PAUL HINDEMITH

As with most of the Tortelier/BBCPO Hindemith series, this is beautifully done. You may find a richer, more austro-german orchestral palette in Dresden or Bamberg and so on, but the clean swift contrapuntal lines, the clarity and sheer power of these performances continues to impress me several years after buying the CDs. The lossless FLAC download is equally wonderful of course - indeed the presence and projection (Macbook to DacMagic) slightly improves upon my optical disc replay (Krell 300 to DacMagic), necessitating a hunt for an improved cable from transport to dac! Musically, Tortelier selflessly serves the music, never stretching or bending a line or a tempo to make a point. The infrequently heard Symphonia Serena is a gorgeous piece, with especially poetic use of the horn-calls through the first movement. Hindemith's orchestral style can be aggressive, but there is always great expressiveness in his endlessly rich and varied slow movements, and wit and rhythmic agility abound in the scherzi. As Abba said, "take a chance on me".