Endless Song Works by Albéniz, Gershwin, Guastavino, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Metcalf, Poulenc, Rachmaninov and Suk

This very personal disc comes after a period of injuries that threatened Fingerhut’s ability to continue playing. The title track (1999) is by Welsh/Canadian composer John Metcalf: think Eric Whitacre’s Seal Lullaby. The two Mendelssohn items (Op 30 No 6, Op 19 No 3) and three Liszt song transcriptions are benchmark performances and Josef Suk’s Love Song Op 7 exudes real passion. Poulenc’s Piaf-homage Improvisation No 15 is heavily written, given its subject’s elfin frailty. Six Gershwin transcriptions seem well-behaved rather than impish. The Albéniz Córdoba is gently magical and the Seguidillas avoids frenzy. Argentinian composer Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000) supplies two salon pieces, Bailecito and El Ceibo, both here projected neatly and affectingly.

MICHAEL ROUND Read the full review on Agora Classica