Listeners familiar with Scottish composer James MacMillan through such acclaimed works as The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (1990) or the Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993) may suspect that his music is usually somber and more than a little dour; indeed, his religious and politically themed pieces are quite earnest, and have given some the feeling that it might do MacMillan good to lighten up.

For this third instalment in his survey of orchestral works by Ruth Gipps, Rumon Gamba, conducting the BBC Philharmonic, is joined by the horn soloist Martin Owen. The album opens with Gipps's Coronation Procession. The piece depicts the journey of the Crown(s), perhaps as observed from the Royal Coach, culminating in the entry to Westminster Abbey. Written in January 1953, the piece was not used at the coronation, and instead first performed in September 1954 in Melbourne, Australia. Ambarvalia is a memorial tribute of 1988 by Gipps to the composer and colleague Adrian Cruft, who had died in February 1987. Gipps wrote the Horn Concerto in 1968 for her son, Lance Baker. The piece was later championed by Frank Lloyd, who gave a BBC broadcast in 1982.

While Luigi Dallapiccola is most remembered for his serial compositions, listeners may be surprised to find that much of his output is quite approachable and highly enjoyable. Dallapiccola occasionally wrote openly tonal works in a neo-Classical vein, and several of his milder twelve-tone pieces lean toward tonality in their triad-based rows and beautifully crafted themes. This 2004 release presents some of Dallapiccola's most accessible music, warmly performed by Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic, and richly recorded by Chandos.

Ernest Chausson’s death in 1899 in a bicycle accident robbed French music of a major talent. Almost his entire orchestral output fits on this extremely fine CD. Yan Pascal Tortelier’s performance of the richly romantic Symphony is the best since Munch’s Boston Symphony recording. Like Munch, Tortelier knows how to keep the music moving along–he’s only an insignificant two minutes slower than Munch for the whole work–without overindulging the more luscious moments, which in Chausson’s opulent setting really do take care of themselves. Even better, rather than some overplayed encore piece by another composer, the symphony is coupled with two very attractive, rarely heard tone poems and two charming orchestral excerpts from the composer’s incidental music to Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The orchestra plays with conviction, Chandos’ sonics are gorgeous, and if you don’t buy this disc, you’re missing out on some marvelous stuff.

Rumon Gamba’s exploration of the music of Ruth Gipps continues with these world première recordings of the Fifth Symphony, Violin Concerto, and Leviathan, performed by the BBC Philharmonic. The acclaimed violinist Charlie Lovell-Jones takes the solo part in the Concerto.

Dohnányi's penchant for quality musical entertainment bore popular fruit with his perennially fresh Variations on a Nursery Theme. Howard Shelley's performance is a model of wit and style, blending in with the orchestra whenever the moment seems right and employing an ideal brand of rubato. Bamert's conducting is properly portentous in the Introduction and charming elsewhere, whether in the musicbox delights of the fifth variation, the animated bustle of the sixth or the seventh's novel scoring (plenty for the bassoons and bass drum).

The central panel of the opera is a monologue for the avaricious Baron, sung with terrific intensity by Ildar Abdrazakov. The impetuosity of his cash-strapped son, Albert, blazes from the singing of Misha Didyk, with Peter Bronder and Sergey Murzaev bringing astuteness of characterisation to the smaller but crucial roles of the Moneylender and the Duke. Noseda conducts the BBC Philharmonic with a sure feel for impetus and colour, etching in nuances of timbre and making the thematic fabric lucid while at the same time ensuring that the overall theatrical picture is vivid and emotionally telling.

Everyone – including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the chorus of Turin’s Teatro Regio – gets a chance to bask in the spotlight. But it’s Aleko’s central Cavatine, where he ruminates on his lover’s infidelity, that defines the drama, and Sergey Murzaev seizes his chance, singing with the histrionic grandeur we have come to expect from Russian basses. Svelta Vassileva and Evgeny Akimov are scarcely less vivid as the ill-fated lovers… it [Aleko] manifestly works on CD, and Noseda can take much of the credit. Having served an early apprenticeship in St Petersburg, he relishes the colour of the music and profiles its fine contours, never resorting to cheap emotionalism.

