Hanseatic Baroque

Hoffnung des Wiedersehens : Telemann Arias : Dorothee Mields soprano, L'Orfeo Barockorchester conducted by Michi Gaigg. Insertion arias, secular cantatas and concertos ( featuring Martin Jopp violin and Carin Van Heerden oboe )

Birds Of Japan

Takashi Yoshimatsu : The Age Of Birds for orchestra, Cello Concerto "Centaurus Unit", Chikap for orchestra. Performers : BBC Philharmonic conducted by Sachio Fujiola, leader Yuri Torchinsky, cello soloist Peter Dixon. Japanese composer fascinated by birdsong and thus producing a sound world somewhere between Messaien and Takemitsu.

Going Down Her Own Path

Dobrinka Tabakova : String Paths London based Bulgarian composer. Apparent influences from Part, folk and contemporary jazz but a distinctive personal voice too. Tailor made for the ECM stable. Insight : Roman Mints violin. Maxim Rysanov, viola, Kristina Blaumane cello. Concerto for cello and strings : Kristina Blaumane cello, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Maxim Rysanov. Frozen River Flows : Roman Mints violin, Raimondas Sviackevicius accordion, Donatas Bagurskas double bass. Suite in Old style : Maxim Rysanov viola and conductor, Vaiva Eidukaityte-Storastiene harpsichord, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra. Such Different Paths : Janine Jansen, Julia-Maria Kretz violins, Amihai Grosz, Maxim Rysanov violas, Torleif Thedeen, Boris Andrianov cellos, Stacey Watton double bass.

Falling Between Two Schools

Franz Schmidt Symphony No 4 and Variations on a Hussar's Song. Performers : Malmo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vassily Sinaisky. A fine symphony from the first half of the 20th century with a Mahlerian feel despite reported animosity between the two men. The Variations are more lightweight and disposable. Not really full blooded Straussian late romanticism but certainly not Second Viennese School either. A case of one and a half ?

The Art Of Transcription

Bach Concertos : Viktoria Mullova violin, Accademia Bizantina directed by Ottavio Dantone. Violin concerto in E and violin concerto in A minor plus transcriptions for violin of a harpsichord concerto and for violin and harpsichord of a concerto for two harpsichords. Very much in Bach's own tradition of trnascription and they work well.

All Requiem'd Out

BBC Music magazine has gone overboard with requiem's this year with the current free cover disc being the third such work to feature in 2013. This time it is another anniversary connection with Verdi's Requiem Mass. A work I do not otherwise have, for the simple reason that I have never particularly wanted it. This is a live recording from a 1988 prom. Performers : Bach Choir ( chorus master Sir David Willcocks ), BBC Symphony Chorus ( chorus master Gareth Morrell ), London Philharmonic Choir ( chorus master Richard Cooke ), BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir John Pritchard. Soloists Julia Varady soprano, Dolora Zajick mezzo-soprano, Dennis O'Neill tenor and Evgeny Nesterenko bass. After many years of subscribing, I think I am coming to the end of my regular purchases of BBC Music with the cover discs on the whole becoming less interesting and the magazine itself gradually following Radio 3 down market.