Not Just Dmitri's Mate

Mieczyslaw Weinberg, Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes and Symphony No 6. Performers : St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, Glinka Choral College Boys Choir. Conducted by Vladimir Lande, chorus master Vasily Grachev. The sixth is a choral symphony and a major 20th century work. The Rhapsody a more throwaway crowd pleaser.

Modern Not Modernist

Henri Dutilleux Symphony No 1 and Symphony No 2 "Le Double". Performers : BBC Philharmonic conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier. Modern but not modernist, very much his own man.

Russian Romanticism

Rachmaninov Preludes, Moments Musicaux. Nikolai Lugansky piano. Filling an unexpected gap in my repertoire with well recorded and exemplary versions.

Anglo Polish Take On Mid Century Music

Andrzej Panufnik Symphonic Works Vol 7. Symphony No 5 ( Sinfonia Di Sfere ), Bassoon Concerto, Love Song, Landscape. Performers : Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Polish radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lukasz Borowicz. Michael von Schonermark bassoon, Sarah van der Kemp mezzo. The bassoon concerto is the most immediately arresting but all pieces very worthwhile ( maybe the Love Song a little slight )Hints of English influence on the Polish core of the music.

Not Just For Christmas

Berlioz L'Enfance du Christ. Performers : Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Robin Ticciati. Soloists Yann Beuron narrator, Veronique Gens Virgin Mary, Stephan Loges Joseph and Alastair Miles father of the family. Two disc set, beautifully played and recorded. Biblical story but not tied to just being played at Christmas !

Bought For The Prokofiev

Shostakovich, violin concerto no 1 and Prokofiev violin concerto no 1. Performers : Berlin Philharmoniker conducted by Simon Rattle. Sarah Chang violin. I already have a recording of the Shostakovich but wanted Prokofiev's fist concerto and there did not seem to be any couplings other than with the Shostakovich or with Prokofiev's second which I also already have. These are good solid performances.

Anglo-Scottish Take On New Music

Sally Beamish : Violin Concerto, Callisto ( concerto for flute and orchestra ), Symphony No 1 Performers : Royal Scottish national Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins, Anthony Marwood violin, Sharon Bezaly flute. Representative selection of the composer's output, all pieces occupying a similar sound world but the different lead instruments creating enough variety. The programmatic aspect of the violin concerto being based on All Quiet On The Western Front not immediately discernible.

Another One For Completists

Schubert Complete Works for Violin and Piano Alina Ibragimova violin, Cedric Tiberghien piano Two cd set comprising the four violin sonatas plus a rondo, a fantasy and a transcription. Another welcome addition to the growing discography of this pair.

He Wrote The Songs

Rachmaninov Songs. Three disc box of Rachmaninov's complete songs curated by Iain Burnside and sung by seven native Russian speakers using the voice types envisaged by Rachmaninov for each song without transpositions. Performers : Evelina Dobraceva soprano, Ekaterina Siurina soprano, Justina Gringyte mezzo-soprano, Daniil Shtoda tenor, Andrei Bondarenko baritone, Rodion Pogossov baritone, Alexander Vinogradov bass, Iain Burnside piano.