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TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35. Serenade melancolique, Op. 26. Souvenir d’un lieu cher (orch. Glazunov), Op. 42. Valse-Scherzo, Op. 34.

Ilya Kaler (violin), Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitry Yablonsky (conductor). Naxos 8.557690. (67' 08").

In the 1980's Ilya Kaler had the quite unique achievement of winning the Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Paganini competitions, the three great luminaries in the violin world. It was to herald a career that has taken him around the world many times performing with most of the world's most prestigious orchestras. If from that description you are expecting an extrovert firebrand performance of the concerto you are going to be disappointed, for Kaler is a musician of impeccable good taste who places his technique at the service of the composer, his task simply to bring the printed page to life. Tempos for the outer movements are quick but never breathless, the agility of his left hand matched by a bowing technique that ensures crisp articulation, the spiccato passages in the finale being a particular joy. He offers a very pure tone not indulged by exaggerated resonance on the lower strings, and avoids any wayward rhythmic distortion. Even the passage on harmonics in the finale is taken without the heavy slowing that we usually encounter.  I enjoy the lightweight and free flowing central Andante that never gets bogged down with sentimentality, his instrument singing with silvery sweetness. I would forgive him an exciting dash to the finishing line that we have come to expect. All of these many virtues continue through the disc, and if you want to sample this great virtuoso go to track 8, the Valse-Scherzo, the violin dancing around its big bold waltz tune. There have not been other recordings that bring together all four of Tchaikovsky's violin and orchestra works, and even in the presence of legendary recordings of the concerto - with David Oistrakh surely the greatest interpretation - I would strongly commend this disc to you. The sound quality is among the very best, Yablonsky bringing a most responsive accompaniment from the orchestra. 

ALFVEN: Symphony No. 5. Andante religioso. Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, Niklas Willen (conductor). Naxos 8.557612 (57' 47").

Born in Stockholm in 1872, it was as a choral conductor that Hugo Alfven first came to public attention, the Orphei Drangar, a society without any previous claim to fame becoming one of Europe's most outstanding ensembles under his direction. As a young man he had studied painting, and his compositions were to capture the mood of colours, the Shepherd-girl's Dance  - part of a ballet, The Mountain King - becoming so popular it is almost replaced the Swedish National Anthem. Yet it was through his symphonies that he hoped to establish himself as an important musical figure of the 20th century. It was to prove difficult, for by the time they appeared, during the first half of this century, his style of writing was looked upon as old fashioned and no longer in vogue. Two decades separated the fourth and fifth symphonies, and he was almost seventy when he began work on this last major work. For the first movement he drew on material from The Mountain King, but having completed this he found considerable difficulty with the remaining three movements, the final score taking sixteen years to complete. Sadly after its first performance it has seldom been heard. Now at last we have a recorded performance that does the work justice, the Norrkoping orchestra playing with that passion as if this was the greatest symphony ever written. Certainly the dramatic opening movement is the work's strong point, though I find the Andante a gorgeous moment; the quirky third is full of unexpected changing moods, while the lengthy finale looks too far back in style, but makes a spirited conclusion. The short Andante religioso dates from 1913 and forms an intermezzo from his Revelation Cantata. The whole disc is superbly played, ideally recorded and a 'top of the shopping list' release for lovers of Scandinavian music. Fervently recommended.

ROSSINI: Ciro in Babilonia. Riccardo Botta (Baldassare), Anna Rita Gemmabella (Ciro), Luisa Islam-Ali-Zade, (Amira), Maria Soulis (Argene), Wojtek Gierlach, (Zambri), Giorgio Trucco (Arbace), Giovanni Bellavia  (Daniele), ARS Brunensis Chamber Choir, Wurttemberg Philharmonic Orchestra, Antonino Fogliani (conductor). Naxos 8.660203-04 (2 CDs). (131' 59").

