KEY POINTS:
Don't listen to those arrant marketers who claim you need the latest Andre Rieu or Sarah Brightman to light up your Christmas; other CDs are far worthier of a place under your tree.
Perhaps you might calm yourself before the Yuletide onslaught with Air, a Telarc collection for
flute, viola and harp, featuring harpist Yolanda Kondonassis who toured the country earlier this year. It's a funny thing, but what did not come off in concert makes for an exquisite CD.
It takes the French to inject some sophistication into the silly season. And, if you are weary of endless couplings of Debussy and Ravel, search out the Dante Quartet's zesty pairing of Franck and Faure (Hyperion).
Un Frisson Francais has the American mezzo Susan Graham joining Malcolm Martineau in 24 songs from Bizet to Poulenc. This is a treasure trove which measures out delicious lyricism and laughter as well, from Graham giving voice to Saint-Saens' fiddling Grim Reaper to a charming cabaret chanson by Rosenthal about an English mouse who could only be enticed into the trap by Cheshire cheese.
Hopefully, this year's prime local releases are already on your CD shelves. Gillian Whitehead's Puhake ki te rangi, Michael Houstoun's Inland, the Ogen Trio's Ahi, the NZ Trio's Bright Tide Moving Between all warrant their place, along with the first volume of Richard Farrell's historic recordings.
Talking New Zealand pianists, clear some space for ABC Classic's triple set of Tessa Birnie's recordings from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Birnie was a Schubert specialist and, along with some solid sonatas, there are six Musical Moments that melt in the ear. Curiosities include a Beethoven Moonlight Sonata pulled down a tone to B minor, and presented molto misterioso.
Throughout the year, Deutsche Grammophon has ensured release in New Zealand for some of its best, from Magdalena Kozena's Songs my Mother Taught Me to Anne Sophie Mutter's magnificent coupling of Bach and Gubaidulina.
In the company of sure-fire releases from Anna Netrebko and Lang Lang, Gods, Kings and Demons from Rene Pape could be overlooked. Keep eyes and ears open; the German bass delivers the thrills from Mephistophelian rumblings to Boris' death rattle, along with two gorgeous romances from Anton Rubinstein's once popular The Demon. The NZSO continues to chalk up an impressive track record for itself on Naxos, although its beautifully played Symphonic
Poems by the minor Polish composer Mieczyslaw Karlowicz seems doomed for the specialist market.
While you are at the Naxos stand, look out for the final instalment of Peter Maxwell Davies' Naxos Quartets, and the first four discs of Songs of Charles Ives. The 160 songs are being presented alphabetically, and this fourth set takes us up to Over the Treetops. Fresh and enthusiastic voices of a range of young singers are a boon to these idiosyncratic masterpieces.
Finally if, like me, you hanker for souvenirs of memorable evenings and are impatient for Radio NZ Concert to repeat its broadcast of the James Ehnes APO concert, the Canadian violinist's new album, Homage, couldn't be more welcome.
Ehnes takes us to encore heaven, stringing them out with endless flair, from Hora Staccato to Salut d'Amour, played on a succession of priceless violins and violas from the Fulton Collection. He adores both the music and the instruments and you can see this on the accompanying DVD, when he dashes off Elgar's La Capricieuse on a 1698 violin and tugs at the heartstrings with Vaughan Williams' Greensleeves on a mellow 1590 viola.
