Frank Viola

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.

The starting point for this release as an invitation Carpenter received from the Berlin Phil to perform a chamber music concert with some of their soloists. The quintet and Lament are live recordings from this concert in February 2013. Carpenter appeared on the front cover of the Strad in August and a few months earlier was the subject of a three-page article in the New York Times.

Martin Klett together with the Armida Quartett perform late Romantic Piano Quintets by Cesar Franck and Frank Martin. "… We only have two hands, and our ten fingers are not capable of exploiting all the possibilities": that is how composer Frank Martin (1890-1974) once described the inadequacies of the keyboard. However, pianist Martin Klett and the members of the Armida Quartet view things somewhat differently. Similarly to the string quartet as a whole ensemble, the piano forms "a perfect unit in itself", Klett affirms.