All of this music has been recorded before, but not so frequently as to make new versions redundant. BIS has released the Flute Concerto separately in a disc sensibly devoted to modern flute concertos. It’s a very major work, more immediately appealing and just as emotionally gripping as the grittier Second Symphony. Christopher Rouse, for all of his roots in, and occasional glances toward, American pop music, is a very serious, sometimes genuinely anguished composer, even in a supposedly more “relaxed” piece such as Rapture. His direct emotionalism and intensity seldom let up, a fact that really good performances such as these never allow us to forget. As in the first volume in this series, Alan Gilbert and his Stockholm Orchestra sound quite comfortable in what must have been very unfamiliar musical territory, and Sharon Bezaly in the concerto is unbeatable. With excellent sonics, this second volume in BIS’s very worthy ongoing series is just as recommendable as the first. [6/17/2010]
