Classical

The latest CD releases reviewed

BACH: PIANO TRANSCRIPTIONS VOL 2
Various performers Naxos Historical 8.111119 *****

Transcriptions are back in fashion, and the fascination with Bach remains as strong as ever, whether it's through upsizings by the likes of Stokowski for orchestra, or downsizings by any number of transcribers for piano. Hyperion is making new recordings of Bach reworked for piano, while Naxos has chosen the opposite route, trawling far and wide the archives from the second quarter of the 20th century. Styles range from the almost mechanistically faithful (Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin in the Sonata in C, BWV529) to the fanciful and extravagant (Percy Grainger's Blithe Bells, a "ramble," as he put it, on Sheep May Safely Graze). In a remarkable collection, standout items include Walter Rummel's suggestion of two keyboards in his own transcription of Vom Himmel hoch, BWV248, Ray Lev's double-strength effect in the Concerto in D minor, BWV596 - her playing of this work, itself an arrangement of Vivaldi, gives fullness of tone a new meaning. Edwin Fischer, Egon Petri, Harriet Cohen, Ossip Gabrilowitsch and Wilhelm Kempff are among the other performers featuring on this thoroughly illuminating disc, which has been very cleanly transferred from 78s. www.naxos.com

MOZART: FLUTE QUARTETS; BEETHOVEN: SERENADE OP 25
Lisa Beznosiuk (flute), Pavlo Beznosiuk (violin), Tom Dunn (viola), Richard Tun- nicliffe (cello) Avie AV 2018 *****

If you've ever found yourself objecting to vibrato-saturated performances of the Mozart flute quartets, you may well find Lisa Beznosiuk's new Avie recording to be just the ticket. She and her period-instruments colleagues totally avoid the cloying sweetness that has marred so many concert performances and recordings of these tunefully pretty works over the years. The performance of Beethoven's Serenade, Op 25, for flute, violin and viola is even finer. The opening Entrata, with the flute mimicking horn calls, is a sheer delight, and the players retain a sharply characterised style throughout this substantial, difficult to bring off work. www.avierecords.com

TCHAIKOVSKY: FRANCESCA DA RIMINI; ROMEO AND JULIET; WALTZ & POLONAISE FROM EUGENE ONEGIN; 1812 OVERTURE
Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Banda Musicale della Polizia di Stato, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Antonio Pappano EMI Classics 370 0652 ***

The first two pieces on this disc are presented in the form you might expect them. But the Waltz from Eugene Onegin comes with chorus and soloists, and there's a chorus, too, along with the extra brass in the 1812 Overture. The recordings under Antonio Pappano, music director of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia since 2005, have been compiled from concert performances at the Parco della Musica in Rome, though the editing has not managed to hide all the roughness of detail in the orchestra's playing. There's plenty of spirit in music-making, and the fever of Francesca da Rimini, for instance, is well-caught. But it's in the 1812 Overture, highly atmospheric in its choral opening and gutsy when things get into their stride, that the playing is at its most successful. www.emiclassics.com

BEETHOVEN: CELLO SONATA IN A OP 69; CHOPIN: CELLO SONATA; PLUS GLAZUNOV, RUBINSTEIN, OFFENBACH, POPPER
Richard Harwood (cello), Christoph Berner (piano) EMI Classics Debut 359 6452 ****

The young English cellist Richard Harwood has chosen wisely for his calling-card debut CD for EMI. He clearly has a hand-in-glove musical relationship with his pianist, Christoph Berner. And he shines in all the repertoire he's chosen, major sonatas by Beethoven and Chopin, given with ardent grandeur and generous lyricism, and a clutch of encore pieces delivered with a quality of finish that appears to come from superb technique allied to deep affection. Expect to hear a lot more from both of these performers. www.emiclassics.com