XUEFEI YANG

40 Degrees North

Xuefei Yang has made another album, this one called “40 Degrees North” (on EMI Classics). And who is Ms. Yang? A Chinese classical guitarist, and, really, one of the most extraordinary instrumentalists in the world.

She may be Chinese, but every guitarist is a little bit Spanish — or, indeed, a lot Spanish. Ms. Yang’s new CD carries that unusual title because, as the liner notes explain, that is “the line of latitude that roughly connects the capital cities of China and Spain.”

The music on this CD is both Spanish and Chinese (though not at the same time, usually). For example, Ms. Yang plays arrangements of piano music by Albéniz and Granados — her own arrangements. When you play the guitar or some other minor instrument (pardon the expression), you have to borrow and refashion.

Ms. Yang plays her Spanish music, like her other music, fabulously: with sparkle, clarity, and flair. As I was listening to her in Granados’s “Valses poéticos,” I thought, “Alicia de Larrocha might play them this way, if she played the guitar.” (Sra. de Larrocha is one of the great pianists of our time.)

On the Chinese side of things, Ms. Yang plays arrangements of folk songs, an arrangement of a violin concerto, etc. Some arrangements are done by her; some are done by others. Stephen Goss has created a bouquet of pieces called “The Chinese Garden.” In one of these pieces, “Jasmine Flower,” you are listening to Puccini’s “Turandot,” note for note. Or rather, you are listening to the folk melody that Puccini employed, unforgettably.

According to the liner notes, Ms. Yang wishes to forge a Chinese repertoire for the guitar. The parallels between what she’s doing and what Lang Lang is doing, for the piano, are obvious. And as China continues to rise, Chinese music will become all the more familiar.

Please note that this album was recorded in Holy Trinity Church, Weston, Hertfordshire. A Chinese guitarist is playing Spanish music, plus Chinese stuff, in an English church. Ain’t globalization grand — and music, too?

DANIEL BARENBOIM

Live at La Scala

On May 28, 2007, Daniel Barenboim sat down to play a piano recital — all-Liszt — at the opera house in Milan. We now have a CD called “Barenboim: Live at La Scala,” on the WCJ label. (Those letters stand for “Warner Classics & Jazz,” in case you’re curious.)

It is rare for a pianist to play a recital in an opera house, and it is an honor. Horowitz played the Met several times. But opera houses usually belong to operas (and ballets). That said, almost nothing is denied to Mr. Barenboim.

How live is his “live” album? In other words, how raw is it, and how much touching up has been done? It’s impossible to say, but I find the album suspiciously clean. It’s true, however, that, when Liszt’s music gets difficult, Mr. Barenboim can get brutish.

The Liszt pieces composing this program all have to do with Italy. Hence, Mr. Barenboim plays the Petrarch sonnets, the St. Francis piece, the Dante piece, and three transcriptions, or “paraphrases,” from Verdi operas.

Mr. Barenboim can be brutish, as I said, and he has one unfortunate tendency in particular: He distorts the musical line with clumsy, too-loud ornaments. But, on balance, his playing is admirable. I would have thought him too ham-handed for the St. Francis piece — which includes those fluttering birds. And there is a little of that. But there is also delicacy.

And Mr. Barenboim plays these pieces with considerable beauty of tone — usually a fat tone. He bears traces of his hero Rubinstein. And, like that late, great pianist, he shows a true Romantic sensibility.

Mr. Barenboim is one of our outstanding pianist-conductors, along with James Levine, Christoph Eschenbach, and a few others. (I don’t count the conductors who are primarily pianists, such as Murray Perahia and Christian Zacharias.) He is undeniably a big talent, despite his off nights. And his “Scala” album brings us a fine example of Liszt playing.

RENAUD CAPUÇON

Capriccio

Renaud Capuçon has made an album called “Capriccio” (Virgin Classics). Mr. Capuçon, you remember, is the French violinist who often plays with his brother Gautier, a cellist. Sometimes, they play with their pianist sister, Aude.

Mr. Capuçon plays with a pianist named Jérôme Ducros on this new album. And the album is filled with little pieces, chestnuts, usually transcriptions. Among the transcribers, Kreisler, Heifetz, and Mr. Capuçon himself. “Capriccio” is in a grand and treasurable tradition.

We begin with “On Winds of Song” (Mendelssohn). Along the way we get “Humoreske” (Dvorak), “Clair de Lune” (Debussy), the “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” (Gluck), and other numbers. Some of these are unexpected — like something from Szymanowski’s opera “King Roger”; and something from Korngold’s music for “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Mr. Capuçon plays correctly and affectionately — affectionately, but not condescendingly. This album is not sweety-sweet. And Mr. Ducros shows himself to be a well-trained, smart, and talented pianist. On this disc, these musicians prove that bonbons can be nourishing.