> Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez, etc. Xuefei Yang (guitar), Barcelona Symphony Orchestra . EMI CD.
Williams' and Breams' recordings of this famous work are all from the 1970s so maybe it's time to update; this is a wonderfully sensitive, well-recorded performance.
Albeniz's technically challenging Espana Suite follows, and a new concerto for guitar and orchestra by Stephen Goss, The Albeniz Concerto, is drawn from Albeniz's piano works. Finally Rodrigo's solo piece Invocacion y danza, that Yang first performed, aged 14, in front of its composer.
Highlight: nimble, stunning guitar playing.
> Mozart: Divertimento in E-flat major. Henning Kruggerud (violin), Lars Anders Tomter (viola), Christoph Richter (cello). Naxos CD.
Titled Divertimento, or entertainment piece, its six movements last about 50 minutes, exceeding the standard trio length. The first two movements, in sonata form, are probably the most sonorous and masterful examples of chamber music.
The work boasts some of Mozart's catchiest tunes; it's beautifully played with a nice rhythmic thrust by these three musicians (two talented Norwegians with a German cellist) and the recording allows the music to breathe in a warm but ideally intimate setting. The allegro fragment of String Trio in G major K.562e is a bonus track.
Highlight: cheerful and glorious Mozart.
