First published in the Guardian on 21 April, 2016

Ades/Norgard/Abrahamsen: works for string quartet
Danish String Quartet (ECM)

Of all the dauntingly good young string quartets currently out there doing the rounds, the Danish String Quartet stand out — not because they’re shinier or plusher or pushier than the rest, but because of their nimble charisma, stylish repertoire and the way their light and grainy shading can turn on a dime. Their last album was a set of winsome Nordic folk tunes; now comes this classy ECM debut with three bold early works by contemporary composers. Hans Abrahamsen described the exploded landscapes of his 10 Preludes as ‘short stories’; Thomas Ades called his Arcadiana “images associated with ideas of the idyll”, while Per Norgard’s Quartetto Breve is seven handsomely sculpted minutes of almost-tonality. It’s an exacting programme requiring grace, grit and clarity and the Danish players sound terrific — lithe and glassy in the Abrahamsen, richer in the Norgard, able to capture the picturesque watery shimmer of the Ades but also the slime and murk below the surface. It’s a sophisticated performance.

First published in the Guardian on 21 April, 2016

Prokofiev: Fifth Symphony
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Jansons (RCO)

Prokofiev composed his Fifth Symphony in an artists’ retreat north of Moscow during the summer of 1944, while Soviet troupes pushed westwards toward Berlin. He said he wanted the music to “sing of mankind free and happy” and in this performance, recorded live in Amsterdam in 2014, Mariss Jansons treats the score with a deep, exalted sort of heroism that speaks beyond any immediate politics of the piece. We get beautiful playing from the great Dutch orchestra: lines unfolding graciously with that majestic Concertgebouw sound that glowers and glows from the bottom up and in which Jansons take plenty of time to wallow. Tempos are august but never drag as long as you sit back and accept the pacing: there’s a grandeur to the architecture centring around a third movement that plays out like a noble collective confessional. Don’t expect quick thrills or biting wit; this is a Prokofiev Five built on gravitas and reflection, and for that it’s glorious.

First published in the Guardian on 21 April, 2016

Bartok: Violin Concerto no 2, Concerto for Orchestra
Dumay/Nagano/Montreal Symphony Orchestra (Onyx)

There’s a thing that some classical musicians do when they see a folk tune and French violinist Augustin Dumay does it here. Bartok marked the opening of his Second Violin Concerto “tempo di verbunkos”, which refers to a fiery Hungarian gypsy dance. The music needs big spirit, absolutely, but it doesn’t need to shout, and what I missed from this performance was a sense of mystique and storytelling and swing. As if a gypsy singer would only declaim her song in capital letters: there’s loads of swarthy vibrato in Dumay’s solo lines, but that sounds at odds with the rather placid backdrop set up by Kent Nagano — I wanted instant enchantment from those dispassionate harps at the start. The Concerto for Orchestra gets an upright and straight-ahead performance flecked with the string suppleness and woodwind finesse of mighty Montreal recordings of yore. Incidentally, Emmanuel Krivine and the Luxembourg Phil released the same Bartok pairing last year with less orchestral heft but more personality.

First published in the Guardian on 7 April, 2016

Mahler: Symphony No 3
Dallas Symphony Orchestra/Van Zweden (DSO Live)

This live recording is of extra interest given its Dutch conductor was recently appointed next music director of the New York Philharmonic. For me the appeal of Jaap Van Zweden is his lack of pomp and histrionics, his no-nonsense rigour, his steady hand — basically, his control is impressive but this isn’t the most exciting Mahler 3. He plots a clean path through the sprawling first movement and makes the climax an unambiguous joy. As a violinist (once youngest-ever leader of the Concertgebouw) he knows from the inside how to strip away clutter and let players do their thing; listen to the simple but still-fluid wind and brass solos. Kelly O’Connor sings an elegant fourth movement and the finale has a touching modesty to its quiet opening, but overall there’s nothing especially interesting about the bright and shiny sound of the Dallas orchestra and I longed for some grit and tempest and rogue character.