Even as a young man the potential for commercial success was uppermost in Rossini's mind, and the fact that Italian theatres were closed in Lent offered the ambitious composer the potential of writing a work that would be religiously acceptable at the closure period. The result was Ciro in Babilonia, the first of his to two Lent operas (the other being Mose in Egitto). The story surrounds the Babylonian King Belshazzar who has abducted Amira the wife of the Persian King Cyrus. He falls in love with her, but discovers her with an ambassador from Persia - who is Cyrus in disguise - and flies into a rage. Condemned to death, husband and wife are saved with the unexpected victory of the Persian army. Rossini was only 20 when the work was completed, and though its success was initially promising it failed to stay in the repertoire. It did, however, point to a major new opera composer, the second act duo for Ciro and Amira one of the work's highlights. Not unusual at the time, both roles were given to females, and though the opera is unusual in having no soprano, Amira offers the high end as a coloratura mezzo required to perform vocal acrobatics. That Rossini was to write comic operas at times surfaces, the orchestral introduction to the second act being distinctly lightweight. A well shaped opera, with a nice mix of arias, a happy conclusion not quite producing the required big ending. Derived from three stage performances at the annual 'Rossini in Wildbad Festival', the recording is the best I have heard from this source. Anna Rita Gemmabella is a fruity Ciro, the powerful lower end of her contralto voice of adequate weight and perfectly complements Luisa Islam-Ali-Zade's silvery mezzo. Riccardo Botta does his best with the wicked King Baldassare, but it is a taxing tenor role that does not always fall easily on the voice. I was much taken by the big bass voice of Wojtek Gierlach in the supporting role as a Babylonian prince, Zambri. The programme notes tell me that this recording takes us back to something near the original - Rossini made several adaptations - the conductor, Antonino Fogliani, responsible for the preparation of this performing version. Good orchestral support and homespun chorus in a nicely balanced recording with a minimum of stage noises, and at this super bargain price a release no Rossini fan will want to miss.

MARTINU: Puppets: Book 1 - 3, H.137, 116 & 92. Film en miniature, H.148. Spring in the Garden H.125. Butterflies and Birds of Paradise H.127. The Fifth Day of the Fifth Moon H. 318. Les bouquinistes du Quai Malaquais H.319. Giorgio Koukl (piano). Naxos 8.557198. (74' 19").

In reviewing the first disc in the complete piano works of Bohuslav Martinu from Naxos, I commented that he did not take kindly to formal musical education, and though he tried periods with Suk and later in Paris with Roussel, we was largely a self-taught composer. That did not stop him writing a vast amount of music, and among more than four hundred works he wrote around eighty for keyboard. Though Martinu fingerprints pass through much that he wrote, he appears a musically confusing figure. That is true of the present disc which offers works spread over thirty six years, the earliest being the three sets of Puppets started in 1912 which have a wonderful sense of childlike simplicity. They are new to me, though their immediate attraction, with more than a hint of Debussy, strikes me as some of the most attractive piano music from that period. Toying with jazz and the seductive tango Film en miniature continues in this pleasing mode, their brief nature carrying through to the pictures of four children games in Spring in the Garden. So far all have come from the young Martinu, but for the final two pieces we move to 1948 and the latter part of his career. They are very powerful and offer the soloist a chance to display technique. The early music does call for nimble fingers, but above all it looks for a pianist who is attracted to creating pleasure through simplicity. Born in Prague, Girogio Koukl moved to continue his education in Switzerland in 1968. He was to make his home there and is presently leading a busy concert life as pianist and harpsichordist. Coming to Martinu's music early in his life, there is that feel of affection evident throughout. The sound quality is admirable, and I cannot remember enjoying a piano disc quite so much for a very long time. Try tracks 2 and 3 and been totally won over.

VIVALDI: Bassoon Concertos in D minor, RV 481; F major, RV 485; C major, RV 477; A minor, RV 499; C major, RV 470; G major, RV 494. Tamas Benkocs (bassoon), Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia, Bela Drahos (conductor). Naxos 8.557829. (57' 26").

