HOVHANESS: Symphony No. 22 / Cello Concerto

Making a welcome reappearance on CD, Symphony No. 22 "City of Light" contains some of Hovhaness' most extended thoughts, particularly in its extremely grand finale. The combination of elements is typical: sumptuous chorales, gentle dance music with an oriental flavor (particularly in the tiny Allegretto grazioso third movement), and imposing modal counterpoint. This performance originally appeared on Delos with a different coupling, and it's absolutely first rate in all respects. The coupling, the only available recording of the early (1936) Cello Concerto, is new to CD and features the redoubtable Janos Starker as soloist. It's not a great work, but it is an extremely pleasant, interesting, even important one. All of the Hovhaness fingerprints that we observe in the symphony are also present in this piece. Two lengthy slow movements frame a very short central Allegro, and the 25-year-old composer's writing for the cello doesn't sound all that grateful to play--although the soloist