New World Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas: "New World Jazz"
This jazz-influenced collection spans eight decades. There's a heavily finger-printed performance of Rhapsody in Blue (the original jazz band scoring with Tilson Thomas at the piano), a high-contrast, punchy reading of Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs, and an account of Milhaud's La Creation du Monde that highlights suavity and prolixity but downplays dissonance. Stravinsky's Ebony Concerto is beautifully light on its feet. Hindemith is represented by the cheeky Ragtime (from 1921, the earliest work), minimalist John Adams by Lollapalooza, and George Antheil, self-styled "bad boy", by his kitchen sink-plus, uproarious Jazz Symphony.
Michael Dervan
"The Toscanini Concert Edition" (Naxos)
Naxos's Toscanini series originates from broadcast concert performances with the NBCSO. Some rehearsal sequences help present a wartsand-all view of the great Italian martinet who was the iconic conductor of the mid-century in the US. The peculiarly Toscaninian incandescence, hard-driven in style and born of iron will and discipline, is best represented by five Beethoven symphonies (Nos 1-4 and 8) from the 1939 cycle. Check out, too, the Wagner excerpts and symphonies by Brahms and Sibelius. High pressure and fast speeds can make the concerto collaborations one-sided, and recorded quality, often fine, is variable so that, even at £4.99 a disc, it's worth checking before you buy. The presentation includes some original broadcast commentary and even interval talks.
Michael Dervan
Sumi Jo: `Les Bijoux" and "La Promessa" (Erato)
These single-CD collections of, respectively, French opera arias (The Jewel Song from Gounod's Faust and Je Veux Vivre from Romeo et Juliette, as well as rarities such as the ferocious finale from Meyerbeer's L'Etoile du Nord) and Italian songs (Bellini, the Scarlattis, Paisiello and Giordani) are located firmly at the "soar-prano" end of the repertoire, all whoops and trills and spine-tingling special effects. Accompanied by, respectively, the English Chamber Orchestra under Giuliano Carella, and the pianist Vincenzo Scalera, Sumi Jo negotiates the technical hurdles with stylish insouciance, creating an atmosphere of breezy brilliance; it all makes for lightweight and undemanding, if emotionally somewhat unrewarding, listening.
Arminta Wallace
