Recent releases reviewed

VIVALDI II
Berlin Philharmonic/Nigel Kennedy (violin) EMI Classics 557 8592
****

Nigel Kennedy has moved quite a way beyond the Vivaldi he portrayed in his first recording of the Four Seasons. You can take it for granted that in the seven works here (one sonata and six varied concertos) the virtuosity is unimpeachable. Kennedy is not a player to be unsettled by the Red Priest's technical demands. And, having taken a leaf out of the period players' book when it comes to tonal character and interpretative freedom, he revels in the opportunities for swirl and swagger that the music affords. The only drawbacks to this fine new collection, in which the solo honours are shared with violinist Daniel Stabrawa, oboist Albrecht Mayer and cellist Olaf Maininger, are a few trademark exaggerations that jar, and a recording that's at times a degree or two over-bright. www.emiclassics.com

Michael Dervan

BEETHOVEN/MARRION: STRING QUARTET IN E FLAT OP 127; BEETHOVEN: PIANO SONATA IN A OP 101
Academy of St Martin in the Fields/ Murray Perahia, Murray Perahia (piano) Sony Classical SK 93043
***

Murray Perahia is no stranger to directing orchestras, but this new disc marks the pianist's recording début as a conductor, pure and simple. He's taken on an extraordinary challenge: an orchestral version of a late Beethoven string quartet. The danger with such arrangements is that of creating enough change to incur losses without reaching an area of clear gain. The strings-only arrangement by Paul Marrion, "in consultation with Perahia," is essentially an enlargement of the Quartet in E flat, Op. 127, that adds weight and diminishes flexibility. Perahia secures wonderfully coloured and controlled playing, but doesn't quite make the gains seem greater than the losses. Back at the piano, he offers an account of Beethoven's Sonata in A, Op. 101, that's pristine in its neatness, often breathtakingly beautiful, perfect in its way. But it also sounds somehow like an act of recollection, undisturbed by the heat of current passion. www.sonyclassical.co.uk

Michael Dervan

DVORAK: SYMPHONIES 7-9; CARNIVAL OVERTURE; SMETANA: BARTERED BRIDE OVERTURE; SMETANA/SZELL: STRING QUARTET IN E MINOR
Cleveland Orchestra/George Szell Sony Classical 517495 2 (2 CDs)
****

George Szell, a renowned Hungarian disciplinarian, turned the Cleveland Orchestra into the most refined and responsive in the United States. These outgoing, unsentimental performances of Dvorak and Smetana are full of keen observations and have a real spring in their rhythmic step. The symphonies are tightly argued, the two overtures infectiously high-spirited. The recordings, made between 1958 and 1963, have aged well and the orchestral playing shines in the close perspectives and rather wide stereo spread favoured by the engineers. Szell's orchestral version of Smetana's From My Life Quartet, recorded in 1949, turns out to be a real triumph, both as an exercise in orchestration and as an utterly persuasive, fiery performance. www.sonyclassical.co.uk

Michael Dervan

CHOPIN: 4 SCHERZOS; IMPROMPTUS 1-3
Yundi Li (piano) Deutsche Grammophon SACD 474 8782
****

This is the third Deutsche Grammophon CD from the young Chinese pianist Yundi Li, who took first prize at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2000. His playing here seems more concerned with immediacy of effect and with registering his virtuosic credentials than in either of his previous discs. In the four scherzos you'll find both an edge and a thrust which suggest he wants to keep you on the edge of your seat through the brilliance of his fingerwork and the reserves of power he can draw on - and he succeeds. The three impromptus are less flashy and closer to the style of the earlier recordings; the omission of the Fantaisie-Impromptu is explained by its inclusion on his début CD. www.dgclassics.com

Michael Dervan