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VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Toward the Unknown Region. Willow-Wood. The Voice out of the Whirlwind. Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus. The Sons of Light. Roderick Williams (baritone), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones (conductor). Naxos 8.557798. (61' 49")

An absolutely priceless disc of Vaughan Williams rarities, including the world premiere recording of the cantata Willow-Wood, a score originally dating from 1903 in a version for voice and piano, and orchestrated six years later with added chorus. By the time of the first version Vaughan Williams was already thirty, his development as a composer having been slow to come to fruition. He had begin preliminary work on A Sea Symphony, the score that was to mark the end of his 'apprenticeship', and though the symphony was to become one of his best known, the two works are, in style and musical content, totally complementary. It has been extremely fortunate to have Roderick Williams as the baritone soloist for its disc debut, every word perfectly enunciated in a voice born to sing the English song repertoire. Marry that with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra on top form and you have an invaluable addition to the catalogue. Towards the Unknown Region was completed in 1906 and has remained on the fringe of the British concert repertoire. The Voice out of the Whirlwind, originally written for London's first St. Cecilia's Day service after the end of the Second World War, is extensive, dramatic, red-blooded and colourful, The Sons of Light for chorus and orchestra coming from the latter part of his life. I am not sure why the oft recorded Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus has been included in such a disc of discovery, but it is given a first class performance. Anglophiles have become permanently indebted to David Lloyd-Jones for his forays into the little known, and though other conductors will want to be described as today's leading conductor of British music, for me he is in a class all of its own. Add a very fine recording and you have a fabulous release.

BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73. Hungarian Dances Nos. 1, 3, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20 & 21. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Marin Alsop (conductor). Naxos 8.557429. (65' 06").

Opening Naxos's new cycle of the Brahms symphonies, Marin Alsop drew considerable critical acclaim around the world for her performance of the First Symphony, and I find the Second even more compelling. There is spaciousness to her account of the first two movements with tempos that allow the music to unfold with warmth and a feeling of restrained strength. Her pulse is always fluid in shaping phrases, never looking to make new revelations, the music speaking for itself. The third movement is equally unhurried, her finale refusing to enter into the usual unedifying dash to the finishing line. It is sobriety that continues in the nicely shaped group of Hungarian Dances, where the usual romp through the music is replaced by cleanly delineated playing that permits note values to be precise rather than estimated. The LPO play well throughout, the strings suitably smooth and redolent, the recording never overstating the brass parts. I am sure it us going to add up to a most satisfying cycle.

BERNSTEIN: Serenade. Facsimile. Divertimento. Philippe Quint (violin), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop (conductor). Naxos 8.559245. (65' 05").

A violin concerto by any other name, the Serenade is divided into five sections, each headed by a character from Greek history. The result is a thirty-minute score of vivid extremes, Bernstein's genius coming with the use of strings and percussion to create a multicoloured backdrop. It dates from 1954, the spiky rhythms and moments of sugary sweetness calling upon the soloist to display a whole range of talents. It could not have a more assured protagonist than Philippe Quint, his brilliant technique matched by wonderfully smooth lyric passages, the pungency of the fast finale brought off with suitable verve. Its mood prepares the way for the composer's concert version of his ballet, Facsimile, a work typically full of Bernstein's catchy tunes and rhythms, his trademark continuing in the light-hearted Divertimento. With tongue-in-cheek humour we have a waltz, mazurka, samba and turkey trot among the eight movements. The Bournemouth orchestra turns in fabulous performances for Bernstein's protege, Marin Alsop. The playing is so crisp and neat that it really is a cut above most Bernstein records from the States. Sound to match the vivid playing.

HOVHANESS: Symphonies No. 4 op.165; No. 20 op. 233 ''Three Journeys in a Holy Mountain' & No. 53. Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places, Op.213. The Prayer of St Gregory, op.62b. John Wallace (trumpet), The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Wind Orchestra, Keith Brion (conductor). Naxos 8.559207. (66' 01").

