LEOPOLD MOZART: Concerto in D. HUMMEL: Concerto...

LEOPOLD MOZART: Concerto in D. HUMMEL: Concerto in E-flat. ARUTIUNIAN: Concerto. SANDOVAL: Concerto. Arturo Sandoval, trumpet. London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Luis Haza. RCA Victor Red Seal 09026-62661-2. Purists may find chinks in the armor of Sandoval’s style in the Classical concertos, though these are generally elegant and persuasive readings. Haza and the orchestra accompany engagingly, but too graciously. In the entertaining Khachaturian crib of Arutiunian’s Concerto (1950) and in Sandoval’s own effort--his first large-scale classical composition, a cosmopolitan, sentimental, somewhat cheesy affair--the Cuban jazz trumpeter takes his gloves off, as it were, and gives brash virtuosic performances.

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HAYDN: Symphonies Nos. 45-47; Symphonies Nos. 50, 64, 65. Tafelmusik Ensemble, conducted by Bruno Weil. Sony Classical SK 53986 and SK 53985, two separately boxed CDs. These are sparkling performances, quick and light-footed and dashingly sculpted in the outer movements, delicate and ethereal in the slow, and frothy in the minuets. So why complain? It’s just that one can’t help wondering (and longing for) what a Beecham, a Bernstein or a Davis might do with these works: the flavorful 47th Symphony, for instance, with its march/fanfare opening (much admired by Mozart), an adagio in reversible double counterpoint and a minuet that is literally written to be played both forward and backward. Weil and the period-instrument Tafelmusik (28-strong at its largest) render all of this deftly, but it seems bloodless. Note: These recordings bear the imprimatur of Haydn scholar H.C. Robbins Landon, who serves as musicological and artistic consultant and informative annotator as well.