Regular readers will recall my enthusiastic reviews of previous discs in this series, and with the release of volume 4 my admiration is undiminished. If you want to hear one of today's great virtuoso soloists, then dash out and buy this stunning disc. Vivaldi took a very serious view of the bassoon in his thirty-nine concertos for the instrument, and there are reminders here of the highly popular The Four Seasons, the stormy atmosphere of the finale to the D minor being one such instance. In the Andante of the F major and again in the opening movement of the C major it is equally interesting to hear how much Vivaldi influenced Haydn. It is music that calls upon the soloist for a demonstration of sheer virtuosity, particularly when you remember the very basic instruments that were available at the time. Following the conventional pattern of the time they all contain a slow movement surrounded by fast music, the six included here frequently requiring tremendous finger agility. Those difficulties are dismissed by Tamas Benkocs, his creamy smoothness in slow movements avoiding the heavy vibrato we usually associate with East European players. Appointed principal bassoon of the famous Budapest Festival Orchestra while still a student, he more recently moved to the same position with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He has a first class partnership from the Esterhazy, an orchestra that proves you don't need period instruments to create period authenticity. The recording has the soloist well to the fore, the engineers creating a most pleasing sound.

SCHUBERT: Quartettsatz in C minor, D.103. String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, D.68. String Trio in B flat major, D.471. Five Minuets and Six Trios, D.89. Overture in C minor for string quintet, D.8 (1811). Kodaly Quartet, Gyozo Mathe (viola). Naxos 8.557126. (55' 48").

I felt rather sad at reaching the seventh and last volume of the Kodaly's complete Schubert string quartets, a feeling made no better by that sombre opening to the Quartettsatz, which is here so heavily laden with sadness. The complete cycle has been a long time coming, but with each new disc the wait has been amply rewarded. The Quartettsatz is a work I have loved playing and in this quite gorgeous performance it sets the scene for a disc that continues the unfussy presentation characteristic of their playing throughout the series. In essence this final release is a 'sweeping-up' of all the bits and pieces that Schubert produced for string quartet. Much comes from the precocious teenager and most are incomplete. He was just 16 when he composed the Fifth Quartet, a score in which he seems to have lost interest after completing two movements. If they show the complete mastery the teenager had achieved in this genre, it is the one movement from the abandoned String Trio that points to the great composer to come. True the Minuets and Trios don't add up to much, and had he lived longer he might well have returned to the Overture and added orchestral garb. The sound quality is of the impeccable quality we expect from this Hungarian source.

BINGHAM: Salt in the Blood. The Darkness Is No Darkness – Segue – S.S. Wesley: Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace.  First Light. The Snows Descend. The Secret Garden. BBC Symphony Chorus, Thomas Trotter (organ), Fine Arts Brass, Stephen Jackson (conductor). Naxos 8.570346. (67' 50").

Born in 1952 the British composer, Judith Bingham, served her apprenticeship in the world of choral music as a member of the BBC Singers and the BBC Symphony Chorus. It was to be in that genre that we find much of her output, and in 2006 she was awarded the British Composer Award for her contribution to choral music. Avoiding the road that leads to atonal posturing, she has found the mid-path between modernity and recognisable melodic invention. Brought up in Sheffield, an industrial city in the north of England, she had already been composing for several years before entering London's Royal Academy of Music to study singing and composition. The five works on the disc come from the decade following 1995. Most have a sense of otherworldliness, Salt in the Blood a ghost story relating the fatal quarrel between two sailors; First Light invites thoughts on Incarnation; The Snows Descend an Alpine picture for brass ensemble with the underlying thought that death is slumber. In The Secret Garden we can ponder the unanswerable question whether God walked in the garden after Adam and Eve departed. While Salt in the Blood is a most impressive score, as I pass through the first four tracks I have a sense of experimentation that only arrives at a major work in The Secret Garden, all that has gone before coming together. Only employing the organ sparingly as accompaniment, Bingham is here using words to create sounds, the result being a mix of the dramatic and the beautiful. The BBC Symphony Chorus commissioned it for the 2004 London Proms, this recording derived from that first performance. Throughout the disc we have that conviction new music requires, the Fine Arts Brass nicely supportive in Salt in the Blood and creating atmospheric sounds in The Snows Descend. The recording is smooth and very well detailed, my only reservation being the unnecessary inclusion of the insipid applause after The Secret Garden that comes as an anticlimax to a fine score.