This is one of the most stunningly brilliant wind orchestra discs I have ever heard. I know I blow hot and cold about Alan Hovhaness, the most prolific American composer of the 20th century who completed sixty-seven symphonies before his death five years ago, but this is different. Often reproved for spreading musical gifts over too many works, at his most persuasive he spoke in a language that can be readily understood and appreciated, even by those grappling to comprehend music of our time. Of Armenian and Scottish descent, Hovhaness has passed through four very distinct phases, making easy categorisation of his output quite difficult. His Fourth symphony dates from 1958, Hovhaness having destroyed most of his sizeable output in the early 1940's and stated all over again. It is scored, as are all the works on the disc, for an orchestral wind department and percussion, the oft changes of mood, at times quite violent, creating a kaleidoscope of colourful sounds. The Twentieth came ten years later, the score fragrant in Armenia and spirituality, the sense of infinite space featured in the two short movements of the Fifty-third symphony. Between are two works for trumpet and wind, the same sense of otherworldliness acting as a backdrop to the famous trumpet of John Wallace. Throughout the playing is immaculate, perfectly in tune and idiomatic to the music under the direction of their American conductor, Keith Brion. If this were the Chicago Symphony or Philadelphia wind sections we would automatically be heaping acclaim on the disc, and I hope my fellow critics around the world will afford these young musicians the equal praise they so deserve. The sound quality is superb.

RIES: Piano Concerto No. 6, Op. 123. Piano Concerto No.8, Op.151, 'Salut au Rhin'. Christopher Hinterhuber (piano), New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Uwe Grodd (conductor). Naxos 8.557638. (60' 55").

Ferdinand Ries was the son of Franz Anton Ries who had taught Beethoven, and it was Beethoven who became the piano teacher for his son, this teacher-pupil relationship becoming a lasting friendship. Born in Germany in 1784, Ries's early career was insecure until visiting London in 1813 where he was to spend the following 11 years. He was regarded there as the finest pianist-composer of his time, and built such a fortune that at the age of 40 was able to retire with his English wife to his native Rhineland. He composed a vast amount of music in every genre, including stage works and symphonies, most including the piano in its many guises. Eight numbered piano concertos (numbered 2 to 9) exist, the influences of his mentor bringing strength to his concept, though Mozart lurks in the background. If melodic invention does not sink readily into the memory, this is well-crafted music that challenges the nimbleness of the soloist in the outer movements. At times you wonder if Chopin knew the music, Ries's decorative style a foretaste of Chopin's concertos yet to come. They have never been previously recorded, bur surely their easy-going attractiveness is destined to win them many friends. Try track 3 to sample Christopher Hinterhuber's brilliance as notes appear in vast numbers, the piano decorating the melody in the most elaborate arabesques. The orchestral accompaniments are suitably robust, and the recording absolutely first rate.

JACQUET DE LA GUERRE: Harpsichord Suites Nos. 1-6. Elizabeth Farr (harpsichord). Naxos 8.557654-55 (2 CDs). (142' 46").

Described as 'the marvel of our century', Elisabeth Cluade Jacquet de la Guerre became the most famous French composer in the early part of the 18th century, and a favourite of Louis XIV to whom she dedicated many works. From a family deeply involved with music and the major producer of harpsichords at that time. Her date of birth was probably 1664, and though an outstanding performer as a young women, it was the early deaths of her husband and son in 1704 that concentrated her mind on composition. Few works whose existence was documented have survived, the present disc presenting some of her most important pieces. Often exhilarating, full of vitality, and rhythmically vibrant, go to track 6 on the first disc, the Gigue from the First Suite, for a taste of the sparkling writing. As with all Suites of the period, they are a series of dances, Jacquet creating quite complex pieces within a formalised framework, the style a foretaste of music to come from the Couperin family. Even they could not offer more attractive pieces than many we have here, though a few bald patches appear in the later suites. Elizabeth Farr revels in the strong quality of the music, her fingers getting around all the twists and turns with considerable agility. The harpsichord she is using is a bold sounding instrument that packs plenty of punch, enhanced by the close microphones. Any lover of the harpsichord should waste no time in acquiring these discs.

VILLA-LOBOS: Bachianas Brasileiras Nos. 1 - 9. Rosana Lamosa (soprano), Jose Feghali (piano), Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Schermerhorn, Andrew Mogrelia (conductors). Naxos 8.557460-62 (3 CDs). (155' 17").

Orchestras are not queuing up to record Villa-Lobos's strange and sprawling tribute to Bach, its various elements placing the performers under sever scrutiny, and there is at present only one other complete version in the CD catalogue performed by the same orchestra. Composed between 1930 and 1945 it was intended to bring Bach to Brazil in the 20th century, each movement given both a Baroque and modern title, though truth to tell you will find little Bach. Divided into nine major sections, then subdivided into numerous movements, Bachianas Brasileiras is rarely performed in concert due to its length and diverse elements that call for very differing combinations of instruments. Sensibly Kenneth Schermerhorn - how this orchestra is going to miss their Music Director now he is no more - does not highlight sections, and creates a more united score than even the composer managed in his recording. His death left Andrew Mogrelia to record the first Bachianas, the cellos seemingly unable to reach their usual impeccable standard in music that tests them, but from therein the orchestra is in fine form, bringing out details that are often lost. The semi-wordless vocalising of the soprano is rather too forward in the only vocal moment (the choir is omitted in the ninth Bachianas), though Rosana Lamosa swoops around to create its usual allure. On the other hand the solo pianist, Jose Feghali, succeeds in integrating the keyboard into the texture more than usual in the third Bachianas. There is just one alternative on disc from the French National Radio Orchestra, their cellos hardly more comfortable than the Nashville team, and though it has the composer at the helm, its sound is dated compared with this well recorded new edition. A novelty and Naxos are to be thanked for making it available at its bargain price.

