Robert Schumann composed works in specific musical genres in annual cycles. Schumann applied himself to chamber music in 1842 and it was during that year he wrote the three string quartets, Piano Quintet Op. 44 and Piano Quartet Op. 47. Pianist Alexander Melnikov and the Jerusalem Quartet are the featured artists on this recording of Schumann’s Quintet and Quartet. “There is real life in there,” wrote Schumann of his Piano Quintet Op. 44. Life indeed. Right from the start you know this is going to be a special performance. The pianist takes on a soloist-like role and Melnikov rises to the challenge (his runs at the close of the first movement development section blaze), and the Jerusalem Quartet are every bit his match. The eerie second movement funeral march has that sparse quality that feels just right, while the scherzo is a kinetic dazzler. There’s power and precision in this performance, but also great beauty. The Piano Quartet Op. 47 doesn’t glow with the extroverted brilliance of the Quintet, but it has its own subtle pleasures that shine through in this exquisitely shaped performance. Melnikov partners seamlessly with the ensemble and his dialogue with strings in the gorgeous third movement Andante cantabile may be the high point of the album, this is cantabile playing indeed! This marvelously passionate and polished performance makes a strong case for a work that’s been overshadowed by the more boisterous Quintet. Roman Hinke’s liner notes are good reading and while the performers are rather closely miked, the blend of instruments is nicely balanced and natural.

Queen Elizabeth II of England will be celebrating her Diamond Jubilee in early June 2012. This album of choral works focuses less on the pomp and splendor of the royals, and more on the personal events that touched the House of Windsor during Elizabeth’s 60 year reign. The Cambridge Singers conducted by composer John Rutter perform music by a host of composers from the UK and the continent. John Rutter has put together an intriguing program by tapping into the rich history of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. There’s music from royal weddings and funerals as well as music commissioned by the royal family for special events. As you would expect, English music dominates the program. Rutter is the master of sweetly consonant choral music and his “This is the Day” (written for the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton) is classic Rutter. The Ubi caritas of Paul Mealor (also written for William and Kate) was one of the highlights of the wedding service and it made quite a name for the composer. This is an excellent setting with warm melodies and a decidedly other-worldly quality. John Tavener’s “Song for Athene,” performed at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997, still moves the heart with its sustained bass note and chant passages. Best of all are the Choral Dances from Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana, a set of six brilliant choruses taken from the 1953 opera commemorating the Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. Music by Mozart (Laudate Dominum from Vesperae solennes de confessore), Schubert (Psalm 23), Brahms (How lovely is thy dwelling from Ein deutsches Requiem) and Duruflé (Ubi caritas) round out this excellent program. The Cambridge Singers are excellent. While I miss the high, bright sound of boys in some of the English music, Rutter’s handpicked group sings with ravishing tone, creamy blend and plenty of precision. The rhythmic challenges of the Britten set are skillfully handled and the pure sweetness of their singing in the Duruflé, Brahms and Mozart is irresistible.

While even the most minor works of major composers are frequently resurrected, Franz Schubert’s operas still haven’t enjoyed a renaissance. Schubert wrote twenty or so stage works and this album by the Haydn Sinfonietta Wien conducted by Manfred Huss presents the overtures to ten of his operas and opera fragments. Spanning a little over a decade of the composer’s life, the overtures offer a fascinating look at Schubert’s evolution as an orchestral composer. It’s hard to believe that Schubert’s overtures aren’t performed or recorded more often. Highly dramatic, inventively scored and not without a fair share of melody, these are strongly appealing works. There are dashes of Haydn and Mozart in some of the earlier overtures, but there’s also much that’s quite original. With its shocking chords and eerie brass writing, Schubert’s 1814 overture to Des Teufels Lustschloss is a marvelous example of the early Romantics’ depiction of the supernatural in music. Schubert's mature overtures look to the future. As Huss reminds us in his marvelous liner notes, the opening chords of the Alfonso und Estrella overture shares much with the sound of Bruckner, and the Fierabras overture presages Wagner more than Weber. Haydn Sinfonietta Wien is excellent. The wind writing in the overtures is especially colorful and is very well served by the piquant quality of the period instruments. The horns in the overture to Der vierjährige Posten have a toothy snarl and the rest of the brass make the Fierabras overture thrilling. Thankfully Huss opts for a big string sound, so there’s plenty of muscle in these performances too. Schubert’s operas may yet have their day, but for now these irresistible curtain raisers will do just fine.

