MSR Classics celebrates the beauty of Spring with a selection of instrumental music  (and recited poetry!) performed by veterans and newcomers with equal inspiration and skill. At the top of the list is Colin Carr's and Thomas Sauer's 2-CD release featuring the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven. Another 2-CD release presents composer-poet David Rosenmann-Taub reciting and performing his own work. The verse is in Spanish, but the music is, of course, in the universal language. Veteran pianist Joshua Pierce is heard in performances of works for piano and orchestra by J.S. Bach, Hindemith and Bloch that are, by turns, elegant, powerful and atmospheric. Yet another 2-CD set features Mary Costanza in a cycle of J.S. Bach's Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello. Her thoughtful performances make these time-honored works seem as engaging as ever. No less engaging is Eric Berlin's captivating recital of contemporary music for trumpet, which includes a work by the recently-departed composer Robert Suderburg. Next, Gwendolyn Mok is heard in a fascinating 2CD set of Brahms piano music, performed on instruments of his time: an 1868 Erard and an 1871 Streicher. By special arrangement, offered this month is a disc from the Repast Baroque Ensemble - indeed a feast of musical delights. Also just released are gorgeous performances of string quartets of Brahms and Debussy by the Ceruti String Quartet, named for the famed Italian violin maker.

BEETHOVEN: CELLO & PIANO

Complete Works for Cello and Piano

Ludwig van Beethoven

COLIN CARR

[MS1486]

EN UN LUGAR DE LA SANGRE

Music and Poetry performed and spoken by the Composer-Author

David Rosenmann-Taub

DAVID ROSENMANN-TAUB

Rosenmann-Taub Collection, Volume II

[MS1352]

BACH, HINDEMITH & BLOCH

J.S.Bach: Keyboard Concerto BWV 1052; Hindemith: The Four Temperaments; Bloch: Concerto Grosso No.1

Johann Sebastian Bach, Ernst Bloch, Paul Hindemith

JOSHUA PIERCE

[MS1415]