It has been quite a long time since we had any recorded excerpts from Bax's now legendary score for 'Oliver Twist' let alone a complete score. This issue is doubly welcome for this listener whose home country is immortalized in these fine excerpts from 'Malta GC'!

The BBC Philharmonic under John Storgårds performs Shostakovich’s monumental Eleventh Symphony The Year 1905, which commemorates the St Petersburg uprising.

In this their third volume of orchestral works of Antheil, John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic present a collection of scores spanning the whole of Antheil’s compositional life. Written in the early 1920s, the First Symphony is full of Antheil’s enthusiasm for the mechanical, and takes strong leads from the prevailing sound of the jazz era as well as a nostalgic look back to its predecessor, ragtime. His ballet score Capital of the World dates from the mid-1950s, and was based on a short story by Hemingway.

This disc forms part of our ongoing Spanish Music series with the BBC Philharmonic under its Chief Conductor, Juanjo Mena. Here the focus is on the orchestral music of Joaquín Turina, one of the two leading Spanish composers of the twentieth century, the other being Manual de Falla. Turina was a prolific composer who in his sixty-seven years wrote more than 100 works across a wide range of classical genres. Turina lived in Paris from 1905 to 1914 whilst taking lessons from d’Indy and getting to know Ravel and Debussy. The Danzas fantásticas and Sinfonía sevillana are both influenced by the sights and sounds of Turina’s native Seville but also by aspects of French impressionism. Poema en forma de canciones is probably the best-known work, originally for voice and piano. The other works are Ritmos (Rhythms), originally a ballet score, brilliantly effective in the concert hall, and Saeta en forma de Salve a la Virgen de la Esperanza, a beautifully written devotional song. In this as well as in the Poema and in ‘Farruca’, from Triptico, the orchestra is joined by the Spanish mezzo Clara Mouriz.

After a successful cycle of Chopin works for solo piano, exclusive Chandos artist Louis Lortie plays here works by Poulenc with his duet partner Hélène Mercier. In Aubade and the two concertos they are joined by Edward Gardner and the BBC Philharmonic.

Following a devastating cancer diagnosis in September 2022, Adrian Sutton, composer of the music for War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and other National Theatre productions, made a conscious decision to change his focus, committing himself to working solely on music for the concert hall. This has led to a series of major new works, including his Violin Concerto which received its world première at the Southbank Centre in June 2023, played by Fenella Humphreys and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Adrian commented: ‘We all have limited time – and resources. How to make best use of them? In my situation, there’s only one answer: avoid egregious waste of both time and energy ruminating on things I can’t change. Instead, I can choose how I react to the facts – and I’m choosing not to be a victim.’ This new album of world-première record ings reflects the composer’s new focus. Of the album, Adrian Sutton says: ‘Here's the real musical me. My core musical DNA. The Violin Concerto in particular (being a violinist myself) is for me the main course on this disc, but the other works are a showcase for what I’ve always been about… ranging from the bracing and instrumentally challenging A Fist Full of Fives through to orchestral suites derived from my theatre works. I’m very proud of them all, and pleased to have had the opportunity to share them.’

The composer, pianist, and conductor Gerard Schurmann (1924 – 2020) was born in Kertosono, Java, which was then part of the Dutch East Indies. The family lived within earshot of the resident gamelan orchestras at the Sultan’s Palace, and hearing the pentatonic scales and intricate rhythms of this traditional Indonesian music made a lasting impression on the young Gerard. During the 1950s and 1960s, Schurmann was best known for his film scores, particularly The Long Arm (1956; CHAN 10979) and Horrors of the Black Museum (1959; CHAN 10979). Man in the Sky is a Concert Overture derived from Schurmann’s score for the eponymous film.