BEETHOVEN: Fidelio (Highlights): Inga Nielsen (Leonora), Gosta Winbergh (Florestan), Kurt Moll (Rocco), Edith Lienbacher (Marzelline), Alan Titus (Don Pizzaro), Wolfgang Glashof (Don Fernando), Nicholaus Esterhazy Orchestra, Michael Halasz (conductor). Naxos 8.557892. (71' 04").

Strange that Naxos is issuing these highlights in the same month as the reissue of the legendary Furtwangler version. Yet they are very different, this disc - which contains around half of the work - offering the modern view of a young woman hell bent on saving a wrongly imprisoned man. Rip up the philosophical slant on the story, for this is vivid drama, Halasz directing with urgent tempos, his orchestra weighty but sounding more akin to a pit-sized band than we normally hear on disc. Just compare the burnished tones of the horns on Furtwangler's Vienna recording with the bright and incisive quality of the Hungarian musicians, and that just about sums up the difference in the whole performance. Indeed it has been listening to both performances that reinforces the fact that this recording is up there among the best on disc, with Inga Nielsen's Leonora a vivid characterisation, and Gosta Winbergh probably the best Florestan around today. The remaining roles, with the exception of the wide vibrato of Wolfgang Glashof in the minor part of Don Fernando, are all excellently taken, the problem is that once you have heard this disc you are going to want the whole performance.

SAMMARTINI: Symphonies in A major, C minor, D major, F major, D minor and C major. Aradia Ensemble, Kevin Mallon (conductor). Naxos 8.557298. (60' 21").

It is from his death certificate that we learn Giovanni Battista Sammartini's date of birth as being 1700 or the first few weeks of the following year. After that event little is recorded as to his education save for the fact that he came from a musical father who may have taught him. He was certainly born in Milan and hardly ever ventured outside of that region, his reputation as a composer created by his scores being published abroad. In Italy he was only known as a church musician who at one time took charge of music in almost every major church in his home city. His output was vast and almost 80 symphonies survived him, together with numerous concertos, operas and a sizeable quantity of sacred and secular choral music. He passed through several periods, his earliest in the footsteps of Vivaldi through to a foretaste of Mozart. Critically analysed he was a diligent craftsman rather than an innovative composer, generally happy to produce attractive and inoffensive scores. The present group of six symphonies comes from his middle period and composed for strings with pairs of horns or trumpets. He experimented with the number of movements though here they are generally of the fast -slow - fast format. They are most persuasive when the music bubbles happily along, typically in the opening movement of the F major symphony (track 11) where harmonies have a little more pungency. The Aradia Ensemble play with the crisp and neat quality we expect from them, the sound quality is as open and bright as their playing.

MONTEVERDI: Lamento d’Arianna. Si dolce e il tormento. PERI: Al fonte al prato. Lungi dal vostro lume. Se tu parti da me. Uccidimi dolore. KAPSBERGER: Libro Quarto - Sferraina; Capona; Passacaglia. CACCINI: Vedro ’l mio sol. Amarilli. Amor ch’attendi. ROGNIONO: Ancor che col partire. The Catacoustic Consort, Annalisa Pappano (director). Naxos 8.557538. (62' 01").

It seems that our forefathers in the early 17th century enjoyed a bit of pain and suffering in their music, the famous Italian composers of the time providing a series of Laments that miss nothing in overt sadness. Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna is the most famous example that has survived, the droopy style that is now in favour for such music provided in abundance by the soprano, Catherine Webster. Her obvious standpoint that a wide range of dynamics would not have been used at the time certainly carrying credibility, intonation throughout being faultless. A whole disc of music that is really a glorified dirge would have become a little too much of a good thing, so we have the lute and viol providing a few tracks of a more uplifting instrumental nature. Kapsberger's Capona is a particularly enjoyable piece (track 4), while Ancor che col partire contains some fine playing from the viol. Catacoustic Consort took first prize in the Early Music America Live Recording Competition in 2003, an award that must have reflected the refined quality of their performances. Good sound quality.

