Mozart’s Symphony No 40 receives a terrific new recording by Ensemble Appassionato directed by Matthieu Herzog - part of a set of the three last symphonies that reveals, once again, that everyone has something unique to bring to classical re-interpretation. Swift, fleet of foot and bursting with energy, this is a performance worth hearing. As is the new Copland Third from the BBC Phil and John Wilson - great Chandos sound and a wonderful sense of landscape are bonuses to an interpretation that feels natural and unforced yet hits the mark impressively.

Scriabin’s Piano Concerto is one of those work that doesn’t crop up on concert programmes that often, but when it does it comes as a forceful reminder that early Scriabin owes so much to Chopin, and that Scriabin’s later mystical language still lay some way in the future. Xiayin Wang gives terrific performance, ably abetted by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Further away from the core repertoire is the C minor Cello Concertino from 1948 by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a composer who seems finally to be getting the attention he deserves. The concertino is a striking piece and Marina Tarasova does a great job of embracing its considerable emotional scope.

Sophie Karthäuser has recently recorded a wonderful album called ‘Le bal des animaux’ and from it I've taken Erik Satie’s brief but vivid Trois Mélodies - this is singing with a terrific sense of communication. And from one voice to many for a work by Andrejs Seleckis, a contemporary Latvian composer whose voice is highly appealing. Needless to say that with the Latvian Radio Choir and Sigvards Klava in charge, the music is heard in the best possible light - and it makes quite an impact.

Two important piano recordings: Till Fellner in Beethoven’s final piano sonata and Gianluca Casoli in Alban Berg’s sole piano sonata, both performed with intensity and authority.

A few taster tracks: Monteverdi from John Eliot Gardiner, Cecilia Bartoli singing Vivaldi, a couple of Schubert songs (orchestrated) and sung by Florian Boesch, a track from Gustavo Dudamel’s complete Tchaikovsky Nutcracker and a movement from a Mozart piano sonata played with winning elegance by Song-Jin Cho.

Listen on:

Spotify, Apple Music

The tracks:

Mozart Symphony No 40

Ensemble Appassionato / Mathieu Herzog (Naïve) 

Schubert Du bist die Rüh, D776 (orch Webern)

Florian Boesch; Concentus Musicus Wien / Stefan Gottfried  (Aparté)

Beethoven Piano Sonata No 32 in C minor, Op 111

Till Fellner (ECM New Series)

Vivaldi Orlando Furioso – 'Ah fuggi rapido'

Cecilia Bartoli; Ensemble Matheus / Jean-Christophe Spinosi (Decca) PRE-RELEASE TRACK  

Scriabin Piano Concerto 

Xiayin Wang; Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Peter Oundjian (Chandos)

Satie Trois Mélodies – 'La Statue de bronze'; 'Daphénéo'; 'Le Chapelier'

Sophie Karthäuser; Eugene Asti (Harmonia Mundi)

Weinberg Cello Concertino, Op 43

Marian Tarasova; Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra / Alexander Rudin (Northern Flowers) 

Monteverdi Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria – Act 3, 'Fiamma è l'ira, o grand Dea'

Hana Blaziková; Francesca Boncompagni; English Baroque Soloists / Sir John Eliot Gardiner (SDG)  

Seleckis O Crux Christi!

Latvian Radio Choir/ Sigvards Klava (Ondine)

Schubert Geheimes, D719 (orch Brahms)

Florian Boesch; Concentus Musicus Wien / Stefan Gottfried  (Aparté)

Copland Symphony No 3

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / John Wilson (Chandos)

Berg Piano Sonata 

Gianluca Cascioli (DG)

Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker – The Waltz of the Snow Flakes 

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra / Gustavo Dudamel (DG) PRE-RELEASE TRACK

Mozart Piano Sonata No 3 in B flat, K281 - Andante 

Seong-Jin Cho (DG) PRE-RELEASE TRACK