CLASSICAL: NEW RELEASES

Pavel Haas Sarlatan

Prague State Opera Orchestra/Yinon

(Decca)

As part of Decca's Entartete Musik series comes a thrilling recording of Haas's satirical opera, Sarlatan. A tragi-comedy, the piece encompasses all sorts of moods which are handsomely captured in Yinon's reading. A large cast shines, with Vladimir Chmelo outstanding in the lead role. How might Haas have developed further had he not met his end at Auschwitz? HHHH

Britten Temporal Variations and Other Works, Northern Sinfonia/ Bedford (Collins Classics)

Forty years of Britten's career is spanned here, from the Simple Symphony of 1934 to the Suite on English Folk Tunes of 1974, with a world premiere of the early Temporal Variations. A fine selection, with each work smartly executed by a sharp-sounding Northern Sinfonia under Steuart Bedford. HHH