ARNOLD Little Suite No 2, Op 78. Rinaldo and Armida, Op 49. Organ Concerto, Op 47a. Homage to the Queen, Op 42a - Ballet Suite

aUlrik Spang-Hanssen org Royal Aarhus Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra / Douglas Bostock

Classico ® CLASSCD424 (65 minutes: DDD)

Sensitive performances of some Arnold rarities from an unexpected source

No fewer than three first recordings adorn Douglas Bostock's latest release, in which some of Denmark's finest young musicians lend spirited advocacy to three appealing Arnold scores from the 1950s.

Bostock's first recording of the 20-minute concert suite from the 3953 Coronation-ballet Homage to the Queen is all the more welcome given that Robert Irving's superbly stylish 1954 Philharmonia recording of the complete work has fallen foul of the deletion-axe (do keep an eye out in the second-hand racks for the exemplary EMI British Composers reissue). Hailed by Dame Ninette de Valois as 'the finest ballet composer since Tchaikovsky', Arnold penned a further three scores for the Royal Ballet. First staged in 1955 and choreographed (like Homage to the Queen) by Frederick Ashton, Rinaldo and Armida packs a wealth of colourful and touching invention into its tightly-knit 22-minute span. Elsewhere, Ulrik Spang-Hanssen is a nimble soloist in the Organ Concerto written in 1954 for Denis Vaughan (the central Lento casts quite a spell), and we also get the bright-eyed, impeccably crafted Little Suite No 2 that Arnold fashioned for the 1963 Farnham Festival.

Nicely prepared, committed performances one and all; reasonably vivid sound. Sir Malcolm's many fans will surely warm to this enterprising collection. Andrew Achenbach