TAKASHI YOSHIMATSU (b.1953): Saxophone Concerto "Albireo Mode", Op. 93, TOSHIYUKI HONDA (b.1957): Concerto du vent, JACQUES IBERT (1890-1962): Concertino da camera, LARS-ERIK LARSSON (1908-1986): Concerto for Saxophone and String Orchestra, Op. 14.

Description: A mixed bag of musical styles, this, but a nice exhibition of the many styles and moods of the versatile solo instrument. Yoshimatsu's concerto has a free, improvisatory, new-agey feel, with tonal and modal melodic content and washes of soothingly consonant impressionistic sound. Honda's piece fits more into the tradition of jazz-inflected concert works, an appealingly Gershwinesque, somewhat neoclassical three-movement concerto in open, accessible style, the light and lively outer movements framing a gentle slow movement. The technically exhilarating Ibert and its almost exact contemporary, the immensely appealing Larssen - a solidly neoclassical work with a fiendishly difficult role for the soloist - counterbalance the contemporary works by bringing the saxophone firmly back into the concert hall and treating it as a virtuoso solo instrument with a range and expressive capability to rival any other. Nobuya Sugawa (sax), BBC Philharmonic; Yutaka Sado.