Anna Lapwood, Cambridge choral don and TikTok phenomenon, is on a mission to show the riches of organ music beyond the realms of weddings and funerals. Luna, her debut solo album for Sony Classics, combines classical repertoire with works by living composers – Philip Glass, Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter – and film music transcriptions. The only Bach, usually an organist’s mainstay, is the Ave Maria in the sweetened arrangement by Charles Gounod. Her choices are popular: some, such as Chopin’s E flat Nocturne, Op 9 No 2, were written originally for piano. The opening work, Flying, is from the soundtrack, by James Newton Howard, to the live-action 2003 film of Peter Pan. The album is direct, honest, accessible. If you object to these attributes, stick to the plentiful supply of mainstream organ music on offer elsewhere. If you are open to Lapwood’s distinctive approach, there’s plenty to enjoy from this talented musician and advocate.
Mozart’s five violin concertos, accessible and melodic as well as relatively manageable technically, are often tackled by young players early in their musical ascent. As soloist and director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (Deutsche Grammophon), the French violinist Renaud Capuçon, whose career began in earnest about three decades ago, is decidedly beyond that novice stage. His view is that these works, written quickly, the first when Mozart was still in his teens, require a communicative flow and lightness almost beyond the scope of a novice player: they should be approached with caution, and an open mind. The result is a spirited and elegant set of recordings – especially effective in the more elaborate No 5, “Turkish” – reflecting this ensemble’s close association with Mozart since it was set up in 1942.