ARRIAGA: String Quartets Nos. 1 in D minor; No. 2 in A major; No. 3 on E flat major. Camerata Boccherini. Naxos 8.557628. (69' 03").

As with so many composers who have died in their younger years, we can only speculate as to the place they would have taken in the history of music. In the case of the Spanish-born Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga we have the added difficulty of so few works by which to judge his talents, the young man dying in 1826 at the age of twenty. So we mainly rely on the documented high regard of his mentors and three string quartets completed when he was 18. Mozart and Haydn feature in the style of writing, but he added a personal warmth and geniality, and even in the Third Quartet a foretaste of Beethoven's string quartets yet to come. Arriaga had studied the violin and he places a heavy responsibility on the leader, though he had also mastered the art of featuring the whole quartet - in a way Beethoven was to perfect - giving much prominence to the cello. I don't have a biography of the Camerata Boccherini, but they have that feel of a young group still rather intoxicated with the music they are playing. It is an enthusiasm that sweeps away some awkward violin intonation, and of the handful of recordings available this would be my top choice. The sound quality is very natural in a modest sized location.

SZYMANOWSKI: Nine Preludes Op.1. Piano Sonata No. 3, Op.36. Variations in B flat minor, Op.3. Mazurkas, Op.50, Nos. 17 - 20, Two Mazurkas, Op, 62. Valse Romantique. Martin Roscoe (piano). Naxos 8.557168. (68' 48").

I had almost given up hope of ever seeing this last volume in the complete cycle of Szymanowski's piano works. If memory serves me right it's five years ago since we saw the third and penultimate disc, but like all good things it has been worth waiting for. Though always considered a Polish national composer, Karol Szymanowski was born in the Ukraine in 1882 with a mother of Swedish origin. At the age of 19 he went to study composition in Warsaw, and there became part of the Young Poland Music Group, one of their members, the conductor, Fitelberg, championing Szymanowski's music. It marked the beginning of a highly productive period, his piano scores, with Debussy and Ravel in the background, are often fiendishly difficult, the Nine Preludes moving from innocent simplicity to passages that are technically rigorous. Though his music was little understood in Poland, he did absorb their folk heritage as we hear in the Variations, while the relatively brief Third Sonata, a much more cosmopolitan and somewhat intangible work, toys with atonality and dates from 1917. The series thus far has been gaining much critical acclaim, Martin Roscoe again brushing aside the difficulties the composer throws at him, the minute detail and clarity of his playing quite a revelation, while the big-boned opulence comes at the appropriate moments. We may never hear performances on disc to equal these, the uncannily realistic piano sound of equal merit.

TIPPETT: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3. Peter Donohoe (piano). Naxos 8.557611. (53' 34").

This year marks the centenary of the birth of Michael Tippett, Naxos adding to the celebrations with this very fine new recording of his first three piano sonatas - I hope the fourth is yet to come. Like so many British composers, Tippett was a late starter in life and was in his mid-30's before his first work was published. Public awareness of the emerging talent came with the oratorio, A Child of our Time, reflecting the Nazi atrocities in a mixture of new music and popular spirituals. That mix was to signpost a composer who throughout life chose many influences, often confusing his audiences as his output swing from tonality to atonality. The three sonatas cover thirty-seven years of his long life, the powerful utterances requiring a pianist who can combine virtuosity with physical stamina, making Peter Donohoe the ideal choice. In every respect the scores are different, the immediately attractive First being in four movements, of which the vivacious third and mercurial fourth require agility. Where the First is tonal and lyric, the Second is in one atonal aggressive movement challenging both performer and listener, Donohoe sparing us nothing in the naked modernity of the score. It dates from 1962, eleven years before the Third sonata in three movements. Stylistically it straddles the first two, and though there are some tender passages, it is a work that does not ask you to like it. That the sonatas represent a major part of 20th century piano music is without doubt, and in such outstanding performances and sound they are an essential purchase.

GOULD: Jekyll and Hyde Variations. Fall River Legend (complete ballet)

James F Neal (narrator), Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Schermerhorn (conductor). Naxos 8.559242. (73' 46").

