Portraits

This is the musical equivalent of a box of assorted high-end chocolates: loads of treats in bite-size pieces, with something for everybody. Barber’s Adagio, heard here in its original string-quartet version, is the one everyone will be reaching for and the Modigliani don’t disappoint, giving us playing of poise and rapt intensity. Miniatures by composers from Mozart to Leroy Anderson—whose “Plink, Plank, Plunk!” is suitably madcap—via Mendelssohn, Korngold, and many others show off playing of charm, humour, and great panache.