Sleep At Your Own Speed

This is a real curiosity. There have been many piano arrangements of Beethoven Symphonies, most notably those by the master of the piano reduction, Franz Liszt. But while Liszt's arrangement of the 'Choral Symphony' is for piano alone, here we have a version of the Ninth executed by the teenage Richard Wagner with the orchestra reduced to solo piano but the vocal forces left intact.
Pianist Noriko Ogawa makes the most of youthful Wagner's fanciful recreation in the first three movements. She is then joined by an effective and well-balanced team of soloists who are, in turn, backed by Masaaki Suzuki and his wonderful Bach Collegium Japan Chorus. The Collegium is renowned for their Bach Cantata recordings, and here they light the fires of a one-of-a-kind "Ode to Joy."