Terrific performances and spectacularly faithful recordings of some instantly appealing repertory. Still best known for his justly popular Symphonie espagnole for violin and orchestra, Frenchman Edouard Lalo (1823-92) in fact composed two other concertos for the legendary Spanish fiddler, Pablo de Sarasate. The F major concerto of 1873 predates the Symphonie espagnole by a year and proves a thoroughly engaging find, its central "Andantino" radiating a most touching wistfulness. Despite Lalo's passionate pleadings, however, Sarasate strangely shunned the Concerto russe of 1879, an even more alluring confection, crammed full of delicious melodies and always felicitously scored. Olivier Charlier is the neat, supremely affectionate soloist, who Tortelier supports with uncommon sympathy. However, the BBC Philharmonic really comes into its own in the two purely orchestral works. The swaggering Scherzo in D minor actually began life as the second movement of Lalo's Third Piano Trio (1880). It receives exhilarating treatment here, as does the slumberingly atmospheric and vividly dramatic overture to Lalo's magnum opus, the opera Le Roi d'Ys. Another Tortelier/Chandos winner! --Andrew Achenbach
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