HANDEL: Tobit. Maya Boog (Anna), Linda Perillo (Sarah), Barbara Hannigan (Azarias/Raphael), Alison Browner (Tobias), Knut Schoch (Tobit), Stephan MacLeod (Raguel), Junge Kantorei, Frankfurt Baroque Orchestra, Joachim Carlos Martini (conductor). Naxos 8.570113-14 (2 CDs). (156' 22").

Though Naxos is marketing this as a work by Handel, it is in fact a pastiche by John Christopher Smith who 'borrowed' music from Handel’s operas, oratorios and other works. I suppose you would kindly describe Smith as an 'opportunist', who finding he had inherited Handel's scores from his father - who had acted as the composer's copyist - was not slow in using them for his own financial gain. He enlisted the help of Thomas Morell to supply a suitable libretto to fit the chosen music, and used various sources in creating the musical story. It relates the legend of the pious and steadfast Tobit (Tobias the elder) who becomes blind and sends his son also called Tobit to collect money owed. A guiding hand passes him through trials and tribulations until he arrives back home able to cure his father's blindness, and everyone lives happily thereafter. It is a quite extensive score of similar length to Messiah, Smith, offering a semblance of creativity, adding the music for recitatives. He was not shy of cherry-picking from works that would have been popular at the time, the score opening with the overture to the opera, Tamerlano. Today most of the works have fallen from the repertoire, and we might even show gratitude to Smith for his recycling act. Sung in English - I think - by an international cast from both sides of the Atlantic, and I am vocally impressed by the Canadian soprano, Linda Perillo, a singer specialising in this era, and by the tenor, Knut Schoch, an expert in Baroque performance. Maya Boog is at times troubled in fast decorative passages, and after an early period of edgy intonation, Barbara Hannigan settles into a pleasing light voice. The Choir sounds fresh and energetic, while the Frankfurt Baroque produces that sound we would have heard in Handel's time. There are few mishaps in the one 'live' performance that gave rise to the recording made in 2001, the sound quite close but with a warm ambience. This is the only available recording.

BUXTEHUDE: O frohliche Stunden, BuxWV 84. O dulcis Jesu, BuxWV 83. Fried-und freudenreiche Hinfahrt, BuxWV 76: Contrapunctus I; Contrapunctus I (Evolutio); Teil II: Klag-Lied; Contrapunctus II: Contrapunctus II (Evolutio).Was mich auf dieser Welt betrubt, BuxWV 105. Schaffe in mir, Gott, BuxWV 95. Gen Himmel zu dem Vater mein, BuxWV 32. Singet dem Herrn, BuxWV 98. Sicut Moses exaltavit serpentem, BuxWV 97. Herr, wenn ich nur dich hab, BuxWV 38. Emma Kirkby (soprano), John Holloway (violin), Manfredo Kraemer (violin), Jaap ter Linden (viola da gamba), Lars Ulrik Mortensen (harpsichord and organ). Naxos 8.557251. (72' 18").

Legend would have it, though without a grain of truth - that Johann Sebastian Bach walked 200 miles just to hear the organ played by Dietrich Buxtehude. That the story was believed reveals the high esteem Buxtehude enjoyed as the father of the great German organ tradition. Born around 1637, and probably from Denmark, his mature life was spent in northern Germany, where as organist in Lubeck he enjoyed a major influence over the country's music. He was a highly productive composer, mainly of sacred scores written during the formative years of the Protestant church cantata, the present disc forming the first in a survey of his vocal music that numbered over 120 pieces. Whereas I find his organ works dry and academic, his vocal music is more lively and often of a happy nature as we find in the opening track, O frohliche Stunden. But there is also sadness, as we will find in Fried-und freudenreiche Hinfahrt, written upon his father's death. Apart from the voice many of the pieces have extended solo parts for instruments, the accompaniments more than a functional backdrop. The disc is taken from a Dacapo release that has been available for some time, the recording sessions taking place in 1996.  It features one of the great singers in the world of Baroque music, Emma Kirkby, together with leading period instrumentalists. Recorded in a warm church acoustic her voice is radiantly smooth and so wonderfully fresh. Intonation is in the centre of every note, with the exemplary diction we expect from her. The chamber group is technical perfection and with impeccable Baroque credentials, the engineers having achieved an ideal internal balance. It is the first in a series of the composer's vocal music and at the new budget price is an essential purchase.

