The latest CD releases reviewed

ADES: POWDER HER FACE
Soloists: Mary Plazas, Heather Buck, Dan Norman, Graeme Broadbent. The Bermingham Contemporary Music Group. Conductor: Thomas Ades Digital Classics *****

Powder Her Face, written by Thomas Ades when he was just 24, caused a sensation on its premiere in 1995. The opera is based on the last years of the life of the flamboyant and notorious Margaret, Duchess of Argyle. Living in the Dorchester Hotel in postwar London, Margaret is isolated, short of money and facing imminent eviction. Hotel workers, while treating her with derision, enact a number of flashbacks to her past. The drama is supported by a score that uses a dance band-type ensemble to develop grotesque imitations of the popular music of that time. Using irony, wit and pathos, the composer seeks to show, as he puts it, that "even horrible people are tragic". The result is a tour de force. Not for traditionalists, maybe, but a significant modern masterpiece nonetheless. www.digitalclassics.co.uk   Colman Morrissey

NINE INCH NAILS
Beside You in Time Interscope **

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has spent the best part of 15 years being sidelined as a cult artist. In fairness, anyone who surrounds themselves with sheet-metal noise and issues forth an image of borderline insanity is bound to attract a non-mainstream audience. Yet Johnny Cash's trembling version of Hurt stripped away the musical armour, allowing Reznor's songwriting an accessibility it had never previously enjoyed. This live DVD catches Reznor and a new band line-up on last year's With Teeth tour. The actual songwriting once again takes a back seat in favour of musical mauling, guttural singing and a man clearly on the edge but also very much at home. Poor overall, although the stage set is artful and darkly elegant. Extras include rehearsal footage and discography with added sound clips. Tony Clayton-Lea