FIRE & ICE, Sarah Chang's eleventh recital album, is a throwback of sorts: an old-fashioned star turn packed with virtuosic showpieces that would test the mettle of any violinist. But the precociously talented Chang is not just any violinist and she certainly proves it here. As usual, she rises to the occasion and offers a dazzling, bravura performance of a crowd-pleasing program, guaranteed to make even the most jaded listeners sit up and take notice.

Guiomar Novaes was one of the greatest Brazilian pianists but I didn't know that when I bought this two-disc set. What originally attracted me to this collection was the conductor, not the soloist, leading the three Piano Concertos, Otto Klemperer. Indeed, the Beethoven 4th, Chopin 2nd and Schumann are performed well with the Vienna Symphony, in good sound from the 1950s, but it is the various solo pieces that are the true highlight of this set, and showcase the real magic of Novaes' playing.

Part of the ongoing PLAYLIST series of budget-priced single artist anthologies in minimal eco-friendly packaging, PLAYLIST: THE VERY BEST OF MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER is a solid overview of the country-folk singer-songwriter's career. All of Carpenter's best known songs are here in these 14 tracks, from the Cajun stomp of "Down at the Twist and Shout" to the jangly pop-rockers "I Take My Chances" and "He Thinks He'll Keep Her." The package also includes a CD-ROM data track that contains complete liner notes and photos.

With nine Top 20 albums and several classical Brit Awards under his belt, tenor Russell Watson has been an instrumental figure in the success of the classical crossover genre, with his collaborations with Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder and Steps' Faye Tozer – and operatic renditions of contemporary pop songs – undoubtedly paving the way for the likes of G4, Katherine Jenkins, and Il Divo. The Platinum Collection, released to coincide with his seventh studio album, La Voce, is his second best-of following 2006's The Voice, and once again shows why the Salford-born singer is described as the "People's Tenor".

Kathy Mattea is one of the most respected female country stars of her era, a commercially successful hitmaker who was able to bring elements of folk, bluegrass, gospel, and singer/songwriter intimacy to her music. She offers the same commitment to country pop as she does to mining songs, honky tonk, and Celtic ballads as displayed buy her stellar Willow in the Wind from 1989. As her repertoire expanded in the '90s, so did her grasp on the country charts. Single after single and album after album landed inside the Top 20. Her 1993 album Walking Away a Winner became her most successful of the decade.

In the course of their career, the Gryphon Trio has firmly established itself as one of the world's preeminent piano trios.The Los Angeles Times wrote This is a piano trio that plays with strength and unanimity… big, bold, almost orchestral performances. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, the trio offers one of their career's best recordings, the mesmerizing album The End of Flowers, which features works by the great composers Rebecca Clarke and Maurice Ravel, written at a time when World War I was on everyone's mind.

It's not easy in this eclectic age to juxtapose musical items that have never been in proximity before, but Canada's Gryphon Trio and soprano Patricia O'Callaghan manage to do so on this recording, which proclaims itself unlike any previous chamber music album. Even better than that, it's pretty much unlike any previous crossover album, although it has ancestors in the world of classical cabaret music where O'Callaghan has spent some of her time.

Listeners familiar with Scottish composer James MacMillan through such acclaimed works as The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (1990) or the Seven Last Words from the Cross (1993) may suspect that his music is usually somber and more than a little dour; indeed, his religious and politically themed pieces are quite earnest, and have given some the feeling that it might do MacMillan good to lighten up.

HK Gruber (b.1943) is one of the more refreshing of contemporary composers. His music is widely performed today, but since it takes time to become a household name many people have yet to make his acquaintance. Some background material is thus in order. This is how he presents himself on the Internet: 'Composer, conductor, chansionnier and double bass player HK Gruber (Vienna, 1943), is one of the most well-known and well-loved figures on the contemporary music scene, and yet he remains something of an enigma.

Telemann is said to have transformed traditional trio sonatas as composed and performed in Germany from esoteric music for virtuoso players into a considerably more popular form. I am not sure what "popular" means, but what we have here is music of the highest order, performed by a group of accomplished musicians. Admittedly, the sound of period instruments is not always to everyone's taste (including, at times, mine), but here they work well with the material and the result is on the musical mark.

Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst is one of the world's top players, with a creamy, utterly consistent tone that is the envy of many a young player. It may be a surprise to see him take up Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, once again; he recorded it in the early 2000s with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, along with its usual partner on disc, the Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581. But there are several new things this time around.

With a celebrated career encompassing five decades, Pinchas Zukerman reigns as one of today's most sought after and versatile musicians - violin and viola soloist, conductor, and chamber musician. He is renowned as a virtuoso, admired for the expressive lyricism of his playing, singular beauty of tone, and impeccable musicianship, which can be heard throughout his discography of over 100 albums.

Within the first few seconds of the first track–the Sonata No. 1 in G major–most listeners will find themselves in surprisingly familiar territory–surprising because this little-known 18th-century composer seems to have written a popular tune long attributed to Pergolesi, a misattribution given additional false credibility by its use in Stravinsky's Pulcinella. In fact Stravinsky used selections from several of Domenico Gallo's trio sonatas in his famous ballet music, thinking them to be works of Pergolesi because they were published under his name in late-19th century English editions.

Daniil Trifonov's 2013 recital at Carnegie Hall is a clear demonstration of what this pianist does well, in works well-suited to his talents. Trifonov has a reputation for his dazzling technique, which he has shown to best advantage in performances of Romantic repertoire, and his live readings of Alexander Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor, "Sonata-Fantasy," Franz Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor, and Frédèric Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28, offer a well-rounded impression of his extraordinary abilities.

The spunky kid sister to Kris Allen and Adam Lambert on season eight of American Idol, Allison Iraheta was the bridge between Allen’s sweet, sincere balladeering and Lambert’s arch camp, stretching over Danny Gokey’s lukewarm water. She still had some of Adam’s spice but could be packaged like Kris, not unlike her clear forebear Kelly Clarkson, who proved that sass could be bottled and sold.