In singularity and softness of volume, the classical guitar is the antithesis of the orchestra, yet musicians such as Berlioz and Segovia have celebrated its orchestral palette. Listen to the two solo guitar works on the present recording. In Einaudi’s Full Moon and especially in Schumann’s ‘Träumerei’, Miloš Karadaglic´ artfully deploys string pizzicatos, soft flute- and bassoon-like colours and more, evoking ‘an orchestra in miniature’.

The guitar concerto is a different proposition, for centuries an exercise in conflict resolution, managed first by sensitive orchestration and then, in a live context, by the use of amplification. Joby Talbot’s Ink Dark Moon addresses these issues by amplifying the guitar but placing the speakers within the orchestra, which latter effectively becomes ‘an extension of the resonating chamber of the guitar itself’. The result is a three-movement work in which the guitar ‘dreams’ the orchestra into being as vigorous dancelike sections alternate with spacious, flowing interludes.

There is more than a dash of the oneiric in Howard Shore’s The Forest, which favourably compares with his previous essays in the concerto genre, the Chopin-inspired Ruin & Memory for piano and Mythic Gardens for cello (Sony, 5/17). Shore is famous for his film music; and indeed The Forest, with its colourful orchestration and use of Spanish and Montenegrin elements – nods to Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and Karadaglic´’s nationality – effortlessly conjures up expansive landscapes and intimate grottos alike.

Premiere recordings of two dazzling new concertos which offer new perspectives on the relationship between guitar and orchestra, performed with considerable conviction and élan. What’s not to like?