestra, Isidore Godfrey (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.110785-86 (2CDs). (119' 57").
If the quality of singing and playing draws a few smiles, you should remember that you are listening to the custodians of a Gilbert & Sullivan style that dated back to the original performances. That had been D'Oyly Carte's task in life, and every British company was in awe to their presentations. That some of the singers had seen better days when this recording was made in the early 1950's was regrettable but mattered little at the time. The Sorcerer was the first full-length operetta collaboration between the librettist, William Gilbert, and the composer Arthur Sullivan, the story predictably farfetched. It revolves around the travelling salesman who offers magic and spells, leading to the first of the G & S patter songs, 'My name is John Wellington Wells'. He is persuaded to mix a potion that will make everyone in the village fall in love with the first person they see, but the well-meaning gesture ends up with all the wrong combinations. Of course it all ends happily. Muriel Harding makes the most of Aline, in love with the young Grenadier Guard, Alexis, sung with some degree of strain, by Neville Griffiths. The central role of Wells featured the great patter song expert of the day, Peter Pratt. The rest of the cast is, more or less, passable, with Isidore Godfrey keeping tempos nicely bubbling along, while the restoration people have achieved their usually high standard. There are bonus tracks of excerpts from The Sorcerer, with singing that is generally superior. A must for G & S fans.

USANDIZAGA: Mendi Mendiyan. Tatiana Davidova (Andrea), Juan Lomba (Joshe Mari), Marta Ubieta (Txiki), Santos Arino (Juan Cruz), Jose Antonio Carril (Kaiku), Alfonso Echeverria, (Gaizto), Coral Andra Mari de Renteria, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Juan José Mena (conductor). Marco Polo 8.225240-41 (2CDs). (94' 51').
I was introduced to the music of Jose Maria Usandizaga by a disc of his orchestral music issued a few years back, and was immediately struck by its wealth of attractive melody most interestingly and colourfully scored. He had lived most of his short life in the city of San Sebastian, having been born there in 1887, and was only 24 when he wrote his first opera, Mendi Mendiyan (High in the mountains). Its success encouraged him to write a second one, Las golondrinas, and it was the premiere of that work in Madrid that placed him among the most important Spanish composers. Sadly he was to die at the early age of 28, and before he could fulfil this early promise. It has been said that he was strongly influenced by Puccini, though, as we hear from this performance, it is a more generalised Italian style, Cilea and Mascagni readily springing to my mind. In layout it is conventional for the period, arias, ensembles and choruses linked together within the three acts. The performance would appear to be of a very high standard, the solo singers of real quality, with particular mention of Juan Lomba as Joshe Mari, and a suitably vibrant Tatiana Davidova as Andrea, while the chorus sounds young and extremely pleasing. Add the good orchestra from Bilbao - chorus and orchestra at the opening of act 3 being very stirring - together with a premiere league recording, and you have an opera that I commend most strongly to you. Being just downright greedy, I wish it had been released on Naxos, for it is music ready for mass-market consumption.

HOLMBOE: Piano Trio Op. 64. Nuigen Op. 129. NORGARD: Spell. NIELSEN: Piano Trio No. 1. NORDENTOFT: Doruntine. Trio Ondine. DaCapo 8.226009 (66' 26").
If only Carl Nielsen had been thoughtful enough to wait a few years before his early compositions, we could have described this disc as Danish Piano Trios in the 20th century. His trio dates from 1883 and was a student work written before his admission to Copenhagen's Royal Academy and not discovered until after his death. At this juncture he was still composing in a mix of Mozart and early Beethoven, the result being a totally pleasing score that you would have to describe as pastiche. There comes a massive leap forward to Vagn Holmboe's opus 64 composed in 1954, a highly personal piece using melody as its starting point. Still relatively unknown in the concert hall, his massive output - much encouraged by Nielsen - is gaining recognition on disc. Often dramatic in content, the piano is placed in the percussive role, with the violin dancing around the repetitive rhythms. It is technically a more demanding score than Nuigen completed twenty-two years later. There is a feel of folk music influences, its three major movements linked by two Intermezzos, the music often simmering before erupting back to life. Both works are listener-friendly, Per Norgard's Spell needing some work before you tune yourself to his idiom. Often playing with the juxtaposition and shifting rhythmic metres, it also takes as its starting point the term 'piano trio', with the strings used as ancillaries to a mainly piano dominated concept. To my ears it is fascinating rather than satisfying. We finally move to 1994 for Doruntine, by Anders Nordentoft, very much in the mode of Norgard, and purely atonal. Throughout you feel the total commitment to these various styles from the young Trio Ondine, formed in Copenhagen five years ago. Technically very secure, immaculately balanced, and producing a wide range of tonal colours, they have the benefit of a very fine recording.

