This recording pairs two of Béla Bartók’s most challenging and ingenious works. In the String Quartet No. 3 (which Assistant Principal Viola Stanley Konopka arranged for string orchestra) and Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, Bartók creates a new musical path forward by masterly combining influences from folk tunes and elements of the avant-garde to create works of lasting power.

In Mozart’s day, the vocal typologies that we know today were yet to be established. Women were sopranos, castrati were castrati, and Mozart wrote for personalities and vocal colours rather than for abstract voice types.

Long-time accomplices, the Messiaen and Xenakis trios join forces to perform an intimate and moving version of Dmitri Shostakovich's last symphony, and mirror the world premiere recording of Thierry Escaich's Vitrail, a spectacular fresco specially composed for the occasion.

There is spirit and fire in the music of The Zawose Queens. There's the vibrations of the ancestors, coming through on traditional instruments — soaring chizeze fiddle, buzzing illimba thumb piano, ngoma drums that chatter and thunder — and voices that go deep, high and out there. There's the connection to nature, to ceremony and ritual, in their dance-inspired fusion, their blend of the organic, harmonic and modern-day electronic. There are lyrics that tell, in their native kigogo, of the passion for music, the wonders of life. Of pride in environment, in tradition. In their East African roots.

Through great classics and lesser-known but equally anticipated titles, five artists pay tribute to Austin-Texas singer/guitarist Calvin Russell. A rocking live performance, rootsy musicians, a delighted audience, it is with passion that this tribute retraces the legacy left by this great folk/rock/blues artist. A tribute to Mr. Calvin Russell!

Where do piano music and the noblest of all diamonds meet? Nobility, technical finesse, and the beauty of reflection can only explain a part of our fascination for diamonds – there remains a mystery, an inexplicable depth. It's the same with the musical works that pianist Johannes Obermeier has brought together in his GENUIN album "Brilliants". Schumann's radiant "Carnaval", Ravel's sparkling "Valses nobles et sentimentales", Chopin's and Godowsky's dazzling etudes, and Obermeier's own variations on a Schumann motif are mirrors and reflections of each other.

Our hope is that, through these adaptations, Bach will be heard in a new, yet familiar way. A polymorphous Bach that we have taken great pleasure in imagining - and the treasure chest we have opened is not about to close again…

The renowned horn player Martin Owen is joined by the violinist Francesca Dego and pianist Alessandro Taverna in this varied and compelling programme. Mozart's Horn Quintet, KV 407 is one of the earliest examples of the horn in chamber music - although this partnership was embraced by Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and Schumann among many others.

The pianist Pierre Solot here rediscovers the works of Ernesto Lecuona: their roots lie in many cultures and blend romantic virtuosity, Cuban dances, passionate avowals, evocations of distant lands, and the last decadent traces of 19th-century Vienna.

Genius + Soul = Jazz is a 1961 album by Ray Charles featuring big band arrangements by Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns. Charles is accompanied by two groups drawn from members of The Count Basie Band and from the ranks of top New York session players. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011.

When Joe Pass recorded and released this first of his Virtuoso series of albums, he was 44 years old, and ready to reclaim his crown as king of jazz guitar after years of heroin abuse. As a solo artist playing only acoustic guitar in an amplified fusion era, the odds were stacked against him, but Pass boldly issued this, his most creative and improvisation-based work, to mass critical acclaim and widespread general public sales.

A twenty-piece large ensemble, jazz-meets-classical masterwork composed, arranged and conducted by jazz legend Rufus Reid. This five-movement suite honors five iconic sculptures by Elizabeth Catlett, a revered multi-media artist, human rights activist, and African-American heroine of the highest order, whose work is featured in museums and public places around the country.

Ned Rorem is one of the most widely-recorded living American composers, who Time Magazine called 'the world's best composer of art songs', with over 500 songs to his name. The Prince Consort is fast emerging as a fresh, exciting and versatile ensemble. Their performances are characterised by wide-ranging programmes and polished presentation, which showcase different combinations of voice and piano, from solos to small groups in piano-accompanied song. If you want a single-disc introduction to this very fine and important composer of songs you can't do better than this disc by this fine ensemble.

After his symphonic poem Má vlast, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, is arguably his most popular work. This recording, issued by Harmonia Mundi, is taken from a live concert performance at The Barbican in May 2011, and leaves one in no doubt as to why Jirí Belohlávek has made the Czech repertoire such a splendid calling card during his tenure as Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Guy Braunstein, who was concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for nearly fifteen years, pursues an international career as soloist, conductor and composer. Inspired by a period of Beatlemania at home with his family, Braunstein wove a dozen songs from the Beatles’ celebrated Abbey Road album into a concerto for violin and orchestra entitled Abbey Road Concerto.