Although beautifully recorded throughout, this imaginatively planned programme was taped at two very different Amsterdam venues: Paradiso in October 1995 for the Symphonies and Waalse Kerk in February 1996 for the rest. The contrast hit home with unexpected force as the Symphonies of Wind Instruments’ opening proclaimed loudly in the wake of the Concertino’s quiet – and more intimately recorded – ending. Thierry Fischer directs one of the most characterful performances of the Symphonies that I have ever heard, acutely appreciative of the lightning transitions between solemn chorale and primitivistic dance (the brass-textured rumpus at 5'20'' suggests irrepressible anger). The tightly knit Concertino is a cunning amalgam of folk-pastiche, jazz and formal ingenuity. Fischer’s performance is pungent and precise, qualities that are equally apparent in the Octet, especially the Theme and Variations second movement – and the fastidiously tooled opening, in particular. Again, the sound has both ‘edge’ and substance, and the performance is superb.
Had the CD stopped there, I would no doubt have complained about short measure but would have applauded both the performances and the recordings. But there is more. Mavra is a concise comedy-opera with plenty to smile at, and the augmented Netherlands Wind Ensemble’s tangy, nicely sprung accompaniments are all that one might wish for – especially in the Overture and Parasha’s song. The trouble, I fear, is with the singing, not so much in terms of voice production – which is fair-to-good, and sometimes better – as with an almost total lack of humour. I recently chanced upon a 1991 Melodiya recording by the Helikon Moscow Musical Theatre (nla), with reduced instrumentation but that conjured such a lively impression of fun and games that even the flimsy plot came alive. Here, the singers merely go through the motions and Tatiana Kravtsova’s fussy, overly operatic Parasha’s song quite divests the music of its subtly erotic theme. Still, the purely instrumental works are excellent, and you may well consider that the Ensemble’s strongly etched contribution to Mavra is enough of a bonus to swing the balance in Chandos’s favour. You would certainly have a point.'