The great "Eroica" variations are the centerpiece of this program, which ends with two amusingly anglophile tributes, and contains some surprisingly under-appreciated Beethoven. This is an indispensable pendant to Angela Hewitt's ongoing survey of his piano sonatas.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski is a familiar name, but the same can hardly be said of Jerzy Gablenz. On Vol.83 of Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto series, Jonathan Plowright makes the strongest case possible for Gablenz's piano concerto: a substantial work rich in melodic invention and thunderous pianism.

Bach wrote three sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord. Scholars estimate they were composed in the early 1740s, possibly for Carl Fredrich Abel, son of Bach's colleague Christian Ferdinand Abel. They are paired here with Scarlatti's Gamba Sonata and a Violin Sonata by Handel. These works are performed by violinist Robin Michael, cellist Steven Isserlis and harpsichordist Richard Egarr in a program of haunting tranquility.

Classical Music

Violin Sonatas K301, 304, 379 & 481 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) - Alina Ibragimova (violin), C�dric Tiberghien (piano) Mozart's violin sonatas span his entire career-the early ones are billed as piano sonatas with optional violin accompaniment-and they develop over the years into the first triumphs of the modern genre. Alina Ibragimova and C�dric Tiberghien have been enthralling audiences worldwide with these works, and now the first instalment is available as a highly desirable 2-for-1 album.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Rachmaninov fans won't want to miss this was Gramophone's verdict on Steven Osborne's recording of the �tudes-tableaux, and this thrilling new release is an equally essential acquisition. Osborne proves a predictably fine exponent of the Faustian Piano Sonata No.1 and is no less compelling in the selection of shorter works which completes the album.

Classical Music

Classical Music

This important release once again demonstrates Steven Isserlis's deep commitment to the music of John Tavener. The realization of the album is movingly detailed in a booklet note which provides an eloquent counterpoint and commentary to the performances.

Scriabin clearly responded to the passionate and emotionally charged nature of the mazurka, qualities shared by all twenty-three of the exquisite miniatures recorded here by Andrey Gugnin.

Classical Music

The stylistic pluralism which informs so much contemporary choral writing pays rich dividends in the work of Jaakko M�ntyj�rvi. This thrilling program from Trinity College Choir Cambridge and Stephen Layton is filled with exciting, accessible, contemporary music.

Alban Gerhardt writes admiringly of Rostropovich and the legacy of marvelous works he inspired. On this recording, he performs two of them alongside the WDR Sinfonieorchester led by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. On the evidence of these extraordinary accounts, he need fear no comparisons with his great Russian forebear.