SCHUMANN: Liederalbum fur die Jugend, Op. 79. Lieder und Gesange I, Op. 27.

Sibylla Rubens (soprano), Stefanie Iranyi (mezzo), Thomas E. Bauer (baritone), Uta Hielscher (piano). Naxos 8.557076. (58' 04").

It is quite remarkable how little Schumann understood about the vocal training of young children, his aid to teaching, Album of Songs for the Young, being totally useless for its stated objective. Not only did it not provide a structured improvement in vocal technique, but many of the texts were unsuitable for young people. As teaching was its stated objective it has since offered little attraction to mature singers, the present performance dressed up by spreading the songs between a number of voices. Though it cannot quite shake-off its origins, the singing is of such artistry as to offer a pleasing traversal of a rarity in the concert hall. The perky and silvery voice of Sibylla Rubens adds a nice sense of innocence, Stefanie Iranyi blending perfectly in their duets. Yet it is the young baritone, Thomas Bauer, who captured my attention, for here is a singer who not only possesses a beautiful voice, but also uses it with such innate musicality. He certainly makes the most of his participation in this group of twenty-nine children songs, but to hear him at his best go to track 34, Nur ein lachelnder Blick (Only a smiling glance), the final item of the group of Lieder and Songs. Schumann does here give the piano something more interesting to say than the functional backdrop in the first part of the disc. Whatever is offered the Japanese-born pianist, Uta Hielscher, is outstanding in her sensitivity. Recorded in conjunction with Bavarian Radio early last year, the balance and sound quality is excellent.

LHOYER: Duo Concertant in A major, Op. 31, No. 1. Duo Concertant in E minor, Op. 31, No. 3. Duo Concertant in C major, Op. 31, No. 2. Duo Concertant in D minor, Op. 34, No. 2. Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli (guitars).  Naxos 8.570146. (59' 04").

Every month Naxos open our minds to those whose names we do not even recognise. As the booklet informs us, the early years of the French-born composer, Antoine de Lhoyer, is not well documented, so that we take up his life when he finds himself on the wrong side in the French Revolution. Retreating to safety in Germany and Russia, where he developed his career as a performer and teacher, he did not return to France until 1813 when the monarchy was restored. Already forty-five he was given a post in the king's army, and though in the event it returned him to a nomadic life, he continued to compose. It was during this period that most of his quite considerable output of works for two guitars was completed. Where he had learned his craft is uncertain, but as this disc makes clear he was highly accomplished, and one of the first to write guitar music where the two instruments are equal partners. That he was also well-versed in music of the time would be evidenced by the feel of Mozart that often runs through his works. So why did his music just die?  Well for a start it was probably never internationally known, and for the last twenty-six years of his life he composed nothing and probably did not work to promote his output. The opus 31 trio of works date from 1814, the opus 34 coming five years later, their shape usually alternating fast and slow movements. Essentially it is guitarists guitar music, the Italian duo Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli revelling in the intertwining music that offers scope for technical brilliance. For a sample turn to track 6, the playful Rondo and an exercise in nimble fingers. Excellent sound quality.

SIBELIUS: Illalle. Varen flyktar hastigt. Den forsta kyssen. Svarta rosor. Flickan kom ifran sin alsklings mote. Sav, sav, susa. Var det en drom?. Demanten pa marssnon. Lastu lainehilla. Souda, souda, sinisorsa. Kaiutar. Segelfahrt. Im Feld ein Madchen singt. Sehnsucht. Die stille Stadt. Serenadi. En visa. Den forsta kyssen. Orgier. Sav, sav, susa. Soluppgang. Vanskapens blomma. Narissi. Hymn to Thais, the Unforgettable. Six Songs Op.88. Hannu Jurmu (tenor), Jouni Somero (piano). Naxos 8.570019. (62' 28").

