La Meglio Giuventù
Vesuvius Ensemble
Modica Music MM0014
(vesuviusensemble.com)

With Giovanni Kapsberger the only named composer on just two of the 13 tracks on this CD, it is clear that its performers were seeking a selection of popular Italian music, reflecting their dedication to the performance and preservation of traditional folk music from Naples and Southern Italy. Take O matrimonio do Guarracino, a traditional piece from 18th-century Campania. Francesco Pellegrino’s voice is as Italian as his name and not only are we transported to Campania with his vocals but the four accompanying instruments all have a strong Italian heritage: mandolin, baroque guitar, chitarra battente and colascione. The third of these is played without a plectrum and can be plucked, strummed or beaten, hence the term battente.

And colascione? That is a long-necked Italian lute. One of the Kapsberger pieces fully tests its capabilities with the demanding techniques of the Italian baroque guitar. Those who yearn for something else equally unknown can enjoy a hurdy-gurdy courtesy of Ben Grossman, who accompanies Pellegrino’s magnificent voice. Invocazione alla Madonna dell’Arco, for all its traditional Campanian background, could have graced any medieval court, enhanced by the haunting sound of the hurdy-gurdy.

 A more conventional Kapsberger composition is Sfessiana, a soothing and thoughtful duet for theorbo (Lucas Harris) and baroque lute (Marco Cera). Another piece enjoying a normal setting is La morte de mariteto, where Pellegrino’s voice and Lucas Harris’ lively lute playing show the enduring popularity of this combination throughout the Renaissance.

After introducing us to four popular plucked instruments, La Meglio Giuventù concludes with three percussion instruments and the ciaramella, a double reed conical bore instrument which eventually became the oboe. It is raucous and passionate – like the Vesuvius Ensemble.

Marais – Suites for Oboe
Christopher Palameta; Eric Tinkerhess; Romain Falik; Lisa Goode Crawford
Audax Records ADX 13702
(audax-records.fr)

Fans of baroque music on period instruments will appreciate this recording, not only for its sheer beauty, but also as a musicological project. Baroque oboist Christopher Palameta, a Montrealer who did a four-year stint with Toronto’s Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, currently lives in Paris and is in demand with period instrument ensembles in Europe and North America. This recording is a culmination of several years of research into some of the neglected works of French composer Marin Marais (1656-1728; some might recall Marais as the central figure in the 1991 movie Tous les Matins du Monde).

All of the music here is drawn from Marais’ Piéces de viole; published in five volumes, the six suites included are from the second (1701), third (1711) and fourth (1717) volumes. While written for the viol, Marais himself insisted that his compositions could be played on a wide range of instruments, including the oboe; as Palameta explains, for technical reasons some pieces are better suited to a high wind instrument than others, particularly those written for the viol’s top string – my understanding is that these are the movements selected and transcribed for this project.

Each of the suites is comprised of five to seven movements: beginning with a prélude. Typical dance movements follow, which might include a courante, sarabande, menuet, gavotte, gigue, and sometimes a rondeau champêtre, passacaille, or fantaisie for variety. My personal favourites include the muzettes in the Suite in G Minor, and the short but unusual La Biscayenne (referring to the Basque country of northern Spain) which concludes the recording.

Palameta plays with the highest degree of refinement and musical sensitivity throughout, displaying a velvety warm tone and fluid ornamentation. He is accompanied by Eric Tinkerhess (viola da gamba), Romain Falik (theorbo) and Lisa Goode Crawford (harpsichord). To learn more, visit ensemblenotturna.com.

Maurice Greene – Overtures
Baroque Band; Garry Clarke
Cedille CDR 90000 152

Aficionados of English classical music endured decades of the taunt “Who was the greatest English composer between Purcell and Elgar? Handel!” Dr. Arne’s masque Alfred (including Rule Britannia) and William Boyce’s eight symphonies (“as English as a country garden”) somehow weren’t up to scratch. William Boyce’s tutor was Maurice Greene, who is forgotten even among baroque enthusiasts. Enter Chicago-based Garry Clarke and the Baroque Band. Their interpretation of Greene’s Overture for St. Cecilia’s Day is lively and effervescent – how appropriate for the patroness of music!

