Slovak-born composer and conductor Peter Breiner has received considerable international acclaim for his adaptations, and his Tchaikovsky arrangements are particularly impressive examples of his art. He has already arranged The Seasons (8553510) and Songs (8555332) but here he turns to opera. With deftness and subtlety he has taken motifs from Tchaikovsky’s first opera Voyevoda to craft six richly scored movements, two of which have rôles for solo strings. The Queen of Spades was composed in 1890 and Breiner’s selections fully explore the music’s romance and drama in their new form. Peter Breiner has won a particular niche for his ingenious arrangements, and he has arranged and recorded a number of Tchaikovsky discs before. Here he tackles opera in the same spirit of rich communicative warmth bringing to an early opera (Voyevoda) and the later The Queen of Spades the qualities of orchestral eloquence that he has displayed elsewhere. These excerpted pieces, so cleverly transformed from their vocal origins to orchestral form, communicate the vitality and lyricism inherent in the music.