Worthy classical releases deserve attention

By Anastasia Tsioulcas

NEW YORK (Billboard)- They may not have big marketing budgets or splashy publicity campaigns behind them, but several excellent new albums issued quietly this spring by various independent labels deserve their turn in the spotlight.

From Chicago-based independent Cedille comes violinist Jennifer Koh performing Schumann's three violin sonatas (March 13). Koh has made her mark as a champion of new music. This past fall, she gave the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon's String Poetic, which was commissioned for her, and in April she will debut Spin 5, a violin concerto by Charles Wuorinen also commissioned for her.

This current recording, however, finds Koh right at the heart of Romanticism alongside pianist Reiko Uchida. Koh plays with absolute assuredness, inviting warmth and a fresh spirit. It's a welcome addition to her growing discography.

In a follow-up to its mesmerizing 2003 album "Transcriptions," French vocal group Accentus offers a stunning array of repertoire reimagined as choral works on its latest release, "Transcriptions 2" (Naive, February 27). With a sound by turns plush and luminescent, the group creates a whole world of tonal colors under the charmed baton of Laurence Equilbey.

Accentus roams through everything from selections from Bach solo keyboard pieces to Ravel's "La Flute Enchantee" to Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" quartet to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" -- and the results are so convincingly natural that you just might forget the originals, if just for a moment.

Guitarist David Russell's latest album, "Art of the Guitar" (Telarc, March 27), meanders over a generous swath of musical landscape. Unsurprisingly, he includes several Spanish selections like Albeniz's "Malaguena," but there are plenty of less conventional works as well, including music by Edvard Grieg, 20th-century Uruguayan composer Abel Carlevaro and Hungarian composer Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856).

Other surprises on this recording include "Cavatina," a piece written by English film/TV composer Stanley Myers for the movie "The Deer Hunter," as well as 19th-century Spanish composer Julian Arcas' flamboyant "Fantasia on Themes" from Verdi's "La Traviata," written 10 years after the opera had its debut. In this 12th release for Telarc, Russell plays with the agility, discernment and idiomatic touch for which he is well-known.

Reuters/Billboard