Canellakis faces stern competition in the Concerto for Orchestra...The great vir tue of this performance, however, is that Canellakis places more emphasis on the work’s shadowy and anguished resonances rather than focusing on its propensity towards extrovert virtuoso display.

Karina Canellakis (who wrote the detailed – and impassioned – booklet notes) clearly relates to the ethos of [the Four Pieces] and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (impressively engineered by the Pentatone team) paint the soundscapes with both finesse and fire.

This is the Dutch orchestra's first recording with their new Principal Conductor, and it's a cracker: Bartók was a key part of Canellakis's repertoire in her previous career as a violinist, and her long-standing affection for his music resonates loud and clear in performances that balance high adrenaline with a warm lyricism that often gets short-changed in this music. The seldom-recorded Four Pieces come off especially well - not least the fiendish Scherzo, where the precision of the playing in every section is a marvel.