The latest releases reviewed.

The last of Beethoven's piano trios was only one of many major works dedicated to Rudolph, Archduke of Austria. But it the one to which the nickname Archduke has stuck, perhaps, suggests Malcolm MacDonald, because of its "aristocratic opulence of address and largeness of gesture that suggests both nobility and authority". The Grieg Trio let those qualities emerge as if by nature rather than effort, although something in the recording doesn't allow the instruments to blend sufficiently well. Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen's Second Piano Trio was inspired by the phenomenon of rocks ("impenetrable, dark, immovable") yielding flows of water. The music ranges from impressionistic to new-age, consistently finding stillness in movement. www.simax.no    MICHAEL DERVAN

AMOR SACRO - VIVALDI MOTTETI
Simone Kermes (soprano), Venice Baroque Orchestra/Andrea Marcon
Archiv Produktion 477 5980
*****

The fury of Vivaldi's motet In furore iustissimae irae is that "of most just wrath," but it could just as easily be a storm of nature from the Four Seasons. The big difference is that the focus of the musically tossed spirit is the soprano voice. Each of the four motets featured here ends with an Alleluia, which, with its single word text, gravitates even more clearly towards the world of the concerto. German soprano Simone Kermes handles the extremes of the vocal writing with such unfailing taste, beauty of tone, and pinpoint musical observation that you could almost imagine everything was conceived with her in mind. Marcon's Venice Baroque Orchestra plays with its accustomed vitality. www.deutschegrammophon.com     MICHAEL DERVAN

40 VOICES
Huelgas-Ensemble/Paul Van Nevel
Harmonia Mundi HMC 801954
*****

Tallis's Spem in alium is like a trick of levitation. Voices float, supported by a richness that shouldn't be possible. But then the rules change when you're writing for 40 voices. Paul van Nevel and his Huelgas- Ensemble here offer a selection of companion pieces for Tallis's fantastical excursion into choral excess. One of the pleasures of this disc, which features works in 12 to 40 parts, is the sometimes surreal invention of composers faced with the exceptional contrapuntal challenges they've taken on. And there's a real sense of occasion in this live recording of "Summits of Vocal Polyphony". Along with Tallis and his 16th- and 17th-century peers (Comes, Josquin, Wylkynson, Striggio, Maessins, Rebelo, Giovanni Gabrieli) the disc features one living composer, Willem Ceuleers. www.uk.hmboutique.com    MICHAEL DERVAN

SCHUMANN/MAHLER: SYMPHONIES 2 & 4
Gewandhausorchester/Riccardo Chailly
Decca 475 8352
****

Mahler's versions of Schumann's four symphonies were prepared for performances he conducted in Vienna and New York. The changes were mostly alterations to Schumann's still often criticised orchestration, and were undertaken in the interests of clarity. The thickness of the orchestration has always to my ears been a feature rather than a defect, though conductors who approach it in the wrong spirit are almost certain to come unstuck. Riccardo Chailly's approach is so direct and unfussy, and the playing of Leipzig's Gewandhausorchester so light on its feet, that it's hard to imagine any of the familiar problems having arisen, even with the composer's full orchestration. And, as if to prove it, the disc also includes a fine, untouched performance of the Genoveva Overture. www.deccaclassics.com    MICHAEL DERVAN