This uniquely interesting disc opens with a bright and bouncy Dumbarton Oaks Concerto in which the Kiev Camerata scores by paying scrupulous attention to Stravinsky’s exacting rhythms. The performance is genuinely satisfying, even if Boulez with the Ensemble Intercontemporain offers similar drive and energy, married to fuller, more sonorous instrumental textures. Wagner’s Siegfried-Idyll ushers in a drastically different mood and atmosphere, with the Kiev players having traded in their barbs for butter. Conductor Virko Baley’s relaxed approach, rich in tonal warmth and careful phrasing, makes this performance one of the more serene Siegfried Idyll’s on disc.
Wagner’s golden timbres have scarcely faded away before the modernistic tones of Iva Karabyts’ Concertino for Nine Instruments steal in like a cold draft, after which Valentin Silvestrov’s Intermezzo defeats all expectations of that title with its harsh, astringent harmonies and sharp-edged rhythms. Virko Baley’s dazzling, brightly-hued Adam’s Apple, the most upbeat of these three new works, ends the disc in a brilliant display of color. TNC’s close-perspective recording brings a welcome clarity, if not all that much depth.