BACH Mass in B Minor Cantus Cölln/ Junghänel (Harmonia Mundi HMC 901813.1) (2 CDs)
The assignment of choral passages to solo voices, now the trademark of Konrad Junghänel's Cantus Cölln, makes this a revelatory take on Bach's familiar masterpiece, illuminating detail all too often lost amid larger forces - or what Junghänel himself calls 'generalised sonic exhilaration'. His large claims in the sleevenotes are largely justified; such movements as the 'Et incarnatus' and the 'Crucifixus' do indeed become much more intimate and affecting personal statements; if there is a price to be paid, climactic moments such as the Gloria and the Sanctus sound strangely muted. It won't replace the real thing, but this is a meticulous, at times, breathtaking performance which will delight the connoisseur.
HANDEL 'Oxford' Water Music & Other Chamber Works Brook Street Band (AVIE AV0028)
The recent discovery of partbooks in the library of Christchurch, Oxford, makes for a charming debut CD from the gifted Brook Street Band. Alongside music by Leclair, Corelli, Geminiani and more Handel, they perform the almost too famous Water Music as you've never heard it before - in a 'domesticated' chamber edition by the five-strong Band's cellist, Tatty Theo, which adds such refinement and elegance to Handel's eloquent harmonies that they are more than entitled to rechristen it the 'Oxford' Water Music. Technically a Handel premiere, these three suites are the centrepiece of a stylish, adventurous programme distinguished by this vivacious group's infectious relish in its work.
BRAHMS & SCHUMANN Violin Sonatas Yehudi Menuhin (violin), Hephzibah Menuhin (piano) (Naxos Historical 8.110771)
Throughout his long and illustrious career, Yehudi Menuhin was rarely blessed with an accompanist as sensitive and sympatico as his sister, Hephzibah, who really deserves equal billing on this latest issue in Naxos Historical's valuable series of momentous reissues. The youthful exuberance of both players (then still teenagers) shines through their 1934 recording of Schumann's second sonata, making a fascinating contrast to the majestic account of Brahms's first sonata recorded only six years later in wartime Australia. An early version of Brahms's third, which they later rerecorded more effectively, completes an outstanding example of two superb individualists playing, magically, as one.
· To order the Bach for £22.99, Handel for £14.99, Brahms & Schumann for £4.99, call the Observer Music Service on 0870 066 7813. Prices include p&p.
