KORNGOLD STRING SEXTET, etc., Camerata Freden/Tacet Blu-ray Audio 0198-5 Some may regard it as a gimmick, but there is no denying that the placing of individual instruments in each surround channel (as Tacet is wont to do) makes for a completely immersive experience for the listener. And Korngold’s emotive chamber music is here delivered with great sensitivity in Tacet’s SACD mix. Now the company has moved from SACD onto Blu-ray audio, Tacet provides the best possible advocacy for the medium. RESPIGHI: BELKIS: QUEEN OF SHEBA complete ballet/Stella Doufexis (mezzo soprano) Metodi Moratzaliev (tenor) Julia Jentsch (narrator) Tschechischer Philharmonischer Philharmonic Choir Brno, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker conductor Gabriel Feltz/Blu-ray Dreyer Gaido BR21081/4260014870815  A cherishable world premiere. If you can try to tune out the dull and unnecessary narration (in German), this is an absolute must for admirers of Respighi. In June 2007 Gabriel Feltz was conducting in Milan and during a break in rehearsals visited a well-stocked music shop and made an amazing discovery – the score from a ballet by Respighi which he had never heard of: Belkis, Queen of Sheba. Premiered in 1932, it was one of the most extravagant ballet productions ever staged with over 200 musicians and at least as many dancers. After a few performances, the work was forgotten until it was rediscovered by Gabriel Feltz and the decision made to film the concert. The recording is released on Blu-ray and DVD.  CLASSICAL CD CHOICE CD SET OF THE MONTH: BEETHOVEN COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS, Tokyo String Quartet/Hamonia Mundi SACD 807641-8 (8 SACDs).  As each individual episode in this complete traversal of Beethoven’s quartets has appeared, critics have largely speaking been immensely enthusiastic, but arriving as a collective set (in superb SACD sound) this will clearly become the collection of choice for those seeking the a key modern expressions of Beethoven’s genius in the quartet format. Individual quibbles aside, and there are one or two controversial tempi), this is an absolutely magnificent set; Beethovenians need not hesitate.  PROKOFIEV SYMPHONIES 1&2, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop/Naxos Blu-ray audio NBD 0044 The sheer impact of the sound on these dramatic and idiomatic performances renders them first choice in this repertoire, although there are rival sets under way.  WALTON, HINDEMITH CELLO CONCERTOS São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Christian Poltera, Frank Shipway/BIS SACD  A welcome debut in the surround sound medium for two of the most distinctive of modern era cello concertos played with immense sensitivity and grace. A warning, though, the cellist Christian Poltera takes loud and intrusive inhalations of breath before most leading phrases which will rule the disc hors de combat for many listeners.  RACHMANINOV: TRIO ELEGIAQUE, The Borodin Trio/Audite SACD 92691  The Borodin Trio, sensitive as ever in Rachmaninov. Recommendable, but there are problems, however. In order to tame the very close piano sound of the Audite recording, the violin and cello here sound distinctly muted. Nevertheless, the performance here is exemplary, finding all the nuances of the composer’s highly individual sound world.  GLIERE: SYMPHONY NO.3, IL’YA MUROMETS, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JoAnn Falletta, Naxos Blu-ray audio NBD 0041 Glorious though the sound stage presented on most SACD discs is, it is equalled by the high-definition audio content on such Blu-Ray audio discs as this cherishable new entry from Naxos? The disc comes in 24 bit 96KHZ stereo and surround sound – all of which greatly enhance the stunning orchestral picture presented here. The epic symphony is given a truly exhilarating reading by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta. The piece is, of course, the calling card for the composer, and has enjoyed a variety of readings (of different merit) over the years; this is undoubtedly one that balances the more dramatic, brass-heavy sections of the music with its subtler, more poetic moments and may make people hungry for more Gliere from this particular combination of artists.  BEETHOVEN COMPLETE PIANO SONATAS, Mari Kodama/PentaTone SACD PTC 5186 4190 (10 SACDs)  First of all: the piano sound. Rarely in the history of recorded music has the sound of the piano been rendered with such felicity as the PentaTone engineers have achieved here. The effects is of an instrument in a modest sized hall with impeccable acoustics, and renders with the greatest exactitude of the instrument utilised here. As for the intensely musical performances themselves, individual issues have been generally well received, although no one has claimed that Mari Kodoma rivals such masters as Daniel Barenboim in representation of this greatest body of work for the piano. Nevertheless, there is much to enjoy here, and lovers of the keyboard will be continually astonished by the fidelity of the sound.  MENDELSSOHN IN BIRMINGHAM VOL. 2 /Chandos SACD CHSA 5139  These sensitive and ebullient performances have not been received without reservation (and previous classic performances have been cited in comparison), but they remain useful and attractive for those collecting Mendelssohn symphonies in typically impressive Chandos surround sound.  RÜTTI: SYMPHONY, DIETHELM:- THE LAST WORKS FOR STRING ORCHESTRA, SPCON, Rainer Held/Guild, GMCD7407/2SPCON  While his music will not be to everyone’s taste, Carl Rütti has established himself internationally as the leading Swiss composer of his generation, with a number of fine  recordings of his large-scale choral-orchestral and organ music, and  this magnificent new release reinforces his reputation with the world premiere recording of his major symphonic work, the Symphony ‘The Visions of Niklaus von Flüe’ a large-scale composition for soprano solo, organ, percussion and chamber orchestra on a Mahlerian scale in terms  of length, a score which demonstrates the composer’s mastery of large-scale creation. It is coupled with a major work by Caspar Diethelm, one of the composer’s final scores. 