Challenging works deftly handled by the marmens

Piano Trios; Piano Quintet, Op. 57* *Julia Fischer (violin),*Nils Mönkemeyer (viola); Oliver Schnyder Trio Prospero PROSP0035 76:52 mins Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet explores a bewildering variety of

Ravel: Ma mère l’Oye; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy (piano) Harmonia Mundi HMM902752 49:20 mins Those of us lucky, as I was at both their Ragged Music Festival and

Sonatas Nos 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6; Sonata violino solo representativa in A major Rachel Podger (violin); Brecon Baroque Channel Classics CCS48525 70:08 mins No Arts Council funding was available to rescue

Arias by Caldara, Handel, Monteverdi, Steffani and Vivaldi Hugh Cutting, Carlo Vistoli (countertenor); Les Arts Florissants/William Christie Harmonia Mundi HAF8905347 68:31 mins Les Arts Florissants’s

Where would movies be without music? Sure, images, story and dialogue are all important. But cinematic soundtracks provide that human connection – the key to character motivation and emotional truth.

As Robert Hausmann played Dvořák’s Cello Concerto through, Johannes Brahms turned round to the composer and said, ‘If I had known that it was possible to write a cello concerto like this, I would have