Toma

Astor Piazzolla’s Nuevo tango transcends categories and represents an amalgam of international influences. All the arrangements in this album are of instrumental works that Piazzolla composed for his Quinteto Nuevo Tango. Most prominent is the Vivaldi-inspired Las cuatro estaciones porteñas (‘The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires’) reimagined in concerto style for solo violin and string orchestra by Leonid Desyatnikov. The seven other companion pieces, arranged by Ken Selden, use printed sources for structure but incorporate improvisations transcribed from original recordings made by Piazzolla and his band. On this, his third Piazzolla album for Naxos, internationally recognised violinist Tomás Cotik pays homage to his birth city of Buenos Aires.

Gustav Mahler described his Third Symphony as ‘a work in which the whole world is indeed reflected’, a claim supported by its large, six-movement structure and the use of huge orchestral and choral forces, plus a part for alto solo. The first performance of the symphony took place on 9 June 1902 in Krefeld under Mahler’s direction. This is the third recording of a Mahler symphony by the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Tomas Netopil. They are joined here by Bettina Ranch (alto), the Aalto Children’s Choir, the ladies of the Essen Philharmonic Choir and the children’s choir of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

The most beautiful concertos by François Couperin for oboe, oboe d'amore, cor anglais and basso continuo.