This week's classical CDs reviewed

MOZART: OVERTURES
Norwegian National Opera Orchestra/Rinaldo Alessandrini Naïve OP 30479 ****

Rinaldo Alessandrini, founder of the period instruments ensemble Concerto Italiano, is also the principal guest conductor of Norwegian National Opera Orchestra. The Mozartian celebration of his latest CD, recorded in Oslo's new opera house, goes well beyond overtures to include marches and extra orchestral music from 11 stage works. The playing style is the antithesis of what you might to expect to hear when Mozart is played by Dublin's regular orchestras. The rhythm is nicely spring, the melodic contours are sharp, the textures clear, the overall effect crisp and dry, with light-toned strings, penetrating but not overpowering brass, and incisive timpani. The approach is bracing, and provides lots of pleasure. www.naiveclassique.com

   
SONATAS & ÉTUDES BY CHOPIN, SCRIABIN, LISZT, LIGETI
Yuja Wang (piano) Deutsche Grammophon 477 8140 ***

With a reputed 30 million piano students, China is not only in a position to produce virtuosos at an unprecedented rate, but must also count as a huge market for their recordings. Yuja Wang, 22, is Deutsche Grammophon's latest signing. Her first recital disc presents the Beijing-born, Curtis Institute-trained pianist as a more natural-sounding performer than the attention-seeking Lang Lang and a more youthfully inclined musician than Yundi Li. The programme is a daunting one (Chopin's B flat minor Sonata, Liszt's Sonata in B minor, Scriabin's Second Sonata, and two Ligeti Études), and technically Wang comes through with flying colours. The big picture is not always in focus in the sonatas, but the two studies are scintillating. www.tiny url.com/5b9s4r


HANDEL: 12 SOLO SONATAS OP 1
Academy of Ancient Music/ Richard Egarr (harpsichord) Harmonia Mundi HMU 907465.66 (2 CDs) ***

Handel's Op 1, a set of 12 sonatas for various instruments, was published during the composer's lifetime in two versions, which conflict not only in minor details but in essentials. The Academy of Ancient Music's new recording compensates by offering 15 sonatas in all, as well as an elaborate background note by harpsichordist Richard Egarr. The performances, however, are rather uneven. The best playing comes from the imaginative Rachel Brown on flute and recorder. Violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk's vibrato veers into the kind of wooziness that makes one wish for firmer footing, and Egarr himself doesn't avoid sounding a little mannered and fussy at times. www.tinyurl.com/6mchwb

VIVALDI: NEW DISCOVERIES
Romina Basso (mezzo soprano), Paolo Pollastri (oboe), Enrico Casazza (violin), Bettina Hoffmann (cello), Modo Antiquo/ Federico Maria SardelliI *****

The aria Se lento ancora il fulminewhich opens this disc presents Vivaldi at his most highly charged. The sentiment is outrage, the manner driven, and the plaintive fieriness of mezzo Romina Basso's distinctive, closely recorded timbre is unforgettable. The discoveries, culled from sources spread around Europe and presented, in the words of Federico Maria Sardelli "like a basket of seasonal fruits," include another virtuoso aria and a probing motet (from the remarkably agile Basso), and a mixture of concertos and sonatas. Not everything is on a consistently high level, but both Vivaldi aficionados and novices should find a lot to enjoy in Modo Antiquo's zesty performances. www.naiveclassique.com