FUMET: Frondaison. Flute Trio. Diptyque Baroque. Cantate Biblique. Quartet. Ode Concertante. Lacrymosa. Intermede Romantique. Interpolaire. Gabriel Fumet (flute), Jean-Francois Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Gerard Jarry (conductor). Marco Polo 8.225295 (67' 56").
Born in 1889, Raphael Fumet wrote much of his music for his son, Gabriel Fumet, one of the great French virtuoso flautists of the 20th century. Unlike his father, the outspoken anarchist, Dynam-Victor Fumet, Raphael was a modest man content to spend much of his life in the provinces, earning most of his living as a teacher. He avoided the many changes that were taking place in music, preferring to remain in the realms of melodic compositions, the works falling happily on the ear. There are patches of music, the Interpolaire being a good example, where he provides the soloist with all the technical fireworks to demonstrate their brilliance, though even here it is produced with refinement. These performances are particularly valuable in having the person for whom they were created as the soloist, the quality of playing, from the many musicians involved, being of the highest quality. Fumet's style has that wide and fast vibrato so loved of the French in their woodwind playing, the tone particularly seductive in the slow moving passages. The string orchestra provides limpid support in the Ode Concertante. Most of the tracks appeared on an earlier Marco Polo release, though it now forms part of a projected cycle of Fumet's flute music. Presently distribution is limited to France.

CHINESE MUSIC MEETS WESTERN EARS
Each month I will be reviewing two discs from the large catalogue of Chinese music that is available wherever you find Naxos and Marco Polo discs. In the Western world you may have to place an order with your retailer.

LET'S HAVE A NEW START: Takako Nishizaki (violin), Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Peter Breiner (conductor). Marco Polo 8.223981 (63' 27")
'And now', as they say, 'for something completely different', with Hong Kong's classical megastar, Takako Nishizaki, recreating one of the now legendary nights at the annual Midsummer Classics Festival. Thirteen tracks of arrangements by Peter Breiner of popular Chinese melodies, the smooth and creamy Walking With You Forever setting the scene for music heavily laced with love and longing. Western orchestration plays a major part in the concept with a distinctive Spanish influence brought to Metropolitan Love, the percussion introduction being most effective. My favourite comes with the lush beauty of Solo Song, before Breiner takes us to France for the backdrop to Summer Love. With the disc's title piece, Let's Have a New Start, we take a fleeting look at the folk music of Java. There is also fun in the disc, Delirious Heart spiced with a few appropriate quotations from Western classical music. By now this review is becoming to sound like a disc that is a million miles from China, but that is largely a Western misunderstanding of the international climate that has taken over much of Chinese popular culture. It almost goes without saying that Nishizaki is as silky smooth as the music demands, the Queensland Symphony providing the subtle colours Breiner has crafted. High quality from the sound engineers, the whole package being a desirable crossover disc for Western ears.

HAI-HUAI: Horse Racing. TRAD: River Waters. Yizhihua. YAN-JUN: Erquan Spring Reflecting the Moon. TIAN-HUA: Shaking Red Candle Flame. Moonlight. JUN: Beautiful Coconut Tree Island. YAO-XING: Village Scenery. Galloping War-Horses. GANG: Sunshine on Tashkurgan. Chen Jun (erhu), The Central Virtuosi. Marco Polo 8.225929 (60' 45").
Last month I was enthusing at the virtuosity of Chen Jun, one of China's great exponents of the erhu, a two-stringed lute played with a bow, its long neck giving the instrument an extensive range. The disc opens with a piece of sheer brilliance, Jun playing with a dexterity that would stun the world's greatest violinists, and one can only imagine the speed of his left hand as he plays a prodigious number of notes. Compared to a Western instrument it cannot be easy to play, its body resting on the leg of the player, the bow used being similar to that for a violin. It is also adaptable to a wide range of sounds, sliding between notes being an essential ingredient. It is also a very soulful instrument as we hear in the sad story behind River Waters and Erquan Spring Reflecting the Moon, together with those haunting melodies of Beautiful Coconut Tree Island and Moonlight. Maybe the disc does have more than its share of music in those moods, and I was more than pleased to have a contrast in the dance idioms in Shaking Red Candle Flame and the final piece of showmanship in Galloping War-Horses. Most of the tracks have been arranged for erhu by Jun, the Central Virtuosi adding colourful backdrops.