Shostakovich: 7th SymphonyNaxosLiverpool’s cycle of Shostakovich symphonies stands apart from all previous recordings for its edginess and its youth. Vasily Petrenko, the conductor, is 36 years old. He grew up in the dying embers of Communism and addresses the symphonies with no ideological agenda. He performs the Leningrad Symphony not as a relic of an historic event but as a work of music that demands objective interpretation in a different century.The ear is struck immediately by his refusal to overplay textural excesses. The atmosphere is quieter, less ominous than we’re used to. Flutes and clarinets are reduced to a whisper and strings to a hushed susurrus. When the climaxes explode, they do so with total shock and desperation. Between extremes, the conductor maintains an even emotional keel, avoiding the risk of melodrama that Bartok so wickedly caricatured in his Concerto for Orchestra. Petrenko puts his mind to saving the symphony from itself.Playing in another port-city at the western edge of a civilisation, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra deliver delicacy, empathy and, when required, astonishing power. The recorded sound is a shade below pristine (my only reservation) but the performance is treasurable, a terrific affirmation of a towering masterpiece.Three Latino releasesErnesto Lecuona: The piano musicBisSix CDs of music by a fascinating Cuban composer and pianist, who played the halls of Europe and won the envy of Ravel. Lecuona (1895-1963) has a rhythm all his own and an inexhaustible reservoir of dance tunes. How Thomas Tirino manages to stay seated at his piano is a mystery. The Polish Radio orchestra accompanies.Brazilian sentimentsCapriccioCristiane Roncaglio sings the socks off a set by Jobim, Villa-Lobos and others less known. Accompanied alternately on piano and guitar, she gives a semi-latte vocal flavour to these dark, romantic and insistently evocative ballads. Try one, you won’t resist the rest.La PasionaraDelphianIrresistible Argentine melancholy from Valentina Montoya Martinez and Galsgow’s Mr McFall’s Chamber. The songs are by Astor Piazzolla and Valentina herself. They speak of the force of love, and its futility. The voice is sultry, bruised, undefeated. Lovely.___Norman Lebrecht is a regular presenter on BBC Radio 3 and a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and other publications. He has written 12 books about music, the most recent being Why Mahler? He hosts the blog Slipped Disc.