Though we instinctively think of Sibelius as an orchestral composer, his song output was sizeable and numbered more than a hundred works, Naxos intending for the first time to record them all, a number never previously appearing on disc. Though here performed by his native Finnish artists, most of the songs were to Swedish texts, the composer having been brought up speaking that language. Their mood moves from radiant love songs that would not have been out of place in Italian opera, to those that have the Nordic chill we find in his symphonic output. Though they did not form song cycles, many were gathered under one opus number, and I find it strange that Naxos is not issuing them under that convenient heading. Like Schubert, Sibelius did at times use the same words, as in Sav, sav, susa, set to different music, and also like Schubert he was prone to offer the pianist very differing levels of involvement from song to song. Most are quite short, many cruelly exposing intonation shortcomings, and though some are appropriate to the heroic stance of the male voice, recordings from mezzos and sopranos show how much easier and preferable they fall on the lyric female voice. Hannu Jurmu, winner of many prizes and with career in the opera house, is aware of the character of each song and is well accompanied by Jouni Somero. Sound quality is admirable, but the booklet could have given the listener some idea as to the content of each song.

MOZART (arr. Weinzierl/Wachter): Sonata in D major for two flutes and piano (from Sonata for two pianos, K.448). KUHLAU: Grand Trio for two flutes and piano, Op. 119. FRANCAIX:  Le Colloque des deux perruches. SAINT-SAENS: Tarentelle for flute, clarinet and piano, Op.6. POULENC: Flute Sonata. Wolfgang Schulz (flute/alto flute), Matthias Schulz (flute), Peter Schmidl (clarinet), Madoka Inui (piano). Naxos 8.570309. (69' 24").

The disc is issued in Naxos's on-going series featuring the principals of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and features the highly distinguished Wolfgang Schulz, the principal flautist with the VPO for the past thirty-seven years. He has already made many discs as a soloist and has appeared on countless recordings by the Philharmonic. He is here joined by his son, Matthias, born in 1972 and Wolfgang's student at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts. Now a member of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, he is, like his father, involved in teaching the next generation of flautists. They open with an adaptation of a Mozart four-hand Piano Sonata, the two flutes required to show their agility in the final movement, a feature that continues in the opening of Kuhlau's ornate Grand Trio, a dialogue piece between the two flutes, the piano adding a backdrop. Typically spiky and at times harmonically naughty, the Francaix is a quite lengthy score for flute and alto flute. The Saint-Saens is a typically tuneful work that blends the silvery sounds of the flute with the clarinet. Thus far it has been ideal for Wolfgang, but the Poulenc has attracted so many recordings with soloists who have that creamy sound and fast vibrato that sounds so 'French', and I miss that element in his playing. The recording comes from Austrian Radio, I have heard more convincing piano sound.

THOMSON: The Plow that Broke the Plains. The River. Post-Classical Ensemble, Angel Gil-Ordonez (conductor). Naxos DVD 2.110521. (112' 20").

In the mid-part of the 1930's Virgil Thomson was commissioned to compose the music as background to the two 'educational' films being made by Pare Lorentz. They were to show the utter devastation suffered by the whole of central North America by ignorant newcomers who had no concept of looking after land, the dreadful havoc they unleashed a lasting scar on the world. Part of that devastation was and will always be irreversible, and the remedy for the remaining land as set out in the film was only in hindsight to make matters worse. But of its kind the films were to serve the purpose of showing what had happened and warning of future potential destruction. Thomson could have provided big and dramatic scores, but instead decided to underpin the story with scores that called for modest sized orchestras and have been described as masterpieces of the genre. The sound tracks on the original black and white films were not good, and Naxos have now added newly recorded performances that fulfil the original intention, the American orchestra - a new name to me - creating a very good impression. There is also four additional feature tracks including the composer speaking about himself that are of modest interest. Probably more aimed at film buffs than those interested in the music - there are plenty of recordings of both works  - but I certainly enjoyed the disc.

REESEN: Gronlandsk Folketone. Polkina fra Gudindernes Strid. Trianon - Suite I gammel stil. Variationer over et tema af Fr. Schubert. Agnethe og Havmanden. Jeg gik mig ud en Sommerdag. Gaucho-Suite. Himmerland. Festmarch. Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Bo Holten (conductor). Dacapo 8.226031. (67' 29").

