May morning in Oxford, and the Berliner Philharmoniker join in the celebratory mood abroad in the university city’s medieval streets with this concert in Sir Christopher Wren’s glorious Sheldonian Theatre. For 20 years, the Philharmoniker have given a May Day concert in one of Europe’s great historic cities, and here, under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, the Berlin players thrill the Oxford audience with the sonorous Prelude to Act III of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, a deeply-felt account of Elgar’s autumnal Cello Concerto by the young American cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and a rousing performance of Brahms’s life-affi rming First Symphony.

Mark Knopfler runs through both his Dire Straits and solo catalogue live, as the title suggests, in London. Old classics such as 'Brothers In Arms' and 'Romeo and Juliet' mingle freely with material from his solo album 'Golden Heart'. Here, the full version of the concert, containing 'Sultans Of Swing' and 'Money For Nothing', which also are on VHS, but not on a European DVD. Recorded April 15, 1996 in the BBC Television Centre, London.

Fanfare magazine has written, "It is beginning to become an unnecessary exercise for me to praise the Camerata Koln in the highest terms in these pages." This month the ensemble turns to Alessandro Scarlatti, a composer known as the master of the Neapolitan opera seria but yet to be recognized as a writer of highly nuanced chamber music such as the Seven Sonatas for Flute, Violins, Viola and Bass being recorded here for the first time. This is a lovely disc!

Joshua Bell, a violinist widely-admired by audiences and critics, was born fortuitously in Bloomington, Indiana, home of the Indiana University School of Music, which eventually assumed a decisive role in Bell's musical development. Bell was exposed to music from an early age and began his violin studies with Mimi Zweig. Bell's talents developed rapidly; he made his debut as a soloist in performance with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra at the age of seven.

Robert Vaughn, and his band The Shadows (not British rock group The Shadows), debuted in 1987 with a classic rock sound. He recorded another album with The Shadows on Alternative Records (1991's Songs from the Riverhouse), then headed up the thematic project, Southside Blades of Eden releasing the album Spirit, Love & Fire in 1993. Vaughn then formed the band the Dead River Angels, and released an album on Miramar Records (1994's Robert Vaughn and the Dead River Angels). A track from Vaughn's later band landed on the soundtrack album for the Steven Seagal movie, On Deadly Ground.

This is part of a two-disc set of Vivaldi cello concertos on the Naïve label featuring historical-performance specialist Christophe Coin. Some of the concertos have been recorded before by Coin and other cellists, but some are new; both discs are part of a larger series devoted to the trove of Vivaldi manuscripts at the Biblioteca Nazionale in Turin, drawn largely from the composer's personal collection.

Here 'Tis is in the front rank of Lou Donaldson records, an exceptionally funky soul-jazz session that finds the saxophonist swinging harder than usual. As he moves from hard bop to soul-jazz, Donaldson reveals a bluesy streak to his playing while keeping the vigorous attack that defined his best bop. Donaldson's playing is among his finest in the soul-jazz vein, but what makes Here 'Tis such an enjoyable session is his interaction with his supporting trio of guitarist Grant Green, organist Baby Face Willette, and drummer Dave Bailey. As support, all three know how to keep a groove gritty and flexible, following Lou's lead and working a swinging beat that keeps flowing, never growing static…

Polydor's 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Yngwie Malmsteen chronicles the Swedish shredder from his Rising Force debut in 1984 to 1990's Eclipse, with equal time given to blisteringly pretentious instrumentals like "Trilogy Suite Op: 5" and "Far Beyond the Sun".

French keyboardist Frédéric Truong has been composing under the name Leitmøtiv. His influences are both classic (Erik Satie) and modern (Michael Nyman, Pascal Comelade…).