C. Breunig (Music); P. Miller (Lab)

Reviewed as an SACD in HFN Jul ’16, these are string orchestra transcriptions recorded at The Barbican (as DSD128 – might we hear this in the future?) on 26th April 2015. The Schubert Quartet was partly adapted by Mahler, and completed here by Donald Mitchell and David Matthews, while Shostakovich’s powerful Eighth was expanded, with the composer’s approval, by Rudol Barshai in 1974. It contains quotations from earlier works, from Tchaikovsky and the ‘DSCH’ motif. Such is the sensitivity of the 24 LSO string players that much of the intimacy of the Schubert prevails, and while I prefer the Shostakovich in its original form (we reviewed it herewith the Quatuor Debussy) the performance here has an admirably stark impact and presence in this dry acoustic setting.

The most familiar of the complete Haydn symphony cycles is the late-’60s/early-’70s Philharmonia Hungarica/Doráti set on Decca. Now the company has released a 36CD period-instrument equivalent using existing Hogwood and Brüggen recordings plus these new versions of this little-known group of symphonies composed in 1782-84. They became, the booklet note says, sufficiently popular in Europe to prompt a commission for the ‘Paris’ series. And that’s not surprising: I found myself encoring the finales of both Nos 79 and 81, and was mightily intrigued by the construction of No 80(i) where a simple dance tune keeps popping up in the context of a feverish allegro.

96kHz to 192kHz/24-bit FLAC, CKD526 (supplied by www. linnrecords. com) Renowned baroque violinist and period-instrument ensemble director Monica Huggett is artistic director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, and they have recorded Bach programmes together for Avie and the RTÉ Lyric label. Here – harking back to a time when concerto soloists were members of the orchestra, rather than ‘star’ performers – she has chosen seven by no means familiar works by 17th-century composers (Fasch, Graupner, Heinichen, Telemann and Vivaldi) written for one or up to six solo players.

96kHz to 192kHz/24-bit FLAC, CKD 570 (supplied by www. linnrecords. com) Marking his 70th birthday, this recital reflects both the journeys made by early composers from one country to another and those made by Trevor Pinnock in company with his preferred, rich-toned, 1982 American harpsichord modelled after an 18th-century Hemsch instrument, which he’s been playing for 40 years. We haven’t previously featured a solo harpsichord in this HFN section – recorded at the concert hall at Kent University, Canterbury, by Philip Hobbs in Aug ’14, this programme has pieces by JS Bach (The Sixth French Suite), Bull (his pictorial, galloping The King’s Hunt), Byrd, Cabezon, Frescobaldi, Handel (a floridly decorated Chaconne in G), Sweelinck and Tallis, and ends with three Scarlatti sonatas.