Abdel Rahman El Bacha: Arabesques

Lebanese-born, Paris-based Abdel Rahman El Bacha is best known for his fine recordings of everything from Mozart and Beethoven to 20th-century masters such as Ravel and Prokofiev. Released in the year of his 60th birthday, this album might be considered a present to himself: an intriguing collection in which he plays his own music. Arabesques is a sequence of miniatures, the majority under two minutes each, but they say a lot in a short time span. The early works have charm and some catchy melodies, and, as time passes, he acquires a level of sophistication that’s most engaging.