Born in New York in 1913, Morton Gould first came to public attention as a conductor in the field of light music, his weekly national radio programmes becoming highly popular. Educated at the New York Institute for Musical Art where he studied piano and composition, his output was to cover a wide spectrum from films to large-scale symphonic works. American Salute, based on the folk tune Johnny Comes Marching Home, has become highly popular, though much of his more serious orchestral compositions have received a mixed response. Among the few that have achieved a place in the repertoire, the colourful ballet Fall River Legend - here given in its full ballet format - has a rather gruesome backdrop of murder, the story of the perpetrator retold in musically graphic terms. It was to prove a turning point in Gould's career that now concentrated on 'serious' music. Completed ten years later, the Jekyll and Hyde Variations has a theme with 13 quite short variations that move from explosive outbursts to some quite spooky moments, a little jazz thrown in for good measure. With so little of Gould's output in catalogue - Jekyll and Hyde making its recording debut - these well-played performances are most welcome, Kenneth Schermerhorn perfectly capturing the lilt and pace of the ballet score. Sound quality is clear and very realistic.

HUMMEL: Cello Sonata in A major, Op. 104. Piano Quartet on G major, Op. posth. Piano Trio in F major, Op 22. Piano Trio in G major, Op. 35. Susan Alexander-Max (fortepiano), Micaela Comberti (violin), Simon Standage (violin), Jane Rogers (viola), Pal Banda (cello). Naxos 8.557694. (69' 19").

Johann Nepomuk Hummel, born in the city now known as Bratislava, could read music by the age of three and was a prodigy whose achievements surpassed those of Mozart. The son of an outstanding musician who worked in nearby Vienna, Johann became a pupil of Mozart, and for a time lived with the composer's family. By the age of ten Hummel was touring as a concert artist and in demand throughout Europe. In 1804 he became Kapellmeister to the famous Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy, and was made assistant to Haydn. They were highly productive years as a composer, but in 1814 he returned to touring as a concert pianist before taking the position as Kapellmeister in Weimar, a post that allowed him time to compose. Throughout his later life Hummel enjoyed such success that his death in 1837 was seen as a loss at least equal to that of Mozart. History shows how wrong that was, Hummel being a gifted composer who singularly lacked Mozart's ability to constantly create memorable melody. The Piano Quartet, published after his death, contains just two very ordinary movements, and it is the two Piano Trios that are the gems here. Try track 5 for the joyful final Rondo to opus 35, and you will love the finale to opus 22 (track 11). Familiar names on the British music scene, the ensemble shows good taste in period style, and they may well be playing on period instruments, but the truthful recording finds the fortepiano rather overpowered in the Quartet, and it sounds much happier in the Trios. All concerned are admirable, with agility in abundance when requited, Pal Banda's cello singing eloquently in the sonata.

BOLCOM: Recuerdos. Frescoes. Sonata for two pianos. Interlude. The Serpent's Kiss. Through Eden's Gates. Elisabeth and Marcel Bergmann (pianos). Naxos 8.559244. (72' 13").

The world first came to know William Bolcom as a pianist when he joined the short-lived vogue in the 1960's for Scott Joplin's Piano Rags, adding many of his own pieces to the deluge of recordings. His musical education pointed him to a career as a serious composer, student days spent in Paris with Milhaud and Messiaen as his mentors. It has been while teaching in a number of American universities, including New York and Washington that he has composed a substantial catalogue of works covering a broad spectrum of genres. This disc of piano duets shows both sides of the composer, opening in his world of light music that sounds rather akin to an American version of Percy Grainger. Then we reach track 4, War in Heaven, the first of the Frescoes originally for two pianos, harmonium and harpsichord, the music becomes very modern, and from therein we are in serious territory as Bolcom flirts with minimalism and tone clusters in a world of atonality. The Sonata is dramatic and very challenging to the performers, and throughout the disc the playing is superb, the unanimity so perfectly co-ordinated. When we reach the final two tracks we are back where we started in the world of popular music. As a Bolcom piano anthology this disc is invaluable, but be prepared for some surprises. The sound quality is immediate and vivid.

VERDI: Four Romanza (1838). Four Romanza (1845). Ave Maria. Stornello. Ad una srella. Il Poveretto. La seduzione. Chi I bei di m'adduce ancora. L'esule. Brindisi. Dennis O’Neill (tenor), Ingrid Surgenor (piano). Naxos 8.557778. (57' 22").

We rarely hear the substantial group of songs composed by Verdi early in his career and which predate his most famous operas. In truth they do not sound particularly like Verdi, and could well have come from one of many opera composers of the era, and follow much in line with Bellini. Maybe Verdi had the female voice in mind, most of the previous recordings having come from sopranos, the music too often taking a tenor far past the comfort zone, and calling upon the heroic part of the voice. Dennis O'Neill has been a very familiar figure in opera houses in the UK, his Italian style of singing quite rare among British tenors. Here he surmounts the high tessitura by using a head tone, his intense tonal quality very suitable to the predominantly serious nature of the music, though I enjoy the disc far more when O'Neill delights us with the cheerfulness of Stornello and Lo spazzacamino. He is well accompanied by Ingrid Surgenor, the disc originally recorded for the Collins label in the 1990's having a pleasing sound.