2 CDs for the price of 1.  ELGAR: THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS, SEA PICTURES, Soloists, Andrew Davis/Chandos SACD CHSA5140(2)  As Graham Williams’ separate review (up shortly) attests, this is a sterling Gerontius, and I largely concur with his very positive judgment. However, I feel about this Chandos version much as I did concerning the recent (excellent) PentaTone. Terrific sound, moving performance – but it’s not just Barbirolli’s conducting on the vintage EMI set or Janet Baker’s Angel whom their successors cannot compare. Both of the newer tenors produce a kind of beautiful, if generalised tenor sound with good attention to the words, while the sometimes–criticised Richard Lewis (for Barbirolli) made every single nuance and change of mood count; there simply isn’t anyone to compare with him. Similarly, Janet Baker’s recording of Sea Pictures-remains the benchmark for this piece, although Sarah Connolly does full justice to them – and what’s more, the use of the organ part in the songs add immeasurably to the impact.  BERG: BY ARRANGEMENT MUSIC FOR STRINGS /Toccata Classics Toccata 0247  So slender is the body of purely orchestral work by the composer Berg that aficionados will be grateful for this unusual collection. It features orchestration of the Piano Sonata along with the Lyric Suite in the composer’s own arrangement supplemented by that of other hands. Performances are nuanced and characterful, although it has to be said that Berg’s restricted sound world here undoubtedly means that the listeners might be better advised not to play the whole disc at a single sitting. BLACKFORD/SAINT-SAENS: THE GREAT ANIMAL ORCHESTRA, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Martyn Brabbins/Nimbus Alliance B00LH119DFY  The use of the recorded sound of animals in the Blackford piece here may make this a useful CD to introducing orchestral music to children; adult listeners, however, will be attracted by the new orchestration (also by Blackford) of Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals.  ORGAN POLYCHROME: THE FRENCH SCHOOL, Jan Kraybill/ Reference RecordingsRR-133HDCD  This premier solo recording of French masterworks for the organ is something of a revelation, as much for the thoroughly individual character of the music as for the typically wide-ranging Reference Recordings sound.  BAX: PHANTASY, ETC., BBC Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis/Chandos CHAN 10829  Can there really be more of Bax’s more obscure orchestral music to be dusted off and recorded? Yes, it seems there is – and this collection of little-known works by the composer proves not to be just chippings from the work desk but thoroughly characteristic and attractive pieces. Admittedly, there are assuredly no undiscovered masterpieces here, but Baxians will want to supplement their collections with his disc (and it’s surely safe to assume that Bax enthusiast will already possess the matchless box of the symphonies conducted by Vernon Handley, also from Chandos?). PROKOFIEV VISIONS FUGITIVES Camerata Nordica conductor/BIS SACD 2126  It is particularly cheering to welcome this first appearance in the surround sound medium of the Rudolf Barshai arrangement for string orchestra of Prokofiev’s knotty Visions Fugitives. And if that were not enough, the companion pieces are almost equally interesting, notably Bartok’s lively divertimento strings (although the Webern Five Piece may be for his admirers only).  MENDELSSOHN: SYMPHONY NO. 3, SCOTTISH/THE HEBRIDES/SCHUMANN PIANO CONCERTO, London Symphony Orchestra, Maria Joao Pires, London Symphony Orchestra, John Eliot Gardiner/LSO Live SACD LSO 0765  More Mendelssohn, this time from the impressive forces of the LSO under John Eliot Gardiner. While the Barbican acoustic here is less subtle than that on the Chandos disc discussed above, the performances have more fire. Listeners will have to decide for themselves which of the two approaches they prefer. Both have their virtues, but Gardiner is the more dynamic of the two.  FILM AND TV SPORTING THEMES, Various Artists, Silva Screen Records, SILCD 1457  If, like this reviewer, you have zero interest in sport, the appeal of this disc has to be purely musical, and there are several very attractive pieces here, notably John Williams’ ebullient at Olympic theme, although the spirits drop with the inevitable Chariots of Fire – the continuing success of the piece (beyond its associations) remains inexplicable.  ONE TOUCH OF VENUS, George Schaefer, director/VAI DVD  The cinema is littered with great musicals that were shorn of some of their best songs in the transition from stage to screen, from Rodgers and Hart’s Babes in Arms and Leonard Bernstein’s On The Town to Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. That doesn’t, of course, mean that the resulting films, were not be solid pieces in their own right, but aficionados of the musical always regret this filleting process. The film of Kurt Weill’s musical One Touch of Venus (written with the participation of top American humourists Ogden Nash and SJ Perelman), though shaved of most of its songs, was a perfectly creditable piece of work with a radiant Ava Gardener, but it is a real pleasure to welcome this famous – but previously difficult to see — 1955 telecast of the show which retains most of the songs and even the Agnes DeMille ballets. It’s an absolute must for admirers of musicals (crude though the technical quality is), not least for the presence of Janet Blair, incandescent in the title role and being allowed to sing such Kurt Weill tunes as Speak Low.