This recording would be ideal for one with the intent of studying the scores, as it is a rather exact and unbiased read, quite true to Schubert's intended style. The pharsing, choice of tempi and degree of precision are examplary for a work of the era.

The talented organist and harpsichordist Maud Gratton is an artist constantly seeking perfection. A graduate of the Paris Conservatoire, she trained with such great masters as Pierre Hantaï (harpsichord) and Louis Robilliard (organ), as well as with Olivier Baumont, Blandine Rannou, Kenneth Weiss, Michel Bouvard, Olivier Latry, and Olivier Trachier.

S'il est un exemple en France d'éditeur indépendant dynamique, c'est bien celui du label lorrain K.617. Depuis le début des années 90, celui-ci, sous la houlette d'Alain Pacquier, explore, défriche des terres musicales jusque-là inconnues de nos contemporains. Il faut dire que le répertoire exhumé est celui d'Amérique latine ; autrement dit, K.617 a fait ici œuvre de pionnier en révélant aux discophiles des merveilles sonores insoupçonnées. Comme en témoignent la réédition de La Purpura de la Rosa et des musiques extraites de la Mission San Francisco Xavier : des pièces issues du riche patrimoine baroque d'Amérique latine, où tout virevolte, où les rythmes s'entrechoquent, où les voix émeuvent par leur prégnance et la richesse de la palette expressive. Des (re)découvertes qui ne peuvent laisser insensible.

Wonderful representative collection of music from England's Renaissance.

Heinrich Schiff gives a fine interpretation of both concertos and has suberb orchestral balance with two of the finest European orchestras – the Amsterdam Concergebouw under Colin Davis and the Dresden Statkapelle under Neville Marinner. Both orchestras have gorgeous sound and both conductors are extremely supportive at every turn.

This collection of vocal and orchestral works by Benjamin Britten span his career, from Two Portraits for string orchestra, written when he was 16, to the solo cantata, Phaedra, one of his last completed works. The music varies in style but even the earliest pieces sound mature and demonstrate the composer's early mastery of his craft. Phaedra, from 1975, sets a selection of monologues from Racine's play that outline the dilemma of the queen who falls in love with her husband's son from an earlier marriage.

For this third instalment in his survey of orchestral works by Ruth Gipps, Rumon Gamba, conducting the BBC Philharmonic, is joined by the horn soloist Martin Owen. The album opens with Gipps's Coronation Procession. The piece depicts the journey of the Crown(s), perhaps as observed from the Royal Coach, culminating in the entry to Westminster Abbey. Written in January 1953, the piece was not used at the coronation, and instead first performed in September 1954 in Melbourne, Australia. Ambarvalia is a memorial tribute of 1988 by Gipps to the composer and colleague Adrian Cruft, who had died in February 1987. Gipps wrote the Horn Concerto in 1968 for her son, Lance Baker. The piece was later championed by Frank Lloyd, who gave a BBC broadcast in 1982.

Master of the Swedish royal chapel and a leading composer in Sweden in the first half of the 18th century, Johan Helmich Roman studied in England with Pepusch, compiler of the music of The Beggar’s Opera. His music shows distinct traces of his experience in England, where he also met composers such as Handel and Geminiani. He was a prolific composer in various genres. The best-known composition by Roman is his Drottingholm Music for the royal wedding of the Crown Prince of Sweden and his Prussian bride in 1744.

Two years after releasing her CD dedicated to Book I of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Céline Frisch now presents the second volume of this musical landmark. Bach compiled Book II in 1744, twenty-two years after Book I. It took until 1801 for both volumes to be printed: from then until the present day they have inspired countless composers. After a series of recordings with the Ensemble Zimmermann, an ensemble she cofounded with Pablo Valetti, Céline Frisch returns to her very favourite music, the harpsichord recital. Through these preludes and fugues, she reminds us that far from being technical exercises, the Well- Tempered Clavier is a work of pure pleasure and constant renewed discovery.

While Herreweghe’s choir employs women for the treble parts, the ensemble is so expertly trained that their sound comes very close to the characteristic English choir of men and boys. Only a small number of instruments and voices is used, and this, in conjunction with a sensitive approach to style, produces performances of superior beauty and taste. Extensive care has been lavished on both clarity and precision of English diction, and outstanding choral intonation makes the clash of Purcell’s cross-relations and his dissonant chromaticism singularly effective. The singing by the soloists is consistently beautiful.

Mit seinen Vier und zwanzig theils ernsthaften, theils scherzenden Oden reagierte Telemann 1741 auf die ein Jahr zuvor erschienene Sammlung des Bach-Schülers Lorenz Christoph Mizler, die einige Satzfehler aufwiesen und auch sonst nicht alle Kriterien, an denen man Odenvertonungen messen sollte, erfüllen konnten. Wie schwierig es ist, einfach, aber gehaltvoll zu komponieren, musste allerdings auch Telemann erfahren, der in seiner Vorrede bekennt, dass er die Arbeit nur „mit sehr viel Schweisse“ zuwege gebracht habe. Erhöht wurde die Schwierigkeit durch die Aufgabe, daß die Melodie zu allen Strophen passen soll.

Si hablamos de Domenico Scarlatti lo primero que nos viene a la cabeza son sus más de quinientas sonatas para clave, plenas de virtuosismo, hondura y elegancia, que siempre han tentado a los clavecinistas más osados. Sin embargo, en la producción de Scarlatti hay otras composiciones igualmente interesantes y exquisitas, y buena muestra de ellas nos ofrece el joven al tiempo que brillante conjunto asturiano Forma Antiqva en su último disco –Sopra Scarlatti– que es una maravilla del principio al fin… y la prueba fehaciente de que los músicos españoles tienen mucho y bueno que decir.

A child wonder who stirred the admiration of the court, Dandrieu was a virtuoso harpsichordist but above all, organist of the Royal Chapel of Versailles from 1721. He left a corpus of work of a rare inventiveness tracing out the chapel's most dazzling musical moments under the reign of Louis XV. Here are 'Magnificats', pieces for Christmas and some splendid hallmark scores that offer snapshots of the liturgical art of the king's organist at the height of the French Baroque. Dandrieu, writes for organ the equal of the harpsichord masterpieces of his time. Jean-Baptiste Robin, organist of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, makes the great organ ring with majesty, thanks to a decade of close familiarity with this historic instrument.

Throughout these sessions, Michel Corboz defended a clear, fluid vision of Mendelssohn's choral music. Without exaggerating, he underscored the references to J. S. Bach or Handel, of whom the composer was so fond – the beginning of Psalm 115, with its colours, distinctly evokes the Cantor's Passions. As for the chorus ‘Kommt herzu’ from Psalm 95, it attests to the thoroughly religious fervour and solemn grandeur that incontestably innervate the Swiss conductor's interpretations.

The Dancing Master (first edition: The English Dancing Master) is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English Country Dances. It was published in several editions by John Playford and his successors from 1651 until c1728. The first edition contained 105 dances with single line melodies; subsequent editions introduced new songs and dances, while dropping others, and the work eventually encompassed three volumes. Dances from The Dancing Master were re-published in arrangements by Cecil Sharp in the early 20th century, and in these reconstructed forms remain popular among dancers today.