Home listening - in praise of the sonatina

The Guardian 0

Sibelius’s 1915 Sonatina and more delight, the Hallé are magnificent in Shostakovich 5, and catch Stephen Hough’s Saint-Saëns while you can

• The slow movement of Lennox Berkeley’s Sonatina Op 17 from 1942 is a mere 37 bars in length and yet contains a whole universe of emotion, brilliantly captured by the violinist Fenella Humphreys and pianist Nicola Eimer in a hugely rewarding new recording entitled So Many Stars – not a reference to these undoubtedly stellar performers, but a quote from Sibelius: “My childhood sky is full of stars – so many stars.”

The composer’s 1915 Sonatina is delightfully lighthearted, evoking a happy childhood that sparkled in his memory like a twinkling galaxy. It’s one of six sonatinas in this highly recommended collection on the Stone label, with beguiling examples from Jean Françaix, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Gordon Crosse and William Alwyn, each played with intense commitment by these two outstanding players, their love for this music evident in every bar.