This spirited approach continues with the allegro assai, andante and vivace of Greene’s first overture (D major). The other overtures too, delight the listener: note the chirping first allegro of the fourth overture or the presto of the fifth, just two of what the sleeve-notes describe as “whistleable melodies.” And what else does the Baroque Band cram into this wonderful introduction to Maurice Greene? Well, Greene composed a pastoral opera Phoebe. The allegro to its overture must have conveyed a tremendous sense of expectation to the audience.

There’s even more. David Schrader is soloist in Greene’s Collection of Lessons for the Harpsichord. As an example, the pieces in C minor are demanding but still bring home the liveliness of English baroque music. Greene deserves much more recognition, not least as he was organist of St. Paul’s and of the Chapel Royal, Master of the King’s Music and Professor of Music at Cambridge. Garry Clarke is, I hope, the pioneer of a long-overdue revival.

Bach – Well-Tempered Clavier Book II
Luc Beauséjour
Naxos 8.570564-65

In the CDs of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier some performers use a modern piano, while other performances are on instruments that Bach was familiar with: the clavichord, the organ and (most often) the harpsichord. I am not about to launch into a diatribe on the unsuitability of the modern piano. It is true that I have never liked Glenn Gould’s Bach (sacrilege!) but I have listened with pleasure to Rosalyn Tureck, to Keith Jarrett and especially, to Angela Hewitt.

Beauséjour is a French-Canadian musician, who studied in Montreal with Mireille and Bernard Lagacé and subsequently in Europe with Ton Koopman and Kenneth Gilbert. He won First Prize in the 1985 Erwin Bodky International Harpsichord Competition in Boston. He has recorded a substantial number of works by Bach, including Book I of The Well-Tempered Clavier (also on Naxos).

For the sake of comparison I have been listening to two other performances on the harpsichord: those by Masaaki Suzuki (on BIS) and those by Christophe Rousset (on Harmonia Mundi). I felt that Beauséjour was holding his own, although of the three I liked the Rousset best since he found a poetic quality that was not always there in the other two. I have to add though, that when I want to listen to these Preludes and Fugues, it is the Angela Hewitt recording (on Hyperion) that I shall play most often. That goes to show that, for me at any rate, a stupendous technique, clarity of voicing, a wonderful sense of phrasing, a subtle sense of rubato and a thorough grasp of baroque performance practice matter more than whether these pieces are played on the “correct” instrument.

Bach – Krebs – Abel
Helen Callus; Luc Beauséjour
Analekta AN 2 9879

Though Bach’s longest and most major career posting, in Leipzig, kept him more than busy writing and preparing music for the church, he managed to find time to continue composing extraordinary chamber music as the director of the town’s Collegium Musicum. This ensemble of students and young professionals would give weekly performances at Zimmerman’s coffee house. It is thought that Bach wrote the three sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord (BWV1027-1029) for performances by members of this Schola Cantorum. They are a combination of new compositions and arrangements of existing music written for other forces.

These three extraordinary pieces form the centrepiece of this fine recording by violist Helen Callus and harpsichordist Luc Beauséjour. Also included are a gamba sonata by Carl Friedrich Abel and Callus’ arrangement of a movement from a trio by Johann Ludwig Krebbs. Both Krebbs and Abel had close family connections to Bach.

From the opening plaintive notes of this beautiful recording, violist Callus’ rich and gorgeous tone announces that these will be performances of a high standard. Though they share a range, there are major differences in timbre and intensity of sound between the viola and the gamba which take getting used to, but the clarity and sensitivity of Callus’ playing is so compelling that one is drawn past the instrument directly to the music. As always, Luc Beauséjour’s playing is elegant and stylish. Highly recommended.

Beethoven, Period
Matt Haimovitz; Christopher O’Riley
Pentatone PTC 5186 475

Beethoven’s interest in the cello appears to have begun early on. His first set of two cello sonatas Op.5 were written in 1796 in his 26th year, his last, Op.102, dates from 1815, by which time the composer was experiencing the trauma of increasing deafness. In between came another sonata and three sets of variations, all of them presented here in this two-disc Pentatone/Oxingale recording featuring cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O’Riley, the first in a series titled Beethoven, Period.

