If Kissin were a singer, he would definitely be on the opera stage. He produces a sound which is deep, weighty and brilliant, and projects the opening of Kreisleriana as if he were Jove himself venting his rage.

Yevgeny Kissin may look like a marionette, but if he were a singer, he would definitely be on the opera stage. He does not bash, but he produces a sound which is deep, weighty and brilliant. He projects the opening piece of Kreisleriana as if he were Jove himself venting his rage – not quite the passionate eccentricity Schumann had in mind, perhaps, though the contrasting quiet section is delicious. Nor does the second piece begin quite ‘inwardly’ as marked, though it is very considered, and while Kissin makes the first Intermezzo dazzling, he misses Schumann’s simple joy. From the second Intermezzo alone you know it is Kissin playing because of his characteristic – and deliberate – dragging of the left hand behind the right. His constant virtue is commitment to every single note he plays, which makes the final section of this extended piece, if much larger than life, incredibly compelling.

No pianist today (or yesterday) is more lavishly gifted than Kissin purely as a technician. For natural brilliance, perhaps, Martha Argerich compares, and it is her recording of Kreisleriana with which this new release invites comparison. Though Kissin’s recording is rich and spacious, it doesn’t make use of the microphone to produce all those half-lights and impalpable shadows that Argerich achieved. And Kissin hasn’t Argerich’s range of response to the picturesque – none of her secretive mood in the third piece, her impish glee in the fifth, nor above all, her sense of intimacy.

And yet, on its own, very ‘public’ terms, this issue is overwhelming, with a performance of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne which, for once, bears no sign of straining the medium.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Adrian Jack, BBC Music Magazine

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (2015) Itzhak Perlman, London Philharmonic Orchestra When it comes to evoking the colors and moods of Vivaldi's Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, Itzhak Perlman deploys an inimitably rich and varied palette. He directs the London Philharmonic Orchestra from the violin.

Recording Bach's complete Six Sonatas and Partitas has long been a dream of mine," says Augustin Hadelich "They are formidable tests of technical ability and stamina, but also of musical imagination and expressive range - they never cease to provide challenges, hope, and joy." For his interpretation, sensitive to historical practice, Hadelich chose to use a baroque bow. "It was a revelation," he says. "It felt liberating... Passages of three- and four-note chords felt more fluid... The dance movements danced more and the slow movements sang more.

Camille Saint-Saëns, virtuoso pianist, organist and conductor, was also a great admirer of Liszt. His Symphony No.3, which adds both his chosen keyboard instruments to the orchestra, and his Piano Concerto No.4 utilize the codes of the old master, the better to transcend them. As partner of Les Siècles since 2017, harmonia mundi felt it was a must to reissue these fiery readings of two masterpieces in the great French Romantic tradition, for which François-Xavier Roth invited two eminent soloists.

Christina Pluhar, L'Arpeggiata and eight guest singers explore the musical highways and byways of Naples, the most intoxicating and idiosyncratic of Italy's large cities. Alla Napoletana, a double album, expresses the city's mercurial personality in music from the 17th to the 20th centuries, embracing the operatic style of the so-called Neapolitan School, which rose to prominence in the late 1700s, and popular songs and dances. Among them are several examples of the tarantella, the lively, sometimes frenzied dance that epitomizes southern Italy.

David Fray adds a landmark of the solo keyboard repertoire to his Bach discography: the Goldberg Variations. "The Goldberg Variations are a real test," he says. "They are the work of a lifetime, perhaps a work about life itself... a kind of rite of passage, a journey. Every element of human life is in them... When you play the theme again after the 30 variations, in it's original purity, it is as if you're at the end of your life, looking back over everything that has happened in the last hour-and-a-half. Few works give such a sense of eternity".

2019 release. With this collection, Lang Lang goes back to his first love - to the pieces that made him want to become a musician in the first place. Rediscovering the most popular and accessible pieces written for learners and lovers of the piano, this album is a journey; of inspiration, of discovery, fantasy and learning. It is a moment for Lang Lang to illuminate these classic pieces as the masterworks they truly are. It is also a reflection on the music that influenced him most during his early childhood.

