Classical reviews: Bruckner, Beethoven and Chopin

Bruckner Mass in E minor Choir of King’s College, Cambridge; Academy of St Martin in the Fields; Henry Websdale and Donal McCann, organ scholars; conducted by Sir Stephen Cleobury King’s College Cambridge KGS0035 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ For 35 years Stephen Cleobury conducted the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, as well as doing long stints leading the BBC Singers and other choral groups. Piano Trios – Beethoven and Chopin Beethoven: Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, arr Carl Reinecke; Chopin: Piano Trio in G minor Opus 8 Accentus ACC30529 Gidon Kremer, violin; Giedre Dirvanauskaite, cello; Georgijs Osokins, piano Accentus ACC30529 ★★ ★ ★ ★ In recent years we’ve not heard much from the Latvian violin virtuoso Gidon Kremer, so it’s good to find him popping up with two musical rarities. Beethoven’s Grand Concerto Concertant was always seen as an uneasy cross between the piano trio and concerto forms, and Carl Reinecke’s orchestra-less reduction for three soloists shifts the balance towards the former. It’s one of the only two major chamber pieces Chopin wrote, and the piano inevitably sits centre-stage throughout.