** 1/2 PREMIERES. Cello concertos by Danielpour, Rouse, Kirchner. Philadelphia Orchestra, David Zinman, conductor; Yo-Yo Ma, cello. (Sony Classical).

In the good old days, composers reduced the size of an orchestra when they wrote concertos, providing a more congenial environment for the solo instrument. That this is no longer the case is unfortunate, considering the concertos on this disc by Richard Danielpour and Christopher Rouse, both of whom go at it full guns orchestrally and hardly seem aware of the special qualities of the concerto, or the cello. Their use of Bambi vs. Godzilla contrasts shows a lack of subtlety--the first movement of Rouse’s concerto, marked “Combattimento,” being of a particularly tiresome brutality.

That said, there is much to admire here. Kirchner’s Music for Cello and Orchestra is consistently rewarding--a nicely finished, busy yet integrated work in which cello, orchestra and musical styles, from Schoenbergian complexity to Straussian sumptuousness, mix elegantly.

The second of the two movements of Rouse’s piece contains the most beautiful music on the disc. A long, spare study in “suspended animation” (the composer’s words), it presents the solo cello as foreground soliloquizer, while the orchestra ruminates with rich tonal cadences, quietly chattering percussion and a Monteverdi quote in the background.

Danielpour’s half-hour programmatic work goes on too long, but is unfailingly fluent and theatrical. Zinman leads the muscular and polished Philadelphians capably, and Ma plays like Ma--with commanding virtuosity and commitment.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good), four stars (excellent).