The genesis of Sir Stephen Hough's piano concerto, The World of Yesterday, is unusual in that it started as a piece written for a film that stalled during the production process, the material from which was then transformed by Hough into his first piano concerto. Editor-in-Chief James Jolly spoke to Hough about the creative process behind this new recording for the March issue (you can read the full interview here).

Hough confides that composition has become 'central to my life', and that 'I want tears in my eyes when I'm writing. I want to feel that the emotion really connects.' This first recording of The World of Yesterday features Hough at the piano alongside The Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder, as well as two solo piano works also composed by Hough: Partita and Sonatina nostalgica. 

Ian Bostridge and Saskia Giorgini have proven to be a captivating partnership in their two previous collaborations for Pentatone – Respighi's songs and Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin – and return today with a collection of Schumann's songs, including Gedichte von Justinus Kerner and Liederkreis. An earlier recording of Liederkreis by Bostridge – with Julius Drake at the piano – won a Gramophone Award in 1998, so it will be fascinating to hear how this new account compares. Saskia Giorgini, meanwhile, had her 'Liszt Consolations' album chosen by two of our critics (Patrick Rucker and Peter J Rabinowitz) as their personal favourite recording of the year in 2023, with both writers using the word 'lustrous' to describe Giorgini's piano playing – a pretty perfect attribute for this repertoire too.

You may remember Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha performing at the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in 2021, where she won the Song Prize. Rangwanasha was also a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist in 2022 and featured on Sir Antonio Pappano's recording of Mendelssohn's Elijah with the LSO for LSO Live last year. Her debut solo recital is released today on Rubicon and it features a wide-ranging programme of songs, spirituals, gospel and opera arias with pianist Aron Goldin. 

The concertmaster of the Sinfonia of London, Charlie Lovell-Jones, steps to the front for a new recording of Walton's Violin Concerto conducted by John Wilson for Chandos. The album also includes Walton's Portsmouth Point Overture and the Troilus and Cressida Symphonic Suite. John Wlson and the Sinfonia of London have made a series of outstanding recordings for Chandos in recent years, with albums dedicated to the music of Ravel, Korngold, Vaughan Williams, Respighi and English music for strings all shortlisted for Gramophone Awards. Wilson recorded Walton's Façade with Carole Boyd and Zeb Soanes as the narrators for Orchid Classics in 2017, an account which Andrew Achenbach felt was 'delivered with collaborative flair, impeccable enunciation and considerable strength of personality.'

'Don't miss this one!' was Andrew Achenbach's advice at the end of his review of 'Vaughan Williams: Retrospect' by the London Choral Sinfonia and Michael Waldron last March. Waldron and the LCS continue to advocate for lesser-known works with their new recording 'The Music of Malcolm Arnold', which includes the Organ Concerto, John Clare Cantata and the Concerto for Two Violins and String Orchestra. Arnold is known principally for his film music and for his symphonies (if you haven't heard the Fifth yet – don't hesitate), but this new album reveals his considerable abilities as a choral composer, which is an ear-opening revelation.