This is an excellent disc on all fronts. Pianist Lambert Orkis, a real chamber music pro, provides the unifying thread that ties together and makes a cohesive program out of four very different works. His booklet notes are very interesting in that they give listeners an insider's view of the challenges that each piece poses in terms of ensemble, reminding us (without whining) that the naturalness of the end result should never make us conscious of the effort that went into preparing the performance. It's a credit to him that his contribution in all four works is invariably stylish, spirited, and genuinely collaborative. And he's working with some top-notch partners, all members of the National Symphony Orchestra.

First among equals here is cellist David Hardy, who pours on the tone in Grieg's opulent and still too-little-known Cello Sonata, one of his most successful large works. In the Martinu sonata, Orkis and Hardy float the perpetually syncopated rhythms with the easy lyricism that Martinu demands--and the closing pages of the finale really smoke. In Poulenc's perennially popular Flute Sonata, Toshiko Kohno's tone is warm and rich in the central Cantilena and bright but not too breathy in the outer movements. The biggest discovery here for many listeners will be the Hindemith Viola Sonata, an early work with a rich fund of Romantic melody to its credit. Daniel Foster plays it about as well as it can be. Excellent sonics complete this nicely diverse and distinctive program. [4/22/2008]

--David Hurwitz