PRAETORIUS: Come, thou Redeemer of the earth. RODNEY BENNETT: Out of your sleep. TAVENER: The Lamb. WEIR: Illuminare, Jerusalem. WILLCOCKS: O come, all ye faithful. BACH: Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 42. Kyrie from Mass in G, Herr der du stark und machtig bist; Jesus bleibet meine Freude. HANDEL: Excerpts from Messiah. LOWELL-MASON (arr. RUTTER): Joy to the world.

Sara Macliver (soprano), Winchester College Chapel Choir, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, William Lacey (conductor). Naxos 8.557965. (67' 21").

Over the next few works audiences throughout the UK will be flocking to programmes just like this one, the whole evening something of a ritual where the listener is not at all bothered about a few frayed edges in the performances providing all the expected favourites are there. This new disc has come from such an occasion - though presumably in Hong Kong - applause punctuating the recording. So it will be most welcomed, and I know you will enjoy the silvery voice of Sara Macliver who sings the Messiah extracts with such constant beauty. Of course we don't expect any period authenticity at such events and we don't get any, but there is plenty of enthusiasm from the Winchester choir, and it is good to have Tavener's The Lamb to bring a modern slant to the programme. There are a few extraneous noises, but it is an atmospheric setting in a big location. A pleasing present for Christmas.

BALAKAUSKAS: Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5. Romualdas Staskus (oboe), Igor Kramarev (trumpet), Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Juozas Domarkas (conductor). Naxos 8.557605. (63' 12).

Born in Lithuania in 1937, Osvaldas Balakauskas having graduated from the Vilnius Pedagogical Institute in 1961 went on to Kiev Conservatory to study with Boris Lyatoshinsky in 1969. He has since become one of his country's leading composers with a large and fast growing catalogue of works, mainly in the field of orchestral scores. He has developed a style of composition that he has called, 'dodecatonic', a name that in a nutshell describes the formation of new tonal relationships governed by serial strictures. So much for words, but what of the music? To the innocent ear it conjures up a kaleidoscope where you can see ever changing sound colours often reflecting in one another. Those colours are regulated by rhythmic patterns that have been predetermined yet seemingly in free flow. It is a strange world of tonality where traditional melodic invention plays no part, yet the music is unwilling to go down the path of pure atonality. The three movements of the Fourth Symphony, which dates from 1998, are generally of a peaceful nature and are in direct contrast with the energy and high impact of the Fifth's outer movement. The composer's interest in jazz surfaces in the second movement, the more relaxed mode of the third leading to a hyperactive and noisy finale. Do start with the Fourth that is easy to make contact, though I found the Fifth at times hard going. Never having heard the music before I take the performances at face value, the sound quality being rather dense.

CASSADO: Dance of the Green Devil. POPPER: Fantasy on Little Russian Songs. Serenade. BACH: Suite No. 3 - Aria. SCHUBERT: Standchen. FRANZ ANTON SCHUBERT: Bagatelles - Die Biene. GRANADOS: Goyescas - Intermezzo. SHOSTAKOVICH: Gadfly - Tarantella. RAVEL: Rhapsody Espagnole - Habanera. DEBUSSY: Preludes - The Girl with the Flaxen Hair. SENAILLE: Allegro Spiritoso. VIEUXTEMPS: Etudes - Canilena. BARCHET: Boulevard de Garavan. OFFENBACH: Danse Bohemienne. RACHMANINOV: Songs , Op.30 - Vocalise. GERSHWIN: Short Story. Maria Kliegel (cello), Raimund Havenith (piano). Naxos 8.557943. (75' 12").

There was a time when touring virtuosos titillated their audience with a series of lollypops that displayed their technical brilliance. Musically they may not have added up to much, but they appealed to an audience that modern instrument recitals are simply ignoring. Very often they borrowed from piano pieces that would have found their way into the home through talented members of the family, as is often the case in this programme. Now they sometimes crop up as encores, but have otherwise died from the repertoire. It is good that Naxos's house cellist, Maria Kliegel is bringing them back again for our amusement. Some are quite substantial in length, Popper's Fantasy being a twelve minute mix of lyricism and technical pyrotechnics, Bach's famous Aria and Schubert's Standchen acting as a foil to the colourful Intermezzo from Granados's Goyescas and Ravel's Habanera. Kliegel plays them all to the manner born, silky smoothness mixed with spiky brilliance, her accompanist Raimund Havenith providing very positive support in a nicely balanced sound. The recording has been around for quite a few years on the Marco Polo label, which was a strange place to find a disc aimed at the popular market. So sit back, relax and let it all flow over you.

