Quirk, Over the Stone, La Folia, Sarikiz

Karl Jenkins is Britain's crossover classical composer of the moment, with some of the syrupy old-England nostalgia that implies, but with a knack for novel textures that grab an audience's attention, and for carrying them through in a satisfying way. The concerto format seems to bring out the best in him, and the five pieces on this album are all works of recent vintage for one or more solo instruments with orchestra. Several are delightful, and the program offers a variety of ideas that recommends this disc to buyers wanting to sample the music of this composer. Perhaps the best example of Jenkins' eclectic, crowd-pleasing approach is the title work, with three movements that fall into the traditional concerto form and seem mysteriously to hang together (partly it is because of Jenkins' skillful use of the percussion layer) even though they are irreducibly diverse. The allusions to Indian music in the central "Raga religioso" movement are subtle, with plucked piano strings simulating a sitar, and there is a lovely harmonium background. The opening "Snap" movement juxtaposes a sentimental, cinematic element with a sparser, almost minimalist theme, and the solo instruments are very carefully placed so as to highlight and ultimately develop this contrast. In general, the relationship in these works between the solo-tutti contrast and the larger movement structures are as absorbing as they are in a Mozart concerto. Hear the seemingly simple La Folia, for marimba and string orchestra, where the concerto setup could easily have worked at cross-purposes with the neo-Baroque ground bass structure but instead complements it beautifully. Some of the other concertos are more derivative and less interesting, but Jenkins' percussion writing, perhaps a product of his work in the pop world, is intriguing throughout. The composer himself conducts the London Symphony Orchestra, and while it is not always true that composers make the best conductors, it would seem that listeners can be assured of sympathetic readings here.