Shostakovich Dmitry (1906-1975) Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 107 (1959) Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 126 (1966) Enrico Dindo cello Danish National Symphony Orchestra Gianandrea Noseda CD and Download Reviews Performance***** Sonics***** The two cello concertos on this SACD will always be associated with the name of their dedicatee Mstislav Rostropovich whose world premier recording of the first concerto with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1959 has acquired almost legendary status and has never been out of the catalogue for over 50 years. In 1966 Rostropovich also made a fine recording of Shostakovich's Second Cello Concerto with another American orchestra, the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, that is also something of a benchmark recording. I must confess that the name of the soloist on this exceptionally fine new Chandos SACD was new to me. Enrico Dindo comes from a family of musicians and in the 1980s was a pupil of the distinguished cellist Antonio Janigro and a former principal in the orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Milan. He embarked on a solo career after winning the Rostropovich Cello Competition in 1997 and has since performed with many of the world's leading orchestras.Judged by his performances of the two Shostakovich Cello Concertos on this disc, he is a musician of exceptional quality with a superb technique. Throughout these performances the singing tone that he elicits from his 1717 Rogeri cello is something of wonder - whether it be in the deeply felt 'Moderato' of the 1st concerto or the darkly introspective 'Largo' of the second. Dindo's virtuosity is in no doubt in the faster sections of both concertos. The opening 'Allegretto' of the first work is taken at a surprisingly fast pace, but such is the crisp articulation of Dindo's playing that it never seems rushed. The support that Dindo receives from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda is equally impressive. Noseda's natural empathy with his Italian compatriot and his well-documented thrilling performances of the Russian repertoire yield two of the most compelling accounts of these concertos that I can recall for many years. The DNSO respond wholeheartedly to Noseda's dynamic direction with incisive playing from all sections, but most especially the horns and percussion. The Chandos 5.0 DSD recording in collaboration with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation is excellent, possessing both impressive depth and considerable impact – the bass drum thwacks towards the end of the 2nd Concerto's opening movement will test the bass response of your speakers to the full. Though it is true that the soloist is balanced slightly more forwardly than one hears in the concert hall (something, in my experience, that it has in common with most alternative versions of these works on disc) orchestral detail has been captured with exceptional vividness. The surround channels capture just the right amount of ambience to heighten the sonic realism. A top recommendation for these riveting performances is warranted. Copyright © 2012 Graham Williams and SA-CD.net
	Rachmaninoff Serge (1873-1943) Spring, Op. 20 Three Russian Songs, Op. 41 The Bells, Op. 35 Svetla Vassileva soprano Misha Didyk tenor Alexei Tanovitski bass Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre BBC Philharmonic CD and Download
	Mozart Arias Arien · Arias Ildebrando D'Arcangelo Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino Gianandrea Noseda CD and Download
	Bartok Bela(1881-1945) BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Violin Concerto No. 1, BB 48a Violin Concerto No. 2, BB 117 Viola Concerto, Sz 120, BB 128 James Ehnes violin/viola CD and Download   Reviews  The passionate, playful narrative running through Bartók’s First Violin Concerto is affectionately caught by soloist and orchestra alike in this superb performance by James Ehnes and the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda. This was the concerto, completed in 1908 but not heard until half a century later, that Bartók wrote under the spell of Stefi Geyer, a violin student with whom he had developed an intimate friendship. It is a fascinating and beguiling piece, showing that Bartók still had certain leanings towards the music of Richard Strauss but was already voicing his own creative personality through melodic, harmonic and rhythmic traits inspired by the folk music that was to be such a distinctive facet of his style. The Second Concerto, composed for the Hungarian virtuoso Zoltán Székely in 1937 and 1938, is more representative of Bartók’s familiar mature style, the opening folk-inflected melody beautifully unfurled by Ehnes in a performance that, throughout, is ear-catchingly alert to the music’s range of tonal shading, its abrupt switches of pace and mood, its powerful bravura and its pungent lyricism. The tang that the BBC Philharmonic brings to the orchestral part, coupled with the softly cushioned sound in some of the more introspective variations of the central movement, is ideally attuned both to Bartók and to Ehnes’s interpretation. Switching to the viola, Ehnes again brings a special aura to the opening theme of the concerto that Bartók wrote in the last year of his life at the behest of the English viola-player William Primrose. As this vibrant performance shows, there was no diminishing of Bartók’s creative verve. Indeed, this whole disc, tracing three periods of Bartók’s career up to the final Viola Concerto (done here in Tibor Serly’s customary completion), gives a remarkable insight into Bartók’s compositional individuality in performances of captivating artistry. ***** Geoffrey Norris The Telegraph