ALLA BREVE

SALIERI: Overtures. Czecho-Slovak Radio Orchestra, conducted by Michael Dittrich. Marco Polo 8.223381. Far from the hopeless third-rater as portrayed in “Amadeus,” Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) was an enormously successful composer of 39 operas and a beloved teacher to the likes of Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt.This recording of 12 opera overtures shows Salieri a resourceful, skilled and engaging musician of considerable merit. Worth reviving: the overture to “Cesare in Farmacusa,” with a striking storm sequence that pre-echoes Beethoven’s “Pastoral”; or that to “Les Danaides,” Salieri’s big Paris success, with its startling dissonances, colorful scoring and expression of high tragedy. Dittrich, a protege of Giulini, leads performances that, though occasionally lacking in pep, impress for their euphony, color and grace.

SAARIAHO: “Du cristal”; “ . . . a la fumee”; “Nymphea.” Kronos Quartet. Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Ondine ODE 804-2. For her initial efforts in music for large orchestra, Kaija Saariaho chose groundbreaking works of the ‘50s and ‘60s European avant-garde as models. But how do you recapture the driving forces behind the early music of Ligeti, Penderecki, Xenakis et al.? For all their technical accomplishments, Saariaho’s “Du cristal” and “ . . . a la fumee” are adventurous works without the adventure. Similarly, the string quartet “Nymphea” makes much use of grinding and creaking-door bowings, fuzzed, fogged and abused electronically. We’ve been there before.