Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Channel Classics gives us under-appreciated stellar talents in violinist Rachel Podger and cellist Peter Wispelwey, and Naxos offers parallels in violinist Michiko Kamiya and cellist Vytautas Sondeckis in it's Laureate series. Sondeckis serves up a 60-minute box of assortment from eastern Europe here, with expressive vibrato and the solid technical skills one might expect from the son of a distinguished cellist and student of David Geringas, himself a renowned cellist who ably conducts the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra in this recording. Much of the music is familiar: Tchaikovsky's Melody, Nocturne, and Andante Cantabile, Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee and Serenade, and Rachmaninoff's Vocalise. Other pieces are less well-known, works by Davidov, Dvarionas and Taneyev, and a lush Shostakovich adagio arranged for cello and string orchestra by Atovmyan.

CHOPIN: Scherzos / Impromptus / Allegro de concert

ROSSINI: Sonatas for Strings Nos. 4-6

HAYDN: Nelson Mass / Little Organ Mass

DUPRE: Works for Organ, Vol. 13

Elgar: Cello Concerto - Introduction and Allegro - Serenade

SOLER, A.: Sonatas for Harpsichord, Vol. 7

The Mass in C minor reflects Mozart's current preoccupation with the music of Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach, explored with the encouragement of Baron van Swieten, an important patron. The work is scored for pairs of oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani, with three trombones, strings and organ continuo. After a brief orchestral introduction, the four vocal sections enter in contrapuntal imitation and the movement continues in the monumental and generally conservative style that the Salzburg Archbishop would certainly have discouraged. The soprano soloist introduces the florid Italianate Christe eleison and the contrapuntal choral texture is resumed with the return of the Kyrie. The Gloria opens in affirmative C major, leading almost at once to energetic fugal writing, relaxing momentarily at the words pax hominibus bonae voluntatis (peace to men of good will). Laudamus te is in F major, marked Allegro aperto. It is scored for solo soprano, oboes, horns and strings and is in operatic style. Trombones and bassoons return for the A minor Adagio of Gratias agimus tibi, now with a five-part choir. To this the D minor Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, scored for strings and two soprano soloists, offers an immediate contrast. In Salzburg the second soprano would presumably have been sung by one of the castrati employed by the court musical establishment. There is a return to a more traditional Baroque style in the solid dotted rhythms of the G minor Qui tollis peccata mundi, for two four-part choirs with the full orchestra. The two soprano soloists are joined by a solo tenor for the E minor setting of Quoniam tu solus Dominus, scored without trombones or horns. The solo voices enter in energetic contrapuntal imitation, over which the spirit of Handel seems to loom, seen through a Mozartian prism. There is a brief C major choral Adagio for the words Jesu Christe, before the splendid formal Baroque fugal setting of Cum Sancto Spiritu, in the same key. The unfinished Credo starts with a movement for five-part choir, scored without trombones.

Schubert: Piano Sonatas, D. 575 and D. 850

Chopin: Waltzes Nos. 1-19 - Ecossaises, Op. 72 - Tarantelle,

In The Protecting Veil Tavener strives to capture some of what he considers to be the almost cosmic power of the Mother of God. The cello represents the Mother of God and never stops singing throughout and one can think of the strings as a gigantic extension of her unending song. The music falls into eight continuous sections and use is made of the eight Byzantine tones. Various Feasts inspired Tavener as he composed; the second, for instance, is related to her birth, the third to the Annunciation, the fourth to the Incarnation, the fifth (unaccompanied) to her lament at the foot of the cross, the sixth to the Resurrection, the seventh to her Dormition, and the first and last sections to her cosmic beauty and power over a shattered world. The Protecting Veil ends with a musical evocation of the tears of the Mother of God. The final section completes the palindromic effect of the work as a whole by returning to the mood of the opening, but with the recorded soprano here replacing the string orchestra and the grand organ taking over from the Hammond organ, alternating it's more and more spasmodic entries with those of the piano. The music unfolds as a canon in sixteen parts, each set of entries being introduced by bells and by glides on solo violins. Superimposed throughout are the voices of four small children saying their prayers (in Latin, French, German and English) and gradually and successively falling asleep. The canon dissolves into a thirty-two line slide (the soprano in sixteen parts with herself, together with sixteen solo violins) and the work ends as the last child falls asleep and the last of the thirty-two 'voices' resolves.

In orchestral music, it seems that there's nothing quite so exciting as a Baroque trumpet player reaching for pure high tones, the instrumental equivalent of a tenor stretching for a high C in opera. Back in the early days of stereo, Roger Voisin brought Baroque works for trumpet to public attention with his series on Kapp records, and since that time more and more able soloists have come forward. Perhaps the best known to the general public is Maurice Andre, who was the trumpet man for the 1980s and '90s. Based on this CD and its three predecessors, it seems that 31-year-old Niklas Eklund might be the lead trumpeter for this coming decade. His technique and tone are absolutely rock solid and sure. After a initial gasp of amazement that he can toss off such difficult music so easily, you can sit back and simply enjoy the results without worry. Though the florid passages are astounding, it is the slow movement of the Michael Haydn concerto that impressed me most. Floating pure clear tones like that above the continuo is virtuoso playing without a safety net, and Eklund excels at it. The orchestra partners its superstar soloist well, as does oboe soloist Ulf Bjurenhed in the transparent and exposed Hertel concerto. The sound is excellent, only one point off for a little congestion in louder tuttis. Volumes 1-3 are listed on the back page of the booklet. If you like this one, you will want those, too. --Rad Bennett, ClassicsToday.com

Chopin: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-3

Chopin: Preludes