MALCOLM ARNOLD (1921-2006): Grand Concerto Gastronomique for Eater, Waiter, Food and Large Orchestra, Op. 76 (First Recording), Symphony No. 9 in D, Op. 128.

Description: These two works present two sharply contrasting sides of Malcolm Arnold: his limitless resources of knockabout fun, and a sense of existential tragedy. But each score presents its own surprises: the jocularity of the 15-minute Grand Concerto Gastronomique written for a Hoffnung Festival concert – conceals some seriously good (though not seriously serious) music; and the delicately scored Ninth Symphony, written after five years when its composer had, in his own words, ‘been through hell’, irradiates its emotional restraint and elegiac tone with moments of light and warmth. Anna Gorbachyova-Ogilvie (soprano in Peach Melba movement of Op. 76), Liepāja Symphony Orchestra; John Gibbons.