From Guts To Grandeur

Concertgoers in New York know Louis Langrée as music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival, which takes place at Lincoln Center every August. Obviously, the French conductor gets in his practice as an interpreter of Mozart. And normally he is satisfying in this composer, as in others.

Mr. Langrée is very satisfying in his new disc from Virgin Classics: It boasts Mozart's Mass in C minor, one of the greatest of all his works, and arguably his greatest. (Not that that argument needs to take place.)

Mr. Langrée's ensemble is Le Concert d'Astrée, the early-music group founded by Emmanuelle Haïm, another French conductor.As you would expect, given these forces, this Mass is light on its feet. But Mr. Langrée never lets the music sound thin or weak. His account has plenty of guts and grandeur, to go with refinement, bounce, etc. Some of the tempos are on the brisk side — as in the beloved Laudamus te — but Mr. Langrée stays sane. And the choruses are as glorious and uplifting as you would like.

The conductor has assembled a solid quartet of soloists, led by two sopranos: Natalie Dessay and Véronique Gens. Both sing admirably, and both sing with purity — sometimes a heartbreaking purity. Ms. Dessay is known as a dazzling coloratura, and rightly so. But she should also be known as a Mozart singer of taste.

Note that, in this recording, Mr. Langrée conducts his own edition of the C-minor Mass. (Mozart left the work incomplete, and many "completions" are on the market.) I suspect that Mr. Langrée's version is as good and faithful as anyone's.

The C-minor Mass is a mighty and immortal work — holy ground. If you're going to record it, you'd better do it justice. Mr. Langrée is not the last word, obviously, but he has indeed done it justice.

Are you ready for some Rossini? And not only some Rossini, but a rarity? From the Decca label we have a complete recording of "Matilde di Shabran." What's it about? The plot is Rossinian, and therefore too complicated for me to explain. Suffice it to say that the opera is a "melodramma giocoso," a comedic melodrama.

Rossini wrote about 40 operas, and "Matilde" comes near the end: It was written in 1821, and Rossini stopped writing operas in 1829. Of course, he lived for another 40 years after that. He simply wanted to retire.

"Matilde di Shabran" is filled with marvelous music, including those tricky ensembles in which the composer specializes.The new recording comes from the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy. We are told that the performance was recorded live in August 2004. The young Italian conductor Riccardo Frizza does a commendable job leading the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia and the Prague Chamber Choir.

See how music has internationalized?

And the star of the show is the number-one Rossini tenor of our age: Juan Diego Flórez. (Incidentally, he will star in "The Barber of Seville" at the Metropolitan Opera beginning November 10.) In the role of Corradino Cuor di ferro – Corradino Ironheart! — he is, as ever, nimble and fiery, with that little quiver in his voice.

And in the title role of Matilde is a French soprano named Annick Massis. Her voice is light, light, light, and acrobatic. She is a bird that can turn somersaults as it flits from twig to twig.

A "new" Rossini opera performed with heart and skill, by one and all — Rossini lovers must welcome these discs with open arms.

ALISON BALSOM
‘Caprice'

Are you ready for some trumpet playing? Very few trumpeters can fashion a career as a soloist, but Alison Balsom, a young Englishwoman, is doing so. She tours extensively, including with her own chamber group, the Balsom Ensemble. She plays a great variety of music, including new pieces commissioned for her. In short, she has made it.

It must not hurt that she is a pretty blonde. I'm sorry for saying so — I simply relate the facts of life.

The latest of Ms. Balsom's recordings is "Caprice." It is filled with transcriptions, including a go-round with one of the most transcribed pieces of all: Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A minor. (Only Ms. Balsom plays it in G minor.) The woman has a phenomenal technique, and a beautiful, adaptable sound.

Some of the transcriptions are a little iffy. For example, Mozart'sTurkish Rondo comes off as a bit corny. (Then, it would.) But a Piazzolla tango is nice, and so are Falla's "Seven Popular Songs" (all seven).

Ms. Balsom also takes advantage of another much-transcribed piece: Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise." And she visits the opera, "singing" the Queen of the Night aria, from Mozart's "Magic Flute." Just to trip us up, she throws in a movement from a trumpet concerto: by the 20th-century French composer Henri Tomasi.

Accompanying Ms. Balsom is the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Edward Gardner. They perform attractively.

The trumpet is a wonderful — wonderfully musical — instrument, in all periods: from the Baroque (certainly) to jazz. We should hear it more often, particularly in solo form. I said above that Rossini lovers should rejoice. Well, trumpet lovers should rejoice, too.