By the book

Rosalyn Tureck's vintage BBC recording of the first part of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier leaves Rob Cowan longing to hear the next volume

Three years ago, a handful of critics, including me, waxed enthusiastic about Rosalyn Tureck's 1950s recording of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, then newly reissued. Such reverence and spiritual engagement was as rare then as it is now, but little did we know at the time that the BBC had a 1970s studio re-make up its sleeve that is altogether freer, grander, livelier and more subtly shaded than its feted DG predecessor. Reverence is less of the essence here than spontaneous expression, even as early as the First Prelude, with its resonating chimes, or the 11th, which dances into earshot on the lightest of steps. Some pieces are significantly swifter than before, others notably broader, including the ethereal G sharp minor Fugue (No 18), where Tureck's control of line and dynamic is breathtaking. Throughout this First Book of the "48" she achieves a near-perfect balance between structure and personal expression. I'm told on good authority that Book Two should be with us early next year.

Mozart is virtually as well served on a remarkable five-month-old recording of the C minor Piano Concerto K491 where Mitsuko Uchida is partnered by the Berlin Symphony under the nonagenarian conductor Kurt Sanderling, part of a last loving encounter between the orchestra and their long-time maestro. The opening tutti is mellow and brooding, Uchida's first entry fastidiously moulded. And so it proceeds, soulmates in obvious accord, Uchida offering gentle embellishments towards the end of the slow movement and Sanderling granting her the ideal orchestral backdrop. The remainder of the concert is scarcely less remarkable, especially Schumann's Symphony No 4, which, although leisurely and texturally light, testifies to Sanderling's unflinching concentration.

Both of these 2002 recordings (plus a third, Brahms's Haydn Variations) arrive as part of a bargain-price five-disc set on Harmonia Mundi that chronicles Sanderling's 16 years at the orchestra's helm. Also included are relays of Shostakovich Five (quite magnificent and noticeably different to Sanderling's better-known Berlin Classics recording) and Wagner's Tristan Prelude and Liebestod, and performances by the violinists Igor Oistrakh (Shostakovich's First Violin Concerto) and his father David. In addition to some eloquent solo work (Stravinsky and both Prokofiev concertos plus Beethoven's first Romance), David serves as an energetic conductor of Schubert's Second and Shostakovich's 10th symphonies. And yet there can be little doubt that Sanderling's is the stronger rostrum presence. Earlier in his career he had conducted the Leningrad Philharmonic alongside Yevgeny Mravinsky, a diehard disciplinarian whose command of dynamics at speed was, and probably still is, unrivalled.

Mravinsky's broadcast recordings have come and gone, but one in particular -–it's just been re-released at mid-price by Warners – helps explain the conductor's awesome reputation. The all-Russian programme includes an account of Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini where the quiet string playing is frighteningly intense and the brass tear through textures like baying beasts of prey. But the real highlight is an 11-movement selection from Glazunov's sweet-centred ballet Raymonda, piquant, affectionate and with an epic sweep to the string lines that will draw you to your feet. Put on the Act 3 Entr'Acte (track 12), and I doubt that you'll require any further convincing.

Bach: 'The Well-Tempered Clavier', Book One – Rosalyn Tureck (BBC Legends BBCL 4109-2, two discs)

Kurt Sanderling and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra (Harmonia Mundi HMX 2905255.59, five discs)

Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Glazunov, Mussorgsky – Leningrad PO/ Yevgeny Mravinsky (Warners Elatus 0927-46728-2)