The works on this program are among Jan Dismas Zelenka’s earliest compositions and were written for Prague’s Klementinum, the oldest Jesuit college in Bohemia. Sepolcri were cantata-like pieces usually performed in the evening after the Good Friday liturgy at the church’s Holy Sepulchre. This world premiere recording by Collegium Marianum conducted by Jana Semerádová presents three of Zelenka’s sepolcri. This is subtle, sometimes stark music filled with striking touches. The cantata Immisit Dominus pestilentiam (The Lord sent plague) is spare but expressive. In each aria Zelenka assigns a prominent role to wind instruments, so Recordare, Domine (Oh remember Lord your covenant) is colored by the dark tone of the chalumeau (a kind of Baroque clarinet) and Orate pro me, lacrime (Pray for me tears) features a flute solo. The opening recitative of the cantata Attendite et Videte (Attend and behold) is dramatic in the best Bachian style and the fugal choruses showcase Zelenka’s considerable contrapuntal skill. Zelenka also adds colorful instrumental passages to the arias, notably in the gorgeous Deo Subjecta (Be, oh my soul, subject to God) which features a poignant solo violin. The vocal writing in the cantata Deus dux fortissime (Oh God, the mightiest) may be the best of the sepolcri. The duet Ave crucis, lignum (Ave cross, ave wood) is easily as good as anything Zelenka or his contemporaries ever wrote. The vocal quartet is excellent, soprano Hana Blaziková impresses in the Deo Subjecta aria, and the instrumentalists of Collegium Marianum are all top-notch. I’m a big fan of Supraphon’s Music from Eighteenth Century Prague series and this is a terrific addition to what is proving to be one of the most exciting series of Baroque music available. I highly recommend this album as well as other recordings in the series devoted to Brentner, Jacob, Jiranek and Reichenauer.

The Canadian Brass has been on the scene for over forty years and the formula for their success hasn’t changed much. You can always count on them to program a couple of barn-burning showpieces, a few Baroque tunes, a smattering of chestnuts and a ragtime or jazz rave-up. Canadian Brass Takes Flight proves that nearly a half-century of a good thing can continue to be a good thing. Canadian Brass Takes Flight is what Daniel Guss calls in his effusive liner notes, “a kind of state of the union address by the group.” A cynic might say that means the overlying concept behind the dozen and a half selections is to serve as a showcase for what this talented quintet can do. If you think of Canadian Brass Takes Flight as a brilliantly played and smartly packaged greatest hits album you will not be disappointed. The Baroque selections come off very well. Readings of Bach’s Little Fugue in G Minor and Fantasia and Fugue in D minor showcase the contrapuntal genius of the composer and the quintet’s clear-toned precision in revealing each of those lines. Best of all are their performances of Samuel Scheidt’s Galliard Battaglia and Giovanni Gabrieli’s Canzona Prima a 5, both of which have marvelous energy and appealing bite. There are some interesting novelties too. I was really taken with the pure tonal beauty of the Canadian Brass’s playing of the Brahms Chorale Prelude No. 1, and trumpeter Brandon Ridenour’s gorgeous Lament, what I think is the best piece on the album. There are some missteps. After hearing the album’s first track, the “Flight of the Bumblebee,” I’m determined to call a worldwide moratorium on all arrangements of the piece. On the other hand, I enjoyed the closing New Orleans set, especially the good-hearted Saints’ Hallelujah fusing the famous “When the Saints Go Marching In” onto the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. This is self-recommending for fans of the Canadian Brass, but if you are not a fan you will still find plenty to enjoy.

There are so many striking aspects to Heavy, the 2012 album by the self-proclaimed "postclassical" string quartet, Ethel, that it's hard to know where to begin. The music itself, written between 1996 and 2009 by eight composers, most of whom are based in NYC, is terrifically, consistently strong. The power, inventiveness, diversity of repertoire, and the composers' exceptionally high level of skill in writing for string quartet make this album reminiscent of the groundbreaking releases by the Kronos Quartet from the 1980s and early '90s. Ethel is by any standard a remarkably capable ensemble, and the players demonstrate a fearless mastery of this music's daunting technical and interpretive challenges. Innova describes its release as "the perfect answer to Light" (Ethel's 2006 album with that title), and heavy is a good starting point for characterizing the music's gritty drive, intensity, ferocity, and frequently, its volume. The CD opens with Don Byron's String Quartet No. 2: Four Thoughts on Marvin Gaye, a dazzling, inspired re-imagining of Gaye's songs. No less impressive and somewhat similar in character is John Halle's Sphere[']s, an homage to Thelonius Monk, with richly textured rhythmic overlays and an irresistible momentum. In contrast to the urban aggressiveness of these and most of the other works on the album are David Lang's wrenchingly poignant Wed and Marcelo Zarvos' Rounds, whose infectious groove and sunny sweetness might not technically be considered "heavy," but who could complain? The sound of the Innova CD is pristine and brilliant, with an almost startling sense of immediacy. Highly recommended for fans of new music and of spectacular string quartet performances.