Most cellists choose to perform on early instruments, and Haimovitz is no exception – his cello of choice is a Goffriller, crafted in Venice in 1710. But rather than overpower the cello with a modern concert grand as is sometimes the case with cello/piano pairings, O’Riley proves to be the perfect musical partner in his use of an 1823 Broadwood pianoforte, both instruments tuned slightly below the standard A440. The result is a wonderfully authentic sound, very close to what Beethoven would have heard in the early 19th century

The first CD contains the earliest two sonatas and the 12 Variations on See the Conquering Hero Comes of Handel. From the opening hesitant measures of the Sonata in F Major, we sense the two artists are in full command of the repertoire. Their playing is stylish and precise while the interaction of the two period instruments allows for a compelling degree of transparency.

In disc two, we move into a new period in Beethoven’s style – the Sonatas Op.69 and Op.102 show evidence of a more mature style, somewhat darker and more dramatic, while the seven variations on Bei Männern... from Mozart’s The Magic Flute aptly demonstrate Beethoven’s facility at extemporizing on a popular theme. The “magic moment” for me on this disc came in the second movement Adagio con moto sentimento d’affetto of the Sonata Op.102, No.2. Here Haimovitz’s lyrical tone and the sensitive interpretation by O’Riley evoke a wonderful sense of mystery before the start of the jubilant Allegretto fugato, bringing both the sonata and the set to a most satisfying conclusion.

Bravo to both artists in this exemplary pairing; the “great mogul” himself would have been pleased.

Beyond the River God
Assi Karttunen
Divine Art dds 25120
(divineartrecords.com)

This intriguing program of music for solo harpsichord makes unexpected but successful partners of Baroque France’s great François Couperin, who died in 1733, and the gifted English composer Graham Lynch, who is still very much alive. Couperin’s music here, a prélude from his L’Art de toucher le claveçin and four other pieces from various of his Ordres, makes up just over one-third of the substantial track list, and Finnish harpsichordist Assi Karttunen’s supple interpretation of L’Exquise from Ordre XXVII is particularly beautiful.

That said, where Karttunen really shines is in Lynch’s music for her instrument, which reflects both a panoply of stylistic influences and a well-nuanced understanding of how to compose for the harpsichord. Karttunen’s playing is deftly mercurial in the second Rondeau of the five-movement Beyond the River God, and she’s introspective yet always welcoming in the many meditative movements of this and other works. A particular small delight is the short, stand-alone Ay!, which to me sounds a little like what Edgar Allen Poe might have improvised over a French ground bass. The four movements of Lynch’s Petenera make perhaps the best connection in spirit to the unmeasured préludes of Couperin’s time; you can almost see Couperin listening curiously from the doorframe. The recorded sound is beautiful, and Karttunen’s notes offer much food for thought. The combining of old and new music can be tricky alchemy, but this experiment is a happy success.

Beethoven Explored – The Chamber Eroica
Aaron Short; Peter Sheppard Skǽrved; Dov Scheindlin; Neil Heyde
Metier msvcd 2008
(divineartrecords.com)

It may come as a surprise to those of us accustomed to hearing a symphony performed by a full orchestra that during the early 19th century, an adaptation for a much smaller ensemble would have been a perfectly acceptable means of presenting large-scale works, particularly in domestic settings. Indeed, there was an enormous demand for arrangements during the days before recorded music, and this is the idea behind The Chamber Eroica. It’s the sixth in a series titled Beethoven Explored on the British label Metier, and features pianist Aaron Shorr, violinist Peter Sheppard Skǽrved, violist Dov Scheindlin and cellist Neil Heyde in a piano quartet version of Beethoven’s Symphony No.3.

The groundbreaking third symphony was completed in 1804, while this anonymous arrangement – requested by Beethoven himself – was published just three years later. Hence, this recording (the first ever) provides the modern-day listener with a keen insight as to what the composer had in mind with respect to chamber arrangements of his orchestral works. And without the use of period instruments, the four performers admirably evoke a rightful sense of grandeur in this majestic symphony. The opening movement, marked Allegro Moderato, contains a wonderful sense of momentum with the central theme continually being passed among the piano and the strings. The second movement is suitably sombre and mysterious and the third movement scherzo, all lightness and grace. While it would be challenging to duplicate the grandeur of the finale with a four-piece ensemble, the players ably capture its optimistic buoyancy.

In all fairness, there are instances when the arrangement seems not as performer-friendly as it might be. At times, the violist’s range seems uncomfortably high and the strings are sometimes required to perform melodic lines ordinarily given to the woodwinds. But the group remains undaunted and produces a most satisfying sound very much in keeping with the robust spirit of the original work.