MANON LESCAUT

Classical Music

2018 release. Pianist Daniil Trifonov releases Destination Rachmaninov - Departure, the first of two albums comprising Trifonov's cycle of the great Russian composer's piano concertos. The album features concertos nos. 2 and 4, along with Rachmaninov's solo piano transcriptions of three movements from Bach's Violin Partita in E major. The second album will complete the cycle, and both are recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra and it's music director Yannick N�zet-S�guin.

Two CDs. Bach's monumental Goldberg Variations stand alone in the piano literature as a work of unique artistry and brilliance. Lang Lang first began exploring this masterpiece more than 20 years ago and presents this record as the outcome of a long personal and emotional journey. Marking a new stage in Lang Lang's artistic development, it is the project of a lifetime. Alongside a studio recording is a contrasting performance, a single take from a recital in Leipzig's iconic St Thomas Church, where Bach worked and is now buried. The heart of this project is the deluxe edition - a unique offering with simultaneous studio and live recording.

MY TRIBUTE TO YEHUDI MENUHIN

2015 debut solo album from Seong-Jin Cho, winner of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition. Cho took the coveted first prize, among the most prestigious titles in the world of classical music. He was named winner on Tuesday 20 October 2015, following three weeks and four stages of competition in Warsaw. This release contains highlights from the 21-year-old South Korean pianist's recital rounds. This live album marks the start of a long-term collaboration between DG and the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, created to promote the work of outstanding interpreters of Chopin's music to the widest possible audience.

Acclaimed British composer Max Richter made history, with a ground-breaking piece of work: his 2015 work, Sleep, is an eight-hour lullaby. An exploration of music, consciousness and human connectivity, the work is intended to be listened to while sleeping. The landmark work is played on piano, strings, with subtle electronic touches and vocals - but no words. This album, From Sleep, is a one-hour version. Max Richter is a German-born British composer who has been an influential voice in post-minimalist composition and in the meeting of contemporary classical and alternative popular musical styles since the early 2000s. Richter is known for his prolific output, composing and recording his own music; writing for stage, opera, ballet and screen; producing and collaborating on the records of others; and collaborating with performance, installation and media artists.

Canadian Brass playing songs from Canada... Is there anything more Canadian? To be covered by Canadian Brass means a song has to be able to transcend their lyrics and be easily recognised and enjoyable to the ear as instrumental covers. Aptly named Canadiana, the collection features songs by Shawn Mendes, k.d. lang, Joni Mitchell, Drake, Deadmau5 and of course Rush, done in true Canadian Brass style. As the most celebrated and enduring brass quintet in history, known for their skill and precision in performing both classical music and their own arrangements of modern songs, they have sold well over 2-million albums and have held Billboard chart positions in every decade of the group's existence.

VERDI TENOR

DANCES

18 CDs, cap box. For the first time, DG brings together all of it's celebrated early Maazel recordings. Iconic stuff in a handsome, limited-edition box, offered at an attractive price, with gorgeous original cover art. Highlights include Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6, Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 2-6 & 8 "Unfinished," "Romeo & Juliet" by Berlioz, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev, Prokofiev: "Peter and the Wolf" & more.

LISZT

LISZT PROJECT

Chopin: Preludes; Impromptus by Composer: Frdric Chopin (1810 1849) Artist: Arrau, Claudio [Piano] When this reissue of Claudio Arrau's 1973 recording of Chopin's preludes was released by Philips, it was the third reissue of that particular recording released that year. PentaTone, the astoundingly clean Dutch label, had released a disc coupling Arrau's 1973 recording of Chopin's preludes with his 1974 recording of Schumann's Papillons, and Philips, the great Dutch label itself, had released an eight-disc set of all Arrau's postwar Chopin recording for them. Of course, Arrau's preludes are uniformly ineffably beautiful, perhaps a little slow sometimes, but with such effortless technique, such tonal opulence, and such poetic soulfulness that it only serves to grant the listener more time to contemplate the heights and depths. The sound from all three issues presents different aspects of recorded perfection: the PentaTone may be somewhat clearer, but all three incarnate in their zillions of zeros and ones in breathtakingly real representations of a real piano in a real room in real time.

GUITAR ADAGIOS / VARIOUS

Featuring some of the most beautiful melodies of all time, played on one of the most popular instruments of all time by masters including Julian Bream, Andres Segovia and John Williams, this is a no-risk collection. The latest volume in the Billboard best-selling "Essential" series is full of gorgeous, romantic music.

SONGS BY DONALD SWANN

PIANO CONCERTO