Brahms: Nänie; Gesang der Parzen; Alto Rhapsody; Schicksalslied

With the exceptions of the German ­requiem and the Alto Rhapsody, Brahms's choral works are largely ­neglected, but there are signs that conductors are ­starting to take an interest in them again. John Eliot ­Gardiner paired several of them with the symphonies in his recent period-­instrument cycle, while the newly ­appointed conductor of the ­ Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Robin ­Ticciati, makes his recording debut with a disc devoted to them. Whether or not these pieces are best appreciated en masse like this is another matter. ­Ticciati's ­performances are wonderfully alive and dramatically sensitive, but there is something slightly samey about Brahms's dense choral writing in the Schiller-based Nänie, and that of Gesang der Parzen, with words by Goethe, and the setting of Hölderlin's Schicksalslied. The far better known Alto Rhapsody, at least, has the variety of a solo voice – mezzo Alice Coote in this beautifully sculpted performance – while the ­Bamberg orchestra and the Bavarian ­Radio Choir have this music in their bones.