Emil Reesen was born near Copenhagen in 1887 and was already playing the piano professionally at the age of 14, but failed the entry exam to Denmark's Royal Academy of Music, and had to study privately. Early success as a concert pianist gave way to conducting and eventually to composing. From there he has been described as a 'jack-of-all-trades' working in a diverse media world composing everything from film background music to operetta and ballet. The present disc would show a composer never short of a good tune, but one who seemed happy to work in pastiche of composers that had gone before. That is particularly evident in Trianon - A Suite in Old Style - where we could well imagine we were in England of yesteryear though Reesen thought he was in France. The most extensive work, and the one worth preserving, is the Variations on a theme of Schubert, the theme coming from a little known work for four-handed piano. Completed in 1928 to mark the centenary of Schubert's death, it was dedicated to the Danish Radio Orchestra which he had become conductor of the previous year. I was very much taken by Himmerland, a Rhapsody on folk tunes from North Jutland, the simple tunes skilfully bonded together, then dressed in elaborate and colourful orchestration. The remaining tracks are short and are a series of cameo pieces, including the brief cowboy ballet, Gaucho.

Maybe a little tidying up of passing moments of quirky intonation could have been made, but the playing of the Aalborg orchestra is assured and responsive to the music. First rate sound.

DELIBES: Lakme. Mado Robin (Lakme), Libero De Luca (Gerald), Agnes Disney (Mallika), Jean Borthayre (Nilakantha), Claudine Collart (Ellen), Jacques Jansen (Frederic), Simone LeMaitre (Rose), Jane Perriat (Mistress Benson), Chorus and Orchestra of the Paris Opera-Comique, Paris, Georges Sebastian (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111235-36 (2CDs). (149' 16").

There was a time when Lakme enjoyed a place in the repertoire of many major opera houses, yet around the world today the name of Leo Delibes hangs on his two ballets, Coppelia and Sylvia. After early promise his student days were unconvincing, and he was placed on the musical treadmill as organist and accompanist so as to provide for his widowed mother. It was as a theatre rehearsal pianist that he learned his craft as a composer of ballet and opera, and handed some routine work by hard-pressed composers encouraged him to start work writing operettas. From there he branched into ballet and eventually into 'serious' opera, Le roi l'a dit composed in 1873 finally gaining him national recognition. Yet it was only Lakme, completed ten years later, that really took him into international circulation. The story of the hatred shown towards the English in 19th century India, with Lakme's efforts to save Gerald from her father who had sworn revenge for the two English soldiers who has desecrated sacred land. That he has to return to his army regiment once she has brought him back to health leaves her with the only option of suicide before her father discovers her treachery. At the heart of the score comes the famous Bell Song and that at least ensures the name of the opera remains well known. Joan Sutherland managed to revive its fortunes with a high profile 1968 recording, but for the genuine French performance you have return to this priceless 1951 version. It featured Mado Robin who will never be equalled let alone surpassed in the leading role. Her fast attractive fluttering vibrato fits the character of the role, her ability at speed to perform vocal acrobatics being a source of joy and amazement. She died at the tragically early age of 42, leaving this is an ideal testimony to a unique talent. Surrounded by idiomatic performers with the lyric tenor of Libero De Luca in the role of Gerald, surely on disc the most under-valued singer of his time. Set beside the two lovers is the powerful bass voice of Jean Borthayre, a chilling Nilakantha. At the helm was the Chief Conductor of the Paris Opera and frequent guest at the Opera-Comique, Georges Sebastian, the chorus in superb form. The engineers placed voices well forward, while keeping clarity in the orchestra, and the transfer by Ward Marston is nothing short of remarkable. The 1952 sound is so revitalised that it stands up well against anything appearing today and certainly far more natural in quality. Put it right at the top of your shopping list.

