With a title like Time & Eternity and graphics featuring the disembodied head of violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, you know you're in for an ambitious program. Kopatchinskaja's albums have been getting increasingly experimental as her career has developed, and this one is at no time boring, whatever you may think of the overall concept. Sample Crux, by Lubos Fiser, for violin, timpani, and bells, with the timpani pounding away as a kind of avatar of dread. This said the structure of the program is not quite as unconventional as it may at first appear to be.

Swiss composer Frank Martin was a curious character. The son of a Protestant pastor, he combined French and German influences in typically Swiss fashion, but also tonality, atonality, and an enlivening dose of jazz. He lived a long and productive life, composed his own Requiem Mass (which he actually got to perform and record to make sure he'd got it right), and then conveniently died. This swinging concerto shows the jazz influence right at the start, where each of the solos introduces itself in what sounds like an improvised jam session. Of course the whole thing's composed with typical precision (Swiss, like in watches, right?), but it's still one of the most entertaining of this century's "group" concertos.

A profoundly modern dimension emerges from this confrontation between English works from the 17th century (Henry Purcell, Matthew Locke) and works from the 20th and 21st centuries (Philippe Hersant, Franck Martin, Thierry Pécou). Coming from highly different musical universes, each composition is, however, largely inspired by the founding themes of Shakespeares play, sometimes taking up excerpts from it. The text is recited in English, or rather Shakespeares Old English, as are all the sung parts, in order to reproduce the strong, sweet accent of that tongue.

[Villa Lobos] ‘incorporates nationalistic musical elements of Brazil along with melodic, lullaby-like themes, to make a truly contrasting and interesting three-movement work.’ (Classic FM) ‘Brazilian sonorities and rhythms are a perfect match for the saxophone’ (WFMT) [Glazunov] ‘persistence paid off for Raschèr, who badgered Glazunov to write him a concerto. The Russian relented and the result – three short, pleasingly lyrical movements – was premiered by Raschèr’ (BBC Music Magazine) ‘Glaznov’s Quartet is a foundational piece for the instrument’ (WFMT)

It took Frank Martin a long time to heed his deep-seated inner calling to write a Requiem: 'What I have tried to express here is the clear will to accept death; to make peace with it.' The Requiem was composed in 1971/72, Martin utilizes the whole bandwidth of orchestral sound and explores all opportunities for interplay among the vocalists, as well. Leoš Janácek's setting of the Otcenáš, the Lord's Prayer, is not a conventionally religious work. The Czech composer was more interested in it's social aspects than any theological musings.

Martin Klett together with the Armida Quartett perform late Romantic Piano Quintets by Cesar Franck and Frank Martin. "… We only have two hands, and our ten fingers are not capable of exploiting all the possibilities": that is how composer Frank Martin (1890-1974) once described the inadequacies of the keyboard. However, pianist Martin Klett and the members of the Armida Quartet view things somewhat differently. Similarly to the string quartet as a whole ensemble, the piano forms "a perfect unit in itself", Klett affirms.

The young Swiss cellist Christian Poltéra released three remarkable discs of Swiss modernist music in 2007. First came Othmar Schoeck's concerto and sonata for cello plus four song transcriptions for cello and piano. Then came Arthur Honegger's concerto and sonata for cello plus two sonatines. And last there was this one, Frank Martin's concerto and ballade for cello and 8 Preludes for orchestra.

Among the young British instrumentalists vying to pick up the mantles of the great soloists of a generation ago, flutist Katherine Bryan seems among the most promising, and she takes a major step forward with this, her second release. Her startlingly clear, bright articulation in the upper register is pleasing on its own, yet the real attraction here is that she approaches a repertory intelligently and brings fresh perspectives to it. The Flute Concerto (1993) of Christopher Rouse only seems to be the odd item in the set; Rouse's instrumental writing, with its intricate grasp of texture and register, is truly a descendant of the French (and French-Swiss) music on the rest of the album, and it was an inspired choice in terms of showcasing Bryan's technique as well. The three central movements have a memorial tone, with flute solos woven into Rouse's characteristically spacious chords, and Bryan has the stamina to stick with the long line here. Ibert's delightful Concerto for flute and orchestra (1934) receives an absolutely crackling performance from Bryan.

The first recording by the Delta Piano Trio on Challenge Classics. The Trio have chosen works by Frank Martin, Tigran Mansurian and Antonin Dvorak which span almost a century, are from very different cultures, but which are all based on folk tunes.