This week's classical releases reviewed by Michael Dervan

BACH: VIOLIN CONCERTOS; GUBAIDULINA: IN TEMPUS PRAESENS

Trondheim Soloists, Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), London Symphony Orchestra/Valery Gergiev

****

Deutsche Grammophon 477 7450

Anne-Sophie Mutter is a violinist who pushes the boat out to colonise new sounds and colours for the standard repertoire. She is sometimes

extreme enough to raise critical hackles. But there is no questioning her astonishing tonal range in the violin concerto, In tempus praesens, that Sofia Gubaidulina completed for Mutter last year. The work concerns the contrast of light against dark, high against low, heaven (the violin's highest register) against hell (trombones, tuba and double bassoon).

Mutter and conductor Valery Gergiev make the most of every moment in this gestural piece.

The quirkily detailed Bach concertos are often fascinatingly feather-light.

www.tinyurl.com/5b9s4r

TANEYEV: STRING TRIOS

Leopold String Trio

****

Hyperion CDA 67573

Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev (1856-1915) numbered Scriabin, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev among his pupils, was admired by Tchaikovsky (he was the soloist in the premiere of the First Piano Concerto), and was obsessed with counterpoint.

He wrote for string trio with unusual ease. The Scherzo of his earliest trio, completed in 1880, is in mirror counterpoint that's dazzlingly light, and he handles what is a particularly difficult medium with a skill that is much more readily found in string quartet writing.

There is, however, a quality in the music (even in performances as fine as the Leopold Trio's) that incline one to look back on all three works more with a warm fondness than with anything approaching hot enthusiasm.

Perhaps Taneyev was a little too successful in achieving the patina of simplicity that he aimed for. www.tinyurl.com/5jub7c

CRUMB: MAKROKOSMOS I & II

Ellen Ugelvik (piano)

*****

Simax PSC 1263

In the world of George Crumb, the piano rarely sounds like a piano. Each of the 24 pieces of Makrokosmos I(1972) and II(1973), is triply identified - named after a sign of the Zodiac, carrying the initials of a friend born under the relevant sign, and boasting a separate, often fanciful title ( Ghost-Nocturne for the Druids of Stonehenge, Rain-Death Variations), The performer works under the lid, directly on the strings (with objects as well as fingers), sings, whistles, shouts and whispers, and, of course, plays on the keyboard, too.

The use of amplification catches and holds minute sounds that might otherwise get lost. Norwegian pianist Ellen Ugelvik is an ace in this evocative repertoire, which, after a long lull and accusations of shallowness, is now attracting renewed attention.

www.simax.no

COMPOSERS IN PERSON

Recordings made by 29 composers between 1912 and 1958

*****

EMI Classics 217 5752 (22 CDs)

What wouldn't we give to know how Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert Liszt and Paganini played their own works? From the early 20th century onwards, of course, it became possible for composers to leave recordings of music interpreted from their creator's point of view.

Fifteen years ago, EMI's Composers in Person series presented one of the broadest selections from a veritable treasure trove of material, covering the likes of Stravinsky, Strauss, Shostakovich, Poulenc, Britten, Elgar, Holst, Prokofiev, Messiaen, Bartók, and Hindemith.

The material has now been collected as a 22-disc set that costs a fraction of the original price, though the copious original accompanying material has been reduced to a single essay. Never mind: the listening is still essential.

www.emiclassics.com