The latest CD releases reviewed
BRAHMS: DOUBLE CONCERTO; CLARINET QUINTET Renaud Capuçon (violin), Gautier Capucon (cello), Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester/Myung-Whun Chung, Paul Meyer (clarinet), Capuçon Quartet Virgin Classics 395 1472 ***
Brahms's Double Concerto for violin and cello was intended partially as a gesture of reconciliation after an estrangement from the violinist Joseph Joachim (dedicatee of Brahms's Violin Concerto).
That may well explain why this new recording by the fine French duo of the brothers Capuçon seems more concerned with highlighting lyrical dialogue rather than the juggernautish drama that can give the opening movement such weight.
The sweetness of the second movement seems too mild, but the finale has both grit and geniality. The gentle reserve of Paul Meyer's playing with the Capuçøn Quartet casts the autumnal Clarinet Quintet in an interesting light. www.virginclassics.com - MICHAEL DERVAN
RACHMANINOV: ÉTUDES- TABLEAUX OP 39; SIX POEMS OP 38; CORELLI VARIATIONS OP 42 Elena Britova (soprano), Alexander Melnikov (piano)Harmonia Mundi HMC 901978 ****
Alexander Melnikov sees Rachmaninov's Opp 38 and 39 as "the pinnacle" of the composer's music, and the Études-tableaux, Op 39, as probably his finest solo piano work. Melnikov's playing communicates the ardency of his belief.
The approach is individual, ranging from impressionist haze to high-contrast angularity, through which he even drives himself into an occasional clattery climax.
The flavour in the Op 38 songs, and the later Corelli Variations is as engrossingly authentic, although the weight of Elena Britova's often pronounced vibrato will not be to all tastes. www.uk.hmboutique.com - MICHAEL DERVAN
JOSEPH HOROVITZ: FANTASIA & QUARTETS Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Carducci String Quartet Carducci Classics CSQ 6482 ***
Joseph Horovitz's profile in the concert repertoire is as a composer of well-crafted pieces in lighter vein. His 1957 Oboe Quartet conforms to type, taking on the pastoral associations of the oboe in a mild-mannered, mid-20th- century idiom.
The 1962 Fantasia on a Theme of Couperin, for 11 solo strings (the Carducci Quartet team up with seven colleagues), is a tangy blend of old and new. The two string quartets are darker.
The Fourth (1953) was Horovitz's first mature quartet and the Fifth (1969) an engagement with issues arising out of the Vienna he had to abandon for Britain in 1938, at the age of 11.
Even with commited performances, neither sounds as persuasive as the lighter works.
www.carducciquartet.co.uk - MICHAEL DERVAN
FRANÇOIS COUPERIN: PIÈCES DE VIOLES Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, Mikko Perkola (bass viols), Aapo Häkkinen (harpsichord) Avie AV 2132 ****
In his booklet notes, Eero Hämeenniemi suggests that the music on this new CD belongs to "a tradition of private and intimate, even therapeutic, chamber music".
There's no doubting the privacy and intimacy in highly nuanced music that manages to be both austere and luscious, probing and consoling.
Along with the two suites of Pièces de Violes, the disc includes three suites from Les Goûts Réunis (Nos 10, 12 and 13), an essay in reconciling the styles of French and Italian music.
The timbre of two bass viols may be an acquired taste, but it's an intoxicating one, even in performances that are as soberly balanced as the three Finnish musicians offer here. www.avierecords.com -MICHAEL DERVAN
