Rcm E From August 2016

Kent Nagano and the Hallé continue to commit to CD less celebrated portions of the Britten canon. Last year there was the four-act Billy Budd; before that the premiere recording of a concert version of the radio drama The Rescue. Now come two more firsts, recordings of the Double Concerto - prepared from Britten's almost complete sketches by Colin Matthews and presented by Nagano at Aldeburgh in 1997 - and the Two Portraits from 1930. The second of these is a portrait of Britten himself, a surprisingly plaintive and reflective meditation for viola and strings in E minor. The image is belied by the rest of the music on the disc, which is buoyant, energetic, young man's music all written before Britten was 26. Big guns Kremer and Bashmet are brought in for the Double Concerto and give of their impassioned best. Nagano and the Hallé are appropriately spirited and vigorous throughout the disc. It's not mature Britten, but clearly points the way forward and is worth getting to know.

Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection
This was recorded in Dieter Dierks studio so it's much more polished than their debut which was recorded live in another studio.

Between laid-back and listless, between the tastefully restrained and the downright niggardly, the line can be perilously thin. Eric Clapton's new album teeters precariously on the very edge, flirting with, but in the nick of time always just skirting, dullness.

A great overview of the music from this group, one of the founders of the California sound in the late '60s.

Essential: a masterpiece of Jazz-Fusion music
"New Chautauqua" is one of Metheny's most solitary and melancholy albums. Pat Metheny is a man who loves to travel. We can say this not only because he does about a billion concerts every year, but his main themes in his music are about the road, exploring the urban world, but also more isolated places.