The disc is to be commended on two levels: exemplary performances by the four musicians; and for providing the present-day listener with a glimpse into a particular facet of music-making during the early 19th century. Highly recommended.

Liszt – Piano Sonata; Dante Sonata; Petrarch Sonnets
Angela Hewitt
Hyperion CDA68067

The name Franz Liszt conjures up pianistic showmanship of devilishly difficult bravura pieces that have enthralled audiences for nearly 200 years. Many pianists fall easily under this spell, but Angela Hewitt is certainly not one of them. Her new recording and her first brave foray into Liszt territory is the most unforgiving, immensely difficult B Minor Sonata, 30 minutes long in one single movement that can easily lapse into aimless banging on the piano, sound and fury signifying nothing from a lesser hand. Technical brilliance almost taken for granted, her approach is essentially analytical, fully understanding the structure, the relationships of parts to the whole, the thematic, harmonic and rhythmical subtleties, avoiding excesses so the work feels an integral whole and shines in all its majesty.

The essence of Liszt in Hewitt’s words, “Nobility of spirit and depth of expression,” is also manifest in the second major item here, written during his Années de pèlerinage in Italy, the Dante Sonata, its program much inspired by the Inferno, giving ample room for the pianist’s unbridled imagination in depicting the horrors of hell and the exquisite tenderness of “Nessun maggior dolore/Che ricordarsi nel tempo felice” (Dante’s Inferno), of recalling past happiness in time of pain. The wonderful tremolo at the high end of the keyboard representing unattainable Paradiso is especially poignant and moving.

In between these two mountain peaks there is a valley of heavenly peace, the three Sonetti del Petrarca , whose love poems Liszt set into music for his beloved Countess Marie, played with languid gentleness and throbs of passion. All this adds up to another triumph in Ottawa-born Hewitt’s extraordinary career.

Brahms – Serenades
Leipzig Gewandhausorchester;
Riccardo Chailly
Decca 4786775

Following Chailly’s sensational performances of the Brahms Symphonies and the usual orchestral works that earned universal rave reviews (Decca 4785344, 3 CDs) we have all waited with great expectations to hear his Serenades.

It is an absolute joy to have these rather brisk, smiling performances of the two neglected early orchestral gems that Brahms wrote on the way to the symphonies. The 25-year-old composer already had an uncanny sense of what he wanted to do with an orchestra; as clearly present are what would become his characteristic orchestral colour and deployment of instruments. The first Serenade was composed in 1857-58, some three years after the first piano concerto of 1854. That concerto was first conceived as a symphony but Brahms re-thought it as a concerto. Similarly, these lyrical Serenades are Brahms’ second and third symphonic ventures wherein he stepped back a little to produce two youthful and breezy works for reduced orchestra. Reduced size does not however mean reduced invention; merely a less ponderous symphonic argument. The First Symphony was conceived during this time and had a gestation period of 20 years until 1875 when “Beethoven’s Tenth Symphony” was delivered.

Compared to other recorded versions, the breezy youthfulness of the present performances has a charming alfresco quality with vivacious tempi that neither undersell nor oversell the orchestral weight. Chailly and his vibrant orchestra, particularly the winds and horns, are flawlessly attuned to these scores, making this recording the very best version to own.

Gounod – Symphonies 1-3
Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana; Oleg Caetani
CPO 777 863-2

Glancing at the title there are a number of personal discoveries here, including Gounod as a symphonist, the orchestra and the conductor and even the recording company. An interesting fellow, that Gounod… He sprang into world fame in one fell swoop with one opera, Faust, so successful that it has held the stage for the past 150-odd years and made him very rich, but he never could write another comparable opera ever again. However, as a young man and prior to his fame, he did dabble in orchestral composition with two symphonies plus an incomplete third, the latter newly discovered in a historic first performance here. Needless to say all were duly forgotten and completely overshadowed by Faust.

Fine works these are indeed in the hands of the extremely capable Italian conductor and Karajan Competition-winner Oleg Caetani who studied under the legendary Franco Ferrara (much admired in my teenage years when I saw him and he pretty well made me discover Schubert!). Much like the First of Beethoven, also inspired by Haydn, Gounod’s Symphony in D Major is a real charmer with finely sprung rhythms, unmistakeably French in character and conducted with a light spirit making the music sing and dance joyfully with the trumpets ringing out triumphantly at the end.

