This month’s bite-sized selection features journeys, landscapes and seasons
Luke Bedford Besilvering
Holst-Sinfonietta et al Bastille Music BM019
There’s quiet ferocity and unusual beauty to be found in these pieces by the British composer, written from 2002-19. Explorations of texture and timbre are wrought in a variety of chamber combinations, some – like that for bass drum and piano – unexpected and rather captivating. (MB) ★★★★
Peter Boyer Balance of Power LSO/Peter Boyer Naxos 8.559915 Boyer’s broad-brush cinematic works have the orchestral buoyancy of John Williams and the absorbing emotionalism of the late James Horner. The LSO sparkle in items like the rousing Fanfare for Tomorrow, written for President Biden’s inauguration last year. (MB) ★★★★★
Richard Blackford Mirror of Perfection; Vision of a Garden Philharmonia Orchestra et al Lyrita SRCD.406 Blackford’s 1996 Mirror of Perfection is a big-boned and breathtaking opener, while the more recent Vision of a Garden – based on Peter Johnstone’s ‘ICU Diaries’ written while in hospital with Covid – sobres with its unhurried intensity. The Philharmonia and Bach Choir are on top form in the latter. (MB) ★★★★
Brahms
Serenades Nos 1 & 2 (arr. nonet) Linos Ensemble Capriccio C5447 Brahms’s Serenades in their chamber versions are a tad underwhelming here due to a feeling of detachment – as if the musicians are playing from a great distance. The performances are attractive enough, and the Linos Ensemble is clearly an experienced band, but it’s all a little sedate. (CS) ★★★
Dowland Lute Solos Jonas Nordberg (lute) BIS BIS-2627 There’s nothing didactic about Jonas Nordberg’s Dowland – nor does he wallow in the melancholy often associated with the English Renaissance master. Instead, the Swedish lutenist draws us into 21 instrumental pieces with sensitive, rounded, intelligent playing. (RF) ★★★★
Kancheli • A Tchaikowsky
Concerto Classico; Libera Me Ilya Gringolts (violin) et al CD Accord ACD293 A fair reflection of the Pole’s knotty personality, André Tchaikowsky’s angular and awkward Violin Concerto is superbly played here. With its tolling bells and plangent chant, Kancheli’s Libera Me is mournfulness personified. (JP) ★★★★
Cheryl E Leonard
Antarctica: Music from the Ice Cheryl E Leonard Other Minds OM1030 A field trip to Antarctica laid the groundwork for the eight pieces on sound artist and composer Cheryl E Leonard’s latest album, created from location recordings of the ice, wind and water, as well as natural objects she turned into instruments when she returned home. Fascinating. (RF) ★★★★
Morricone
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