Otar Taktakishvili Symphony No. 2, Megrelian Songs, Gurian Songs

The Concert Overture is a hugely gifted young composer's homage to Richard Strauss, and fully worthy of its model in impetuousness, rich sonority and close-woven polyphony. The Second Symphony is no less rich but more disciplined, with Reger's influence added to (and modifying) that of Strauss, and with Szymanowski's own high colouring, sinuous melody and tonal adventurousness now in their first maturity. The Infatuated Muezzin songs are a high point of his middle period, Debussian harmony and florid orientalising arabesques fusing to an aching voluptuousness, colour now applied with the refinement of a miniaturist.

Charles Ives composed his first two symphonies between 1897 and 1902, but they weren't performed until a half-century later, when Leonard Bernstein premiered the Symphony No. 2 in 1951, and Richard Bales conducted the Symphony No. 1 in 1953. The contrasts between the two symphonies are striking, since the First was a student work, composed in emulation of the European tradition, while the Second was more idiosyncratic in the use of hymn tunes, folk songs, and other Americana, all developed in a freewheeling manner that reflected Ives' eclectic musical upbringing. This 2015 hybrid SACD by Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is a straightforward presentation of both works, side-by-side, and their differences are highlighted in the styles of playing.

John Eliot Gardiner, the conductor more highly decorated by the recording industry than any other, returns for his second installment of his complete cycle of the Brahms symphonies. This disc includes the Second Symphony along with the lush Alto Rhapsody and three Schubert songs (two of which were arranged by Brahms). Gardiner's argument to juxtapose vocal and symphonic works is sound; Brahms' true compositional love was for the voice, and his symphonies reflect this in their frequent vocal, choral qualities.

Rosbaud is not generally recognised as a conductor of Sibelius’ works to the extent that he is as an interpreter of the music of Mozart, Mahler, Strauss or the radical modern music of the 1950s. Music enthusiasts with high expectations, however, got to know him as a result of the well-received 1954 recording he made for Deutsche Grammophon of some of the Finnish composer’s shorter orchestral works. Rosbaud combined a meticulous approach, unmistakable intuition, extensive experience with complex genres and extraordinary liveliness. His studio recordings from 1955 and 1961 of three Sibelius symphonies and three songs for voice and orchestra clearly demonstrate his optimum artistic approach to the music of the great Finnish master.

The London Symphony Orchestra's cycle of Brahms symphonies was Bernard Haitink's first set of recordings on the LSO Live label, originally released individually throughout 2004-05, and then as a boxed set in 2005. This collection of remastered recordings is now available on SACD, and digitally in spatial audio. Bernard Haitink's revelatory Brahms recordings with the LSO have demonstrated why fresh new interpretations of his major works are so important, and why the composer's music is still so relevant today. After struggling for years to come to terms with his fear of comparison to Beethoven, Brahms finally completed his First Symphony at the age of 43. It was hailed as a triumph and the remaining three symphonies followed relatively easily. His Symphony No.2 overflows with a relaxed, pastoral beauty, while the Third Symphony contains some of the most dramatic music Brahms was to compose. Finally, loaded with German Romanticism and including variations on a Bach cantata, Brahms' final symphony is a remarkable example of his mastery of symphonic composition. A rich, warm work that builds on a sense of movement and intensity right up to the final bars. Along with the symphonies, this release also includes Brahms' Double Concerto, Tragic Overture and Serenade No.2.

Bringing his acclaimed Mendelssohn cycle to a rousing conclusion, Sir John Eliot Gardiner presents the composer s symphony-cantata, 'Lobgesang', in his first ever performance of the work. Three world-class soloists join the LSO and his own Monteverdi Choir for this recording for LSO Live. Mendelssohn wrote that the piece 'lies very near my heart', and with its stately grandeur and religiosity, plus its sheer magnitude, twice the length of any of his other symphonies, it stands amongst his most impressive works.

The soulful sounds of the saxophone played by multi-GRAMMY-award-winning Branford Marsalis pairs perfectly with the evocative works of British composer Sally Beamish and Mahler. Led by Eric Jacobsen with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, this album delivers the songful melancholy of the Mahler songs, played by Marsalis, combined with the freneticism and imagery of Sally Beamish’s two rarely heard works, brought to a center stage.

Bringing his acclaimed Mendelssohn cycle to a rousing conclusion, Sir John Eliot Gardiner presents the composer s symphony-cantata, Lobgesang. Mendelssohn wrote that the piece lies very near my heart , and with its stately grandeur and religiosity, plus its sheer magnitude double the length of any of his other symphonies it stands amongst his most impressive works. Posthumously categorised by editors as the composer s second symphony, it is also known as a song of praise and three talented soloists join the LSO and the world-class Monteverdi Choir for this recording. While Gardiner is well-versed in the German s output, this release documents his first performance of the work. In an interview for The Arts Desk, he said: It s a piece I ve been looking at for years, and I ve never conducted it.

Writing in a style that was essentially Romantic, if modified by his study of Classical composers, the Swedish composer Stenhammar enjoyed a successful career also as a pianist and then, primarily, as a conductor. As a leading composer of his generation in Sweden, Stenhammar contributed to a variety of genres. Two symphonies and two piano concertos, in addition to a number of less substantial works, are still in today’s repertoire. The Interlude from his important cantata Sången is a frequent concert item.