This week's Classical CDs reviewed

HANDEL: ISRAEL IN EGYPT
Aradia Ensemble/Kevin Mallon 8.560966-67 (2 CDs)   ***

Handel's Israel in Egyptwas such a failure at its premiere that the composer tried to rescue it by ditching the whole of the first part. The cause of that failure - the preponderance of choruses at the expense of vocal solos - has since become a selling point with choral societies, which get to sing in nearly three quarters of the numbers in the full version of the work recorded here. Toronto-based Belfast conductor Kevin Mallon directs an agreeably robust and musicianly performance. The musical characterisation is light. Mallon enjoys but doesn't overdo Handel's depiction of frogs and flies. And the choral singing is thoroughly dependable. The weakness is to be found in the ranks of the soloists, who range from genuinely excellent to not quite reliable. www.naxosdirect.ie  MICHAEL DERVAN

CHOPIN: BALLADE NO 2; MAZURKAS OP 33; WALTZES OP 34; IMPROMPTU NO 2; SONATA NO 2 
Maurizio Pollini (piano) 477 7626 ****

Maurizio Pollini's all-Chopin programme focuses on works from the late 1830s, the great Funeral March Sonata, two highly contrasted groups of dances, and two of those romantic pieces in search of suitable titles, works of the type which Liszt characterised as being "designed to portray subjective and profound emotion". Pollini is in commanding form, the manner noble, the rubato pliable. The waltzes are played, not as salon pieces, but as grander statements for the concert hall. The mazurkas are filled with wonder and surprise and the sonata is delivered with impressive sweep. And the pieces are played in a sequence which ensures that the disc as a whole amounts to much more than the sum of its parts. www.tinyurl.com/5b9s4r MICHAEL DERVAN

SZYMANOWSKI: STRING QUARTETS; ROZYCKI: QUARTET IN D MINOR
Royal String Quartet Hyperion CDA 67684 ****
Warsaw's Royal Quartet here present a fascinating snapshot of the string quartet in Poland over
two decades in the early 20th century. Szymanowski, the leading Polish composer of the age, wrote
his two string quartets in 1917 and 1927, creating pieces where the atmosphere is exotically perfumed
and exploratory, full of tremulous gestures and swooning harmonies, effects intensified by the lingering
lusciousness of the Royal Quartet's performances. The 1916 Quartet in D minor by Szymanowski's slightly younger contemporary, the little-known Lubomir Rozycki (1884-1953), is from a world where
conventional narrative and development still hold sway, although the slow movement has moments evocative of French impressionism. www.tinyurl.com/5jub7c MICHAEL DERVAN

VLADIMIR SOFRONITZKY EDITION
Vladimir Sofronitzky (piano) Brilliant Classics 8975 (9 CDs) ****
This new bargain-priced set makes it easier than ever to sample concert recordings by Vladimir Sofronitzky (1901-61), a Russian pianist at once wild and cultivated, who lived in the moment as few other players have dared, and who, although he inspired awe in his peers, remains virtually unknown to the wider public. The set is not always an easy listening experience. The quality of the recordings and the pianos is variable, and unpredictability was also a key Sofronitzky characteristic. But in the romantic repertoire that suited him, above all the music of Scriabin (who accounts for around a quarter of the set), Sofronitzky was inspirational. If you can listen through the barriers, these performances (which also cover Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt, Schubert and Schumann) have a lot to offer.
www.classicalmusic.ie  MICHAEL DERVAN