Hi-Res Downloads

The young Britten’s Piano Concerto was thought too clever by half when introduced in 1938, and he replaced the third movement in 1945 – the original is a bonus track here. The first LP version (EMI, 1957) was with Jacques Abram, pianist in Utah and NY premieres. The definitive composer-conducted 1970 Decca was with Sviatoslav Richter, no less. The far superior Violin Concerto fared rather better – although The Times’ review in 1940 found ‘little achieved from so large a display’.

The French violinist, now 64, has appeared on various record labels since his Erato debut in 1973; in 2002 he founded – and leads – the Camerata de Lausanne. Co-soloists here are viola player Yuko Shimizu (K364) and Ami Oike in the unfairly neglected Concertone for two violins (which also has important solo oboe and cello parts). These partnering string soloists are spaced not too far in from Amoyal: not in the right channel, thank goodness! The sound is generally vibrant and clear with plenty of ambience around the orchestra. One jarring entry, 2m 09s into track 2 warranted re-editing; and cadenzas were, I suspect, pasted in separately.

44. 1kHz/24-bit ALAC/FLAC/WAV, Naimcd180 (supplied by www. naimlabel. com) A fine example of how rock can benefit from retention rather than wholesale flattening of dynamics, Fun Lovin’ Criminals frontman, Radio 2 DJ, TV panellist, writer and former marine Huey Morgan pours his life experience into a rich album, not so much ‘solo’ as with a group of long-term friends (‘my gang’).

‘No Wagner tenor sings with such musicianship, colour and sensitivity… he sets a standard for our time’ [Sunday Times]. It was Kaufmann who gave the Abbado/DG Fidelio distinction [HFN Nov ’11]; and the German singer’s artistry at times reminds me of the young Fischer-Dieskau. Here we have excerpts from the Ring cycle (don’t be alarmed at Siegfried’s painful attempts to play the reed: track 2, 7m 44s!), Rienzi, Tannhäuser, Meistersinger and Lohengrin. Then, unusually for a man (as he explains in the booklet foreword), we have the lovely Wesendonck-Lieder, with its Tristan references in ‘Im Treibhaus’.

96kHz/24-bit FLAC, Chandos CHAN 10763 (supplied by www. theclassicalshop. com) Recorded using a Yamaha CFX pianoforte at Potton Hall, Suffolk, last year, Vol. 5 in Bavouzet’s series offers six sonatas: Hob.

Check your levels before launching Morph – the opening kick-drum/bass note is pushed up to knock you down! The surround mix of this 2006 inter-Dan album from the funky-fingered Fagen won a Grammy, and the 24/96 stereo version remains a production showcase, laying fruity layers of backing vocals across crisp and cruisy grooves even when the matter under consideration is considerably grave – even the eponymous giant cat turns out to represent a growing brainwashed malaise hanging over America. This disquiet perhaps infuses a particularly pedestrian plod into several pieces, the groove pinched so anal tight as to squeeze out its swing. Elsewhere this could be Aja Dan: ‘Security Joan’, ‘Brite Nightgown’ and ‘H Gang’ are friction-free, while the hi-hat opening to ‘Mary Shut The Garden Door’ is breathtaking in both performance and portrayal. A semi-classic, in fine form.

96kHz/24-bit FLAC, BIS-SACD-1996 (supplied by www. eclassical. com) With Vol. 1 in this new cycle [HFN May ’12] I concluded that Vänskä’s earlier BIS versions of Symphonies 2 and 5 were by no means superseded.