The more ambitious and mature Second Symphony in E-Flat Major already foreshadows the wonderful garden love scene in Faust. It is so lovingly performed with shimmering colours that it alone would make this disc worthwhile.

Saint-Saëns – Symphony No.3 “Organ”
Vincent Warnier; Orchestre National de Lyon; Leonard Slatkin
Naxos 8.573331

This disc is recommended for any collection lacking the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony (1886). Organist Vincent Warnier and conductor Leonard Slatkin give a colourful reading, creating a coherent whole from diversity. In the opening movement strings and winds complement each other. The Lyon winds in particular are superb, both as soloists and as a wind choir, playing everything from busy double-note figures to the chorale theme. Saint-Saëns held off introducing the organ until after the sublime transition at the close of the first movement. This passage is paced and balanced expertly by Slatkin, and the following Poco adagio with its beautiful romantic harmony is alone worth the disc’s price. The organ becomes a new force, connecting well to wind and brass timbres while supporting the strings’ melodic voice. The scherzo’s tricky ensemble and the lightning-fast trio with its piano flourishes are handled impeccably. A foursquare and populist finale that incorporates brilliant brass and organ, ingenious development of the chorale theme and the Dies irae and much besides, ought not to work but on this recording it does!

The Lyon Auditorium organ on this recording is a refurbished transplant from Paris of the Cavaillé-Coll instrument on which Cyprès et Lauriers (1919) was premiered. Warnier is sensitive to the composer`s late exploratory chromaticism in the solo organ lament Cyprès, and appropriately celebratory in Lauriers for organ and orchestra. An ingenious transcription of Saint-Saëns’s well-known Danse macabre completes the disc.

Pierné; Vierne – Piano Quintets
Quatuor Arthur-Leblanc; Stéphane Lemelin
ATMA ACD2 2384

Pianist Stéphane Lemelin is director of “Découvertes 1890-1939,” a music series dedicated to the rediscovery of neglected early 20th-century French repertoire. He collaborated with the wonderful Quatuor Arthur-LeBlanc on this marvellous recording of piano quintets by Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937) and Louis Vierne (1870-1937). These two composers were contemporaries who shared not only turbulent times in both the history of Europe and the history of French music, but also similar musical aesthetics that could be described as very French and very refined. Gabriel Pierné, a prolific composer, also had a successful career as a conductor and was a passionate proponent of modern music, having premiered works of Stravinsky, Debussy and Ravel, among others. Louis Vierne was a respected organist – six organ symphonies are prominent in his opus.

As I was listening to this recording on a cold and snowy February day, it occurred to me that these piano quintets carry intensity that is emblematic of the winter season – a thick, undiluted, powerful “force majeure” of harmonies and expressions. Vierne’s music transmits darkness and pathos (possibly because he was mourning the death of his son) but also has a fierce energy to it. Pierné’s quintet appears to be more gentle, cinematic, with constant rhythmic drive that brings forward flow to each movement.

Passion and virtuosity are evident in Lemelin’s interpretation. The piano and strings have a good rapport, resulting in constant and flawless passing of expressions and big, enveloping sound at times. I especially enjoyed the delicate string textures in the quieter and accompanying sections.

Idil Biret Solo Edition 8 – Alexander Scriabin
Idil Biret
IBA 8.571302

The Idil Biret Archive (IBA) covers the long career of this much-recorded pianist; its Solo Edition features recent performances by the still-masterly Biret. This disc includes all 12 Scriabin Études of Op.8 and the eight of Op.42, along with Op.2, No.1 and the Fantaisie, Op.38. Biret’s expansive technique and musicianship meet the many requirements of these intricate, virtuosic pieces. Though it is greatly influenced by Chopin, I find Scriabin’s early style more “Russian” than do most commentators. Biret projects well the Russian soul and idiomatic vocal inflections of the dolorous Op.8, No.11 (1895). She is equally at home with the intense expressiveness, typically thick middle- and low-register textures and wide-ranging leaps (though a couple are missed) in the popular No.12 in D-Sharp Minor.

