of tone to Italian opera’ (his own words), and the idea of opera recitative, which means that some of the cadenzas are unusually complex and/or long. The Third Concerto’s first movement provides a striking place to sample. Listen to disc 1, track 8, from 6'49", a top-gear, Locatellistyle unaccompanied showpiece, at least initially, then wittily hesitant, and which come 7'59" summons the orchestra back for dual action. Modern scholarship suggests that the First Concerto predates the other four and listening to it again after a short break I can recognise its stylistic similarity to music from the late Baroque period. Of special note is the flowing, elegantly voiced Adagio, Faust’s entry here among the most beautiful moments in the entire set. The Second Concerto’s first movement is demonstrably operatic in style, true concerto buffa, the first movement full of fun, the Andante a dead ringer for a Mozart or even a Rossini aria, granted a shapely reading by Faust and her skilled accomplices, delicate and tonally varied. So a remarkably refreshing collection, the sort that challenges previously held convictions, and a good thing that it does too. The recorded balance is excellent, keeping the soloist in focus while granting the orchestra plenty of presence. Rob Cowan RU N N E R S - U P
Sibelius. Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos Lisa Batiashvili vn Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel Barenboim DG 159 votes Beach. Chaminade. Howell Piano Concertos Danny Driver pf BBC Scottish SO / Rebecca Miller Hyperion 145 votes
CYMBELINE SHAKESPEARE Royal Shakespeare Company Britain is in crisis. Alienated, insular and on the brink of disaster. Can it be saved? Melly Still directs Shakespeare’s rarely performed romance of power, jealousy and a journey of love and reconciliation. This production cast the role of Cymbeline as a woman, played by Gillian Bevan. DVD | BLU-RAY
ANASTASIA TCHAIKOVSKY Royal Opera House Royal Ballet Principal Natalia Osipova dances the title role in Kenneth MacMillan’s haunting ballet, to atmospheric music by Tchaikovsky and Martinů. Anastasia tells the story of Anna Anderson who, following the Russian Revolution and the murder of the royal family, claimed she was the surviving Grand Duchess Anastasia. DVD | BLU-RAY
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WILLIAM TELL ROSSINI Royal Opera House Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera, conducts Rossini's epic final masterpiece of French grand opera with an all-star cast that includes Gerald Finley in the title role, alongside John Osborn, Malin Byström and Sofia Fomina. DVD | BLU-RAY
GRAMOPHONE AWARDS 2017 17