Macmillan: String Quartets Nos.1-3: Royal String Quartet - The string quartet has been an important medium for Sir James MacMillan since his formative years. From the autobiographical to the abstract, each of his three numbered works, performed by the Royal String Quartet, is a major addition to the repertoire.

Simon Callaghan - Nicode: Ein Liebesleben & Other Piano Works (CD) - Felix Draeseke's description of Jean Louis Nicode (1853-1919) as 'more a moderate progressive than a cacophonist' - in contrast to his younger contemporary Richard Strauss - may have been intended as a compliment, but doesn't begin to do justice to this profoundly enjoyable music, it's several influences (most notably Schumann) never far away.

Performers: Laurence Perkins (bassoon), Sarah Watts (clarinet), Martin Roscoe (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sian Edwards (conductor) - The Duet-Concertino is one of those lyrical, bittersweet scores from Strauss's Indian summer. Laurence Perkins argues that behind the notes lies a hitherto little-known programme-whence the album's title-and that this misunderstood work has good claims to be regarded as Strauss's final tone poem.

The magnificent Christopher Purves performs a recital of Handel's bass arias. This unique collection demonstrates the range and brilliance of Handel's writing for this voice, featuring a selection from Italian and English operas, English classical drama, Biblical oratorios, literary odes and a masque. Handel's endlessly imaginative gift for characterization is fully explored here, with Purves commanding an extraordinary emotional and technical range from the buffo blustering of Polyphemus in Acis and Gatalea to the loving musings of Abinoam in 'Tears, such as tender fathers shed' from the oratorio Deborah. 'With his acting chops and weighty bass-baritone, Purves in full cry is a splendid and fearful spectacle' (The Times)

This sensational recital-featuring some of the greatest keyboard music to emerge from these islands-is the perfect vehicle for Mahan Esfahani's abundant talents. His accompanying booklet notes are an added bonus, guaranteed to inform, illuminate and provoke by turns. Performed for the most part on a double-manual harpsichord made by Robert Goble & Son, Oxford (1990), kindly loaned by Bob Robertson and based on an instrument made by Carl Conrad Fleischer, Hamburg (1710); tracks 12, 15, 18 & 19 performed on virginals made by Huw Saunders, London (1989), kindly loaned by Huw Saunders and a copy of an instrument made by Thomas White, Old Jewry, London (1642).

The penultimate release in Angela Hewitt's cycle of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas features the Piano Sonata in F minor Op.2 No.1. The listener's understanding is again enhanced by Angela's illuminating booklet notes, in which she sets out her approach to performing these most canonic of works in the entire piano literature.

Lily & The Rose - Binchois Consort - This Hyperion release is part of an ongoing project to bring together the plainchants and choral works of early English composers, of whom John Dunstaple is the best known, and images of the alabaster sculptures that adorned English cathedrals and churches, adding substantially to the solemnity and mystery of Catholic worship. This 2018 release by Andrew Kirkman and the Binchois Consort offers a cappella pieces that are both mellifluous in their polyphony and strikingly austere in their harmonies, as well as photographs of many alabaster figures.

Though founded only in 2003, the Yale Schola Cantorum harks back to the small university student choirs that, in the early and middle 20th century, did much to introduce the choral music of earlier eras to the American public. Under the auspices of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, the Schola Cantorum has performed in concerts and church services internationally. Their repertory focuses on historically informed performances of music of the Renaissance and Baroque, and they have collaborated with historical instrument groups from the Yale and Juilliard Schools of Music. They have also, however, performed later music up to that of the present day. The Yale Schola Cantorum was founded in 2003 by it's first conductor, Simon Carrington, who remained in his post until 2009. The group has attracted internationally known music directors; Masaaki Suzuki, director of the renowned Japan Bach Collegium, held the post from 2009 to 2013, and that year he was succeeded by David Hill, chief conductor of the BBC Singers among other top British groups. The Schola Cantorum has also hosted domestic and international guest conductors from the top of the A-list: Dale Warland, James O'Donnell, Helmuth Rilling, Paul Hillier, Stephen Layton, Nicholas McGegan, and Krzysztof Penderecki, among others. The choir maintains a regular concert schedule in New Haven and New York City, and has toured in Britain, China, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, and Turkey. The Schola Cantorum immediately attracted the attention of recording companies, releasing a live performance of Heinrich Biber's 1693 Vesperae longiores ac breviores with the Yale Collegium Musicum, and then featuring the little-known Missa Resurrectionis of Antonio Bertali (1605-1669) on the Rezound label in 2007. These albums received wide critical acclaim. The choir has also recorded for Naxos, Delos, and, in the late 2010s, Hyperion, issuing a performance of Palestrina's Missa Confitebor tibi Dominum on that label in 2018. The Schola Cantorum is one of the most selective choirs in the international academic world. Membership, by audition, is open to Yale students from any department of the university, although many of it's singers are music students. - James Manheim

Beethoven: Moonlight Sonata - Pavel Kolesnikov - The 'abundance of intelligence' in Pavel Kolesnikov's pianism which so impressed Gramophone pays particular dividends in Beethoven. This recital, which includes the evergreen 'Moonlight' sonata, makes the music sound sound newly minted in Kolesnikov's hands. Label: HYPERION

Vaughan Williams / MacMillan / Tavener: Choral Works - Westminster Abbey Choir / Vaughan Williams Mass in G minor / Vaughan / Williams O Taste and See / MacMillan What man is he that feareth the Lord? / MacMillan Mass of St Edward the Confessor

Debussy may have stipulated 'mains formidables' as the requirement for pianists tackling his Etudes, but they need a lot more besides. It's clear from these magisterial performances that Steven Osborne's 'formidable hands' are always at the service of a profound musical intelligence.

'Mahan Esfahani couldn't make a routine recital of Bach's keyboard music if you paid him' was BBC Record Review's verdict on a previous release: prospective listeners to this wonderful new set should rest assured that any hint of the routine remains as distant a threat as ever.

Angela Hewitt's voyage of discovery through Mozart's piano sonatas is proving a joy, the works sounding newly minted in vital, alert accounts which respect their scale and sensibility while revealing influences of Mozart's orchestral and concerto writing of the period.

The rich profusion of musical idioms employed by Pancho Vladigerov, filtered through the prism of his dazzlingly virtuoso piano writing, makes for some exciting listening. Nadejda Vlaeva responds thrillingly to the extreme pianistic challenges.

This final release in the Complete Songs of Brahms series, featuring soprano Sophie Rennert, epitomizes all the familiar virtues that have distinguished the project: Perfectly judged performances, intelligently planned recitals, informative booklet notes and brilliant accompaniments from Graham Johnson, a true master of the art.