Gustavo Lamas

Before turning his attention to opera, Puccini wrote a number of wonderful works that are perhaps less well known, even if they already put his full genius on show. This is particularly true of the astonishing Messa di Gloria, whose evocative power and shimmering colours well deserve the exceptional cast on this recording. Indeed, a special passion inspires the soloists and chorus gathered around Gustavo Gimeno and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.

Since pianist Yuja Wang and conductor Gustavo Dudamel count among Deutsche Grammophon’s young superstars, it was inevitable that they collaborate on disc. In the Rachmaninov Third Concerto Wang’s tendency to reverse accents and make sudden pianissimo plunges at certain climactic moments borders on mannerism (what’s with that momentum-breaking comma right before the first-movement development section Allegro?), but the piano part’s swirling textures benefit from Wang’s fanciful voicings, imaginative rubatos, and frisky, dead-on accurate fingerwork.

Caprichio, part of Channel Classics' ongoing series focusing on the first chair players of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, features Uruguayan bassoonist Gustavo Nunez. Considered one of the finest bassoonists of his generation, Núñez studied at the Musikhochschule Hannover and the Royal College of Music. While still a student in 1987, he was awarded the Prix Suisse at the International Competition in Geneva and the Carl Maria von Weber Prize in Munich. Nunez has held the position of principal bassoonist of the Concertgebouw since 1995. Included here are works for bassoon and string orchestra by Villa-Lobos, Gubaidulina, Dutch composer Kees Olthuis and Ururguayan composer Jaures Lamarque Pons.