How noble and compassionate of Christoph Eschenbach to dedicate his first Philadelphia album for Ondine to the memory of all those affected, directly or indirectly, by the evils of fascism. Ondine’s beautifully presented CD features three powerful works composed in 1943-44, starting with Martinu’s humbling elegy to the victims of the reprisal slaughter that the Nazis visited on the village of Lidice. Eschenbach’s performance releases both the power and the tortured inwardness of this 12-minute masterpiece, music that near its close summons a last defiant gesture and quotes the opening measures of Beethoven’s Fifth.

Martinu in turn gives way to music composed by one of the most gifted inmates of the Terezín (Theresienstadt) internment camp, that tragic ‘showcase’ haven of false security where for a while Jews were permitted to act ‘as normal’ (more or less). Musicians, writers, scientists, all were ultimately destined for certain death. Gideon Klein’s busy Partita for Strings (an adaptation by Vojtech Saudek of a string trio) was composed only weeks before he was transferred to Auschwitz, where he died at the age of 25. Yet listen to this highly assured music and you get the uncanny sense of ‘life as normal’; yes, there are dark moments (especially in the theme-and-variations slow movement) but no more than, say, Bartók, Martinu or Hindemith might have penned in rather more sympathetic circumstances. Again, Eschenbach cues a light-textured, intense performance and, although the Philadelphia strings are less sumptuous than they once were (principally under Ormandy), you can tell you’re listening to a quality band.

By contrast, the rest of Eschenbach’s programme is a work that, rather than signal doom and destruction, reflects what was in effect a temporary ‘return to life’ for the ailing Béla Bartók, his Concerto for Orchestra. Coincidentally Sony/BMG has just reissued Eugene Ormandy’s marginally swifter CBS production with the same orchestra, a very exciting rendition whose sound now rather shows its age. Eschenbach’s Concerto is leaner and more transparent than Ormandy’s: the quiet opening really shimmers, climaxes are nicely tiered (the cliff-hanger build-up from 7’56” into the first movement, for example) and there’s some effective pointing of instrumental detail. The finale ends with a sudden rush of adrenalin and an audience response to match.

Eschenbach’s rival features the Saito Kinen Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa (a more convincing version than the conductor’s early Chicago recording) and I have to say that the playing is mostly fabulous. Sample the pert, fruity-sounding woodwinds in the ‘Giuoco delle coppie’, especially at 1’10” where glissando strings slither beneath them. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more seductive account of the Intermezzo’s first theme, the solo work so distinctive, the phrasing consistently sensitive.

The finale’s presto really dances (Eschenbach is fiercer, less smiling), the timps absolutely on the ball rhythmically. You might also try the finale’s gaily dancing second main episode or the lyrical string theme at 3’20” into the first movement, tonally sweet but quiet enough to allow the woodwinds above it to converse audibly (especially a few bars later). Time and again Ozawa shows a perceptive understanding of the humour inherent in Bartók’s writing, and its extreme beauty, too.

Ozawa’s coupling is an immaculately voiced account of Bartók’s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (again his second recording; the first was with the BPO). The fugue is kept rock-steady for most of its duration and the faster movements are incisive without sounding rushed. The recording is rich and detailed (excellent bass drum in ‘SPC’) and, while I wouldn’t trade Ozawa for Reiner, Fricsay (DG, 5/96), or Mravinsky (Praga), the sheer refinement and tonal beauty of his performance – indeed, of both performances – has an appeal all its own. As to rival Concertos for Orchestra, Eschenbach’s unique programming context makes him a special case (he offers a fine version if not quite the best) but Fischer and Reiner still qualify for top billing.