ELGAR: Variations on an Original Theme, 'Enigma', Op. 36. Pomp and Circumstance Marches Nos.1 - 5, Op. 39.Cockaigne Overture, Op. 40 (including an 'accidental' stereo tack of part of Cockaigne). Royal Albert Hall Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Edward Elgar (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111022. (67' 43").

There was a time when Elgar's fast tempos were attributed to his practical need to fit the music into the short timeframe of disc sides. Then a detailed survey turned that upside-down when it showed some of his most mercurial tempos occurred on sides that were short measure. So we now accept these performances were his original intentions and many conductors slavishly follow. Of course that would eliminate such Elgar champions as Boult and Barbirolli who often used very expansive speeds. Far better we accept that there are many ways in which to interpret masterpieces, Elgar's approach being one of many. Certainly he calls for considerable virtuosity from his musicians, and the fact that they sometimes stumble is of little consequence in such vivid and virile performances. The Pomp and Circumstance Marches have tremendous swagger, and his Cockaigne shows London buzzing with vitality and flamboyance. We have thankfully passed through a period when it became fashionable to take the slow sections of the Enigma Variations at snails pace, but basically Elgar's performance shows that the approach to the score has changed little over the years. The quality of playing is often staggeringly good, the BBC Symphony brass in superb form for Cockaigne, while the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra gives a lovingly detailed Enigma. Many transfers of Elgar conducting Elgar have been made over the years as technology has improved, but none have quite achieved this level of excellence. The people at Naxos seem to have mastered the art of removing surface hiss and clicks without stripping away the upper frequencies, and you will read the booklet to discover how Elgar to recording in stereo. So if you already have and treasure these performances on CD, go out and buy this disc for a new experience.

BEETHOVEN: Fidelio. Martha Modl (Leonora), Wolfgang Windgassen (Florestan), Gottlob Frick (Rocco), Otto Edelmann (Don Pizzaro), Sena Jurinac (Marzelline), Rudolf Schock (Jaquino), Alfred Poell (Don Fernando), Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwangler (conductor). Naxos Historical 8.111020-21 (2CDs). (134' 04").

A landmark recording when first issued in 1953, the cast just about the best that could have been assembled at the time, with the most highly regarded Beethoven conductor at the helm. The result was a performance that burned with passion from the outset with a tempestuous overture, Furtwangler often driving the Vienna orchestra to the point where it seemed technically stretched. By finding plenty of good humour in the score he contrasted the agony of Leonora who has arrived with a crazy plan to rescue her beloved Florestan. Martha Modl has had her many critics, and her intonation was certainly uneven, while the rather matronly voice low in the register was not best suited to the impetuous young woman, though her feeling for the music tends to balance drawbacks. Gottlob Frick made a real life character of Rocco, his nicely focussed bass voice a joy to hear. Wolfgang Windgassen was a lyric Florestan who at the appropriate points could sound heroic, and among the remaining cast members Sena Jurinac's Marzelline is a particular treasure. But the reason for buying the release rests with Furtwangler's reading of the score as a philosophical utterance, everything falling into place with that feel of inevitability. After the rather cramped sound in the overture the quality is acceptable, the voices placed well forward as was the style at the time, though it must be said that technically it was not remarkable at the time of issue.

BACH: Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971. Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903. Goldberg Variations, BWV 988. Wanda Landowska (harpsichord). Naxos Historical 8.110313. (72' 33").

Last month Naxos issued a disc of harpsichord 'bon-bons' played by Wanda Landowska, the Polish-born pianist who was largely responsible for re-establishing the harpsichord in the modern concert hall. Born in 1879, she had come to recognise that piano performances of 17th and 18th century music were incorrect and needed to return to the harpsichord. To overcome the complaint that in large modern concert venues the instrument sounded insipid, she commissioned Pleyel to make her a large two-manual instrument that could be heard in such surroundings, and slowly audiences came to accept that it shed new light on music from that period. There was also a small brigade of harpsichordists who criticised her new instrument as overblown, and Landowska was certainly a robust performer, as this disc shows. If at times her choice of tempos have been questioned, and the interpretations were touched by someone who had come from the Romantic era, the Bach that we hear on this generously filled disc is always alive and never lacking in interest. Today's purists will find phrases wrapped in small parcels at the expense of overall shape, and our pleasure comes in the virility of the fast passages and the clarity of her playing. As an example of the outgoing style sample track 22 - the 16th Goldberg Variation. Naxos's restoration is admirable.