In the Op.42 Études (1903) Scriabin’s style becomes more idiosyncratic. The rapid moth-like No.1 is crowded with non-harmonic tones. Unequal note-grouping between left-hand accompaniment and right hand melody pervades several pieces, including No.6 with its five against three ratio. Scriabin’s tendency toward agitated and complex inner parts becomes more frequent as in No.5, as well as in the Fantaisie (1900). The overall tendency toward greater harmonic and rhythmic exploration connects with the often-improvisatory origins of Scriabin’s works, which Biret conveys with convincing rubato where appropriate. Among other things, this set is a good preparation for Scriabin’s later experimental, darkly mystical piano compositions.

The complete cycle of Beethoven String Quartets with which the Quatuor Alcan is celebrating their 25th anniversary continues with Volume 2, a 3-CD set featuring the five works that have come to be known as the middle quartets: the Razumovsky quartets Op.59, Nos.1-3; Op.74, The Harp; and Op.95, Quartetto serioso (ATMA Classique ACD2 2492).

The high standard set by Volume 1, reviewed in this column last issue, continues here. As with that set, these works were recorded several years ago, between May 2008 and December 2011, but the fact that all the recordings were made at the excellent Salle Françoys-Bernier at Le Domaine Forget in Saint-Irénée in Quebec means that there is no discernable difference in the recorded sound.

Given the quality of the first two sets, I can’t wait to hear what the ensemble does with the late quartets in the final volume, scheduled for release in April.

There’s yet another beautiful CD of the three Brahms Violin Sonatas, this time featuring the French violinist Augustin Dumay and Canadian pianist Louis Lortie (Onyx 4133).

The playing here is perfectly judged. Nothing is ever rushed, but nothing ever seems to drag either; there is plenty of forward impetus when needed and a natural flow to the music that is helped by the expansive phrasing and the beautifully judged dynamics.

Dumay plays with his heart on his sleeve to some degree, with a big tone and a judicial use of portamento, but his playing – and Lortie’s too, for that matter – is always underpinned by great thought, intelligence and perception.

The Scherzo in C Minor, Brahms’ contribution to the collaborative F-A-E Sonata that he, Robert Schumann and Albert Dietrich wrote for Joseph Joachim, rounds out a simply lovely CD.

Hyperion’s outstanding series The Romantic Violin Concerto reaches Volume 18 with major works by the Belgian composer Joseph Jongen (1873-1953), in terrific performances by Philippe Graffin and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic under Martyn Brabbins (CDA68005).

The three works here – the Fantasia in E Major Op.12, the Adagio symphonique in B Major Op.20 and the Violin Concerto in B Minor Op.17 – were all written within a three-year period around the turn of the last century, when Jongen was still in his 20s. All are beautifully crafted Romantic works, with the concerto in particular a major composition with a quite beautiful slow movement.

Also included is the Rapsodie in E Minor by Jongen’s contemporary Sylvio Lazzari (1857-1944). Although born in Italy, Lazzari lived in France for most of his life and was influenced by Gounod, Franck and Chausson as well as by Wagner. His music has remained mostly unperformed since his death, but if this beautiful Rapsodie is anything to go by, then we’ve all been really missing something.

Graffin is, as usual, superb in every respect throughout the CD, with a luscious tone, expansive and nuanced phrasing, and sensitivity and passion to burn. He is given terrific support by Brabbins and the orchestra.

The outstanding Chinese violinist Tianwa Yang adds to her already highly impressive Naxos discography with a new CD of the two Violin Concertos by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (8.573135). Pieter-Jelle de Boer conducts the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden Baden und Freiburg.

It’s always interesting to hear rarely performed 20th-century violin concertos, and it’s a pretty safe bet that you won’t know the Concerto Italiano Op.31 at all – it’s a world premiere recording. Written in 1924, it looks back to the violin styles of the 17th and 18th centuries, and was considered by the composer to be his first truly symphonic work. Jascha Heifetz really liked it and after performing it in Paris in 1927 and in New York in 1931 he asked Castelnuovo-Tedesco to write a new concerto for him.

The resulting work, the Violin Concerto No.2 ‘The Prophets,’ Op.66, is certainly completely different. In 1925 the composer had discovered a notebook in which his grandfather had notated the music for some Hebrew prayers; the discovery had a deep emotional effect on him and led to his writing several works that celebrated his Jewish heritage. The concerto is one of these and uses traditional Jewish melodies in an orchestral setting that has more than a hint of the Hollywood movie scores that Castelnuovo-Tedesco would produce after moving to California some ten years later.

