Enesco: Violin sonata no. 3

Leoš Janáček, Karol Szymanowski, Béla Bartók, Georges Enesco: Works for violin and piano - David Grimal and Georges Pludermacher

All of the works on this CD are gems that deserve to be much better known. What swept me off my feet was the third violin sonata by Georges Enesco from 1926. The performance fabulously captures the spirit of folk music from central Europe.

Ambroisie AM 163

Bowen: 24 Preludes

York Bowen: Sonata no. 6, 24 Preludes op. 102 - Joop Celis

York Bowen (1884 - 1961) is known among a select group of master pianists, but he is almost totally neglected by main-stream classical audiences, which is a shame as there is so much to be admired in his romantic, yet original, idiom, which is full of warmth and dazzling virtuosity. The most remarkable work on this CD is the 24 Preludes, which deserves to be mentioned next to the cycles by Chopin, Alkan, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich.

Also Volume 2 in the Chandos series, which almost entirely consists of premiere recordings, can be highly recommended, I've seen mention of a Volume 3 as well, but I haven't been able to find it in the UK yet.

Chandos CHAN 10277

Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated

Frederic Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated - Ralph van Raat

This is the most exciting new CD I've heard in a long time. The main work comprises 36 variations on El pueblo unido jamás será vencido by Chilean composer Sergio Ortega. The cycle was composed by Rzewski in 1975, as a tribute to the Chilean people suffering under the military regime, after the US-backed coup in 1973. Irrespective of political connotations, the work is exhilarating, passionate, poetic, ingenious, laden with pianistic virtuosity, and spanning an enormous range of musical expression. The performance by master pianist Ralph van Raat is terrific.

Naxos 8.559360

Jacob TV: Shining city

Jacob ter Veldhuis (Jacob TV): Shining city

This is the second in a series of three boxes with Ter Veldhuis' music, each containing two CDs. The first two boxes also each contain a bonus DVD (which seems to be Region 0; in other words playable in all regions). While listening to the wealth of different pieces I went through a rare and wonderful experience of having to completely recalibrate the way I perceive sound and music. The pieces all consist of a collage made out of existing audio material, accompanied by various acoustic instruments, which play a mostly tonal part. What I found striking is how powerful the sounds from the collage are (e.g. snippets from a television commercial, a baby coughing, shouts from an 'evangelist' on Times Square, etc.) and how well these sounds blend together with the acoustic instruments. Highlights for me were the exhilarating The Body of Your Dreams, the raw Grab It! and the very moving May This Bliss Never End, a tribute to Chet Baker.

Basta 3091742

Messiaen: Préludes pour piano

Olivier Messiaen Edition Vol. 1 (17 CDs) - Willem Tanke, Peter Hill, Ingrid Kappelle, Håkon Austbø

Once again, Brilliant Classics defies the laws of market economy, by the release of this super-budget edition, with Messiaen's complete works for organ, his complete works for piano, and his complete songs, repertoire that usually wouldn't appeal to main-stream audiences.

One discovery for me that swept me completely off my feet was the Préludes pour piano, composed when Messiaen was only 20. The idiom is reminiscent of Debussy, but at the same time these eight preludes are unmistakably the work of an independent musical genius. Peter Hill's performance is first-rate.

Brilliant Classics 8949

Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus

Einojuhani Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus, Piano Concerto No. 1, Symphony No.3 - Laura Mikkola, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Hannu Lintu

Thanks to the Naxos series, Finnish composer Rautavaara (b. 1928) may finally receive the recognition he deserves. Cantus Arcticus combines bird sounds with a symphony orchestra, perhaps with more romanticism and less modernism than we would find with say Messiaen, but still very original and touching. Also the Piano Concerto No. 1 is exhilarating and illustrative of Rautavaara's personal style.

Naxos 8.554147

Schnittke: Faust Cantata

Alfred Schnittke: Ritual, (K)ein Sommernachtstraum, Passacaglia, Faust Cantata - Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Leif Segerstam, James DePreist

This CD contains some of the scariest music you may ever hear. The Faust Cantata later became the third act of the opera Historia Von D. Johann Fausten, which Schnittke was not able to complete fully before his death. A recording of a truncated version of the opera was released by RCA (Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra, Gerd Albrecht) but is not available at the moment. It is a disgrace no record company has taken it upon itself yet to record a satisfactory version, comprising all the material that Schnittke left us.

BIS-CD-437