GERSHWIN: I'll build a stairway to paradise. Swanee. Fascinating Rhythm. Someone to watch Over Me. Oh Kay! - Medley. 'S Wonderful. The Man I love. Liza. Strike up the Band. I got Rhythm. Embraceable you. Bidin' my time. My Cousin in Milwaukee. Mine. It ain't necessarily so. Summertime. Nice work if you can get it. Love walked in. They can't take that away from me. Rhapsody in Blue. Various artists. Naxos Nostalgia 8.120828. (62' 18").

Strange to start a disc called 'Songs of Gershwin' with a track whose shortcoming is the lack of a voice, but from therein it showcases some of the most popular vocalists in the 1930's and 40's including Bing Crosby, Al Jolson, Judy Garland, Ethel Meriman, Fred Astaire and Billie Holliday. It is a list that points to a very mixed approach, and generally we are a million miles away from their original use in Gershwin's musicals or today's late night cabaret view of Gershwin. In fact to modern ears the arrangements will sound distinctly unusual, swinging jazz instrumental tracks being the disc's main feature. But these are some of the recordings that helped to make Gershwin popular, and if you like the solo line-up don't hesitate, the transfers are immaculate, and the volume between tracks is well balanced.

KOMZAK: Blonde Madchen Walzer. Caraffa Marsch. Warschauer Madin Walzer. Kaiser Marsch. Die Muhle am Bach. Petite Valse. Obstructions Polka. Moldauwellen Walzer. Sub Rosa Polka Mazurka. Maiblumchen, Polka francaise. Feldzeugmeister von Kuhn. Rabin Libejic, Polka francaise. Dein Gedenk Walzer. Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Christian Pollack. Marco Polo 8.225327. (73' 12").

Today's lack of performances of Karel Komzak's music is most strange, this disc reinforcing his place among the finest of the highly gifted composers that made Vienna the dance capital of Europe. Born in Prague in 1850 and following in his father's footsteps as a conductor and composer, his music was often more complex in its structure than that coming from the Strauss dynasty. His waltzes were cast in a number of sections that often extended past ten minutes, the vivacious Blonde Madchen, that opens the disc, being a most engaging score. Like his father he was also for a time a military bandmaster which gave his marches a swagger, while his polka's tended to bounce along with considerable happiness, the Maiblumchen surely as attractive as any composed. Heard in these nicely paced accounts from that master of Viennese lilt, Christian Pollack, only adds to the puzzle of Komzak's neglect, all of mthe works on the disc seemingly otherwise unobtainable. The Slovak Radio orchestra is in superb form, the playing so crisp and neat, while the sound engineers have provided the impact the music needs. Fervently recommended.

KOPPEL: Flute Concerto, op. 87a. Cello Concerto, op. 56. Piano Concerto No.2. Rune Most (flute), Michaela Fukacova (cello), Ulrich Stoerk (piano), Odense Symphony Orchestra, Paul Mann (conductor). Dacapo 8.226032. (78' 17").

Of Polish parentage, Herman Koppel was born in Copenhagen in 1908, the family becoming one of the most familiar names in Danish music. Spending early years as a concert pianist and a leading accompanist, his interest in composing was influenced by the music of Bartok, Stravinsky and Nielsen. It was, however, his escape to Sweden from the advancing German invasion that concentrated his attention on writing music, and though he was to become Professor of Piano Studies at the Copenhagen Conservatoire in 1955, it was his work in every genre of composition by which he is now remembered. The earliest work on the disc is the Second Piano Concerto dating from 1938, a score that Koppel discarded after its first performance, but in the last few years of its life accepted it back into his output, this recording being the score's second performance. It is a child of its time, with those catchy rhythms that were in vogue, the opening movement a spin-off from the big Romantic era concertos. At the heart of the concerto is a premonition of the war about to come, before we move back to the mood of the first movement. Fourteen years later saw the first performance of the Cello Concerto, again in the conventional three movements, and one of those scores that seem intent on creating intonation problems for the soloist, from which the technically brilliant Michaela Fukacova is not always immune. One would say its outer movements owed something to Shostakovich's first cello concerto if it had not predated the Russian score, the first movement cadenza an extrovert demonstration of virtuosity. Another nineteen years passed before the Flute Concerto, a short modern score with lean orchestral accompaniment, exploring the flute's agility and its silvery tones. The whole CD shows Koppel as a major player in 20th century music, the performances highly persuasive with the recording pushing forward the three soloists.