Heifetz, who gave the premiere in 1933 and also recorded the concerto, really liked it, but commented that apparently “no-one else did.” I’m with Heifetz.

Strings Attached continues at thewholenote.com with guitar concertos by Torroba (Pepe Romero and Vicente Coves), string quartets by Ruperto Chapí (Cuarteto Latinamericano) and works by Piazzolla arranged for violin and harp (Ann Hopson Pilot and Lucia Lin).

If you were asked to name a Spanish composer who lived through almost all of the 20th century, was over 90 when he died and wrote several guitar concertos, chances are you would name Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999), but Federico Moreno Torroba (1891-1982) was an exact contemporary who wrote ten guitar concertos of his own.

Naxos has issued Volume 1 of the Torroba Guitar Concertos, featuring guitarists Pepe Romero and Vicente Coves and the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra under Manuel Coves (8.573255). Romero is the soloist in the world premiere recording of the Concierto en Flamenco, written in 1962 for the virtuoso flamenco guitarist Sabicas. Romero’s technical and musical mastery of both the flamenco and classical guitar styles make him an ideal interpreter. Coves is the featured soloist in the Diálogos entre guitarra y Orquesta, which was originally written for Andrés Segovia in the early 1960s but was subsequently revised and premiered in 1977. Pepe Romero recorded it in 1980. Since Coves is described in the booklet notes as having been a disciple of Romero’s for the best part of the last 20 years his performance clearly has the stamp of authenticity. Both works are pleasant and entertaining – the Diálogos in particular has a beautiful Andante movement – but neither makes as strong a first impression as the more popular Rodrigo concertos, which may partly account for their being less well known.

This Naxos CD is the first of three volumes of Torroba’s complete works for guitar and orchestra. As there are ten concertos to cover, the inclusion of two fairly substantial solo guitar works here is somewhat surprising. Again, the two soloists share the spotlight, with Romero the soloist in the five-movement suite Aires de La Mancha and Coves performing the three-movement Suite castellana, which includes Torroba’s first-ever composition for the guitar. Both works were the result of the composer’s collaboration with Segovia.

This seems to be a good month for works you’re not likely to hear that often, or even to know at all.

Ruperto Chapí (1851-1909) is a new name to me, and his String Quartets 1 & 2 are available on a new Sono Luminus CD in performances by the Cuarteto Latinoamericano (DSL-92185).

Chapí was a Spanish composer famous in his native country for his zarzuelas, the popular Spanish opera form, and he didn’t turn to chamber music until the last decade of his life, starting work on a series of four string quartets in 1903.

There certainly wasn’t much of a Spanish quartet tradition to follow. Little had been written since the three quartets of Juan Arriaga, who died just short of his 20th birthday in 1826, but the formation of the Cuarteto Francés ensemble in Madrid in 1901 kick-started the composition of string quartets by a number of local composers, Chapí among them. His first quartet was dedicated to the Cuarteto Francés.

Chapí had a thorough knowledge of the European masters, but his quartets are essentially portraits of Spain using the rhythms and colours of Spanish folk music. They are charming and effective works, and while the booklet notes mention references to Tchaikovsky and Grieg their mostly warm and sunny nature seems to me to be more reminiscent of Borodin’s D-Major Second Quartet.

The Cuarteto Latinoamericano are in their element here; you couldn’t ask for better performances.

Escualo is the title of a lovely new CD of the music of Astor Piazzolla, with violinist Ann Hobson Pilot and harpist Lucia Lin supported on selected tracks by J.P. Jofre on the bandoneón (harmonia mundi 907627).

Piazzolla’s nuevo tango music, which fused the traditional Argentine tango with jazz and classical elements, has become extremely popular over the past few decades, and the arrangements here work very well. There are two instrumental solos – Chiquillin de Bachin for harp and Tango-Étude III for violin – and two duets for violin and harp – Valsísimo and the four-movement suite Histoire du Tango. The only disappointment for me is the fact that the bandoneón only appears in the two remaining works: the three-movement Angel Suite and the title track. It’s a real pity, because the instrument’s distinctive sound adds such an air of authenticity to the music and takes it to a quite different level.

Pilot’s playing is clean and idiomatic, albeit perhaps a little restrained at times, but no matter – it’s always a delight to listen to, and she clearly understands the heart of this music.