MEYERBEER: L’Africaine: Mi batte il cor ... O Paradiso! - Act 4. CACCINI: Amarilli. DONAUDY: O del mio amato ben. HANDEL: Serse: Frondi tenere e belle … Ombra mai fu, Act 1. MASSENET: Manon: O dolce incanto …Chiudi gli occhi, Act 4. Werther: Ah! Non mi ridestar, Act 3. WAGNER: Lohengrin: Merce, merce, cigno gentil, Act 1. GRIEG: Un Reve (En drom). CHOPIN: Reviens, mon amour. GOMES: Lo Schiavo: All'istante partir, Act 2. PUCCINI: Tosca: E lucevan le stelle, Act 3. La Fanciulla del West: Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano, Act 3. WECKERLIN: Bergere legere. MOZART: Don Giovanni: Dalla sua pace, Act 1. CURCI: Notte a Venezia. CARNEVALI: Come, love with me. CURRAN: Life. DE CRESCENZO: Rondine al nido. DE CURTIS: Addio bel sogno. DI VEROLI: Ritorna amore. BIXIO: Mamma. DI CAPUA: 'O sole mio.  Beniamino Gigli (tenor), Dino Fedri (piano). Naxos Historical 8.111104. (55' 38").

The fifteenth and final volume in Naxos's 'Gigli Edition' also marks the fiftieth anniversary of his death in 1957, and brings to CD for the first time extracts from the tenor's final concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1955. I suppose those who, like myself, really care very deeply for his art will also be his most severe critics, for he was a singer of very limited scope, and when he remained within those boundaries he had no rival. Unfortunately he never seemed to recognise those limits, as you hear on this disc when he attempts - in Italian - to sing Wagner in a style completely alien to the composer. But return to Massenet and Puccini and even the ravages of age had left his art untarnished, while his singing of Neapolitan songs remained as virile as ever.  Sadly he had to live with the fact he neither had the looks nor stature to take the romantic parts demanded by Puccini, and we have to live with the fact that the gramophone era had come too late to do justice to him at the peak of his career. Though Gigli addicts cannot exist without this disc, for me it is a sad end to a singer now in his sixty-fifth year, for as a young teenager I had grown up to adore him and I still do. By then much of his singing was in the head to cover for the lack of chest notes, his adversaries describing it as 'crooning'. Yet turn to track 5 or 9 - the Manon and Werther excerpts - and the beauty is there in abundance. For one last time he even managed a heroic Cavaradossi, the audience applause of his ringing top note interrupting the aria. As with his final tour of Europe he sang with piano accompaniment so that he did not have to push his voice, but that thinness of backing only exposed vocal weaknesses. A historic document that captured the voice rather better than the piano, and immaculately presented.

FORMBY: The old kitchen kettle. I told my baby with the ukulele. If you don’t want the goods don’t maul ‘em. Levi’s monkey Mike. With my little ukulele in my hand. She’s never been seen since then. You can't keep a growing lad down. Madame Moscovitch. Fanlight Fanny. The Isle of Man. Oh dear, mother. Keep your seats please. The Lancashire toreador. It's in the air. It's turned out nice again. You can't go wrong in these. The barmaid at the Rose and Crown. They laughed when I started to play. The mad March hare. You don't need a licence for that. George Formby (singer/ukulele), various orchestras and conductors. Naxos Nostalgia 8.120837 (60' 26").

You might not be expecting among my classical music reviews to find George Formby, but many, many years ago with the second-hand wind-up gramophone my parents bought me I found one of his discs, and I fell in love with his silly songs. Born in 1904 to a father who was a music-hall comedian, his diminutive size at first took him into the world of racehorses, but weight problems eventually ruled out the life as a jockey. Encouraged by his mother he then followed in his father's footsteps, though it was not until marriage to a wife who shaped his career that success in the theatre was realised. He was far from good looking and rather ungainly, but his music found him acting in twenty films fashioned around his singing and ukulele playing, his recorded legacy including over two hundred discs. He became the UK's most highly paid comedian reportedly earning in the late 1930's what today must equate to 20 million pounds per year. His wealth and growing ill-health persuaded him to retire in his late forties, and he died at the early age of 57. Maybe those not born in the north of England will not catch all of the words in these funny and often naughty songs, but you will gather enough to appreciate the role it would have had in the films from which many of these tracks are taken. In between his singing we hear his agility on the instrument he called a ukulele, though in fact it owed more to its banjo origins. If you are just coming to the funny man, just play a few tracks at a time, as the formula that made him famous was much the same from song to song. The sound from the originals - covering the period from 1932 to 1946 - is good and the transfers are immaculate.