Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 etc
Lauma Skride (piano) et al MDG 9012216
Lauma Skride gives a poetic reading of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto – although the balance in the orchestra-piano dialogue in the second movement is misjudged. It’s surrounded by an overture and the C minor solo piano variations, yet somehow adds up to less than the sum of its parts. (RF)
Britten • Hagen • R Strauss Metamorphosen etc
Ensemble Allegria Lawo LWC1241
Artificial-sounding reverb mars the authenticity of the massed string sound – and serves to mask some imprecision in the ensemble playing. Solo passages emerge nicely, though, and the combination of Britten, Strauss and the newly commissioned from Lars Petter Hagen makes for
