Classical reviews

> The Complete Songs of Poulenc, Vol.2.
Malcolm Martineau (piano), soloists. Signum (Ode) CD.

This disc features the magnificent Felicity Lott (try Les Chemins de l'Amour) plus five other excellent singers.

Two tracks featuring Jonathan Lemalu will be of interest locally.

He launches into the French composer's Hymne with velvet tones in his lowest register, impressing throughout. In La tragique histoire du petit Rene, he enjoys the tongue-in-cheek cautionary tale - the naughty boy who gets his nose chopped off to deter fingers! Very interesting is the series, sung by Christopher Maltman, of five songs on the work of artists (Picasso, Chagall, Gris, Klee, Miro and Villon) inspired by Eluard's poems. Lorna Anderson excels in cabaret style. Martineau is always impeccable on the Steinway keys. Three volumes to come in a fine series.

Highlight: Lemalu's rich bass voice in Hymne.

---

> Borodin: Symphonies Nos.1 to 3.
Seattle Symphony (conductor Gerard Schwarz). Naxos CD.

Borodin took years to write these, probably because of his day job as a chemist. No.3 exists only in two movements, completed by Glazunov after Borodin's death. They are rarely played, compared with Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov symphonies, yet show wonderful freshness and originality that this American orchestra seized upon with zest on a brightly recorded disc. Borodin got a "popular" reputation when Kismet the musical stole melodies from Prince Igor, but the symphonies show his more serious substance.

No.1, influenced by Mendelssohn, has a wonderful inventive slow movement and is beautifully expansive. No.2 is more high-spirited with marches and festive elements. No.3 is more episodic and sounds like reconstructed Borodin (as it really is). Schwarz's musicians give it vitality.

Highlight: spectacular Russian Romantic symphonies.