MARTINU, B.: Revue de cuisine (La) / Harpsichord Concerto / Musique de chambre No. 1 / Les rondes (Hill, Holst Sinfonietta, Simon) 8.572485
RIISAGER, K.: Symphonic Edition, Vol. 1 (Aarhus Symphony, Holten) - Symphony No. 1 / Danish Pictures 8.226146

These two composers have distinguished traditions of nationalistic music behind them, but they both cultivated a more cosmopolitan compositional style.

None of these pieces is exactly easy to play, the more so since none is in any orchestra’s repertoire…The Åarhus Symphony Orchestra acquits itself bravely under Bo Holten’s firm direction and, as usual from this source, recording quality and documentation are first-rate. © 2012 Gramophone Read complete review on Gramophone

This is a pleasing collection and bodes well for the later volumes. © 2011 MusicWeb International Read complete review

You might think of Riisager as the Danish Malcolm Arnold, without the bitterness and melodrama. The music is rhythmically vivacious, full of good tunes, and wonderfully scored, even without special coloristic effects.

The performances in this first volume of a projected series of Riisager’s symphonic works are first-rate, and so is the engineering. Bo Holten and his players clearly relish the music’s color and energy, and I can only welcome this release with great enthusiasm and high hopes for the series as a whole.