Here is confirmation that Francesco Piemontesi belongs to a small elite: he is a pianist that other pianists go to hear. He is awesome and speculative in the A major while in the B-flat he achieves greatness without recourse to idiosyncrasy or extremes. Even in a crowded field of celebrated recordings, Piemontesi’s performances are wholly exceptional, enlightening if exhausting at every level. They are crowned by Pentatone’s beautifully natural sound.

Fans of great violin playing naturally will want to hear this outstanding sampling of the art of the young Itzhak Perlman, most of which has never been released on CD. The violinist blasts through Paganini's Caprices Nos. 1, 16, and (of course) 24 with scrupulous technique and a total lack of inhibition. In the remaining works he's well partnered by pianist David Garvey, best known for his work with soprano Leontyne Price.

Cet enregistrement est une lecture neuve, et décapante de ces œuvres bien connues. Ophélie Gaillard et son partenaire sont renversants d'énergie, de contrastes tout en gardant une constante justesse de ton. Ces pages parfois un brin poussiéreuse prodiguent ici un souffle de vitalité confondant. C'est pour moi l'enregistrement "parfait" à mettre d'urgence dans ses références absoules en matière de musique de chambre romantique.

Mitsuko Uchida's slowly evolving Schubert cycle continues to thrill and scintillate with every new volume. At first glance, the works here might seem less essential than some of her previous offerings: an early (and infrequently played) sonata and the endlessly recorded Moments musicaux. However, just a few minutes' listening will soon persuade you otherwise. Schubert may have been only 20 when he penned this E-flat Sonata, but in Uchida's hands its expansive four-movement form is a perfect delight. She finds an ideally dancing lilt for the opening Allegro, not allowing the moments of drama to overshadow the movement's sunny disposition.

C.P.E. Bach's music often has a bizarrely experimental quality mixed incongruously but fascinatingly with a conservatism born of his father's influence, and this program of early works, dating from the 1740s and 1750s, offers good examples.

At the height of his career Sir Charles Stanford held a leading position in British music, not only as a teacher of many of the most important composers of the new generation, but as one of the most significant British composers – the other was Sir Hubert Parry – to have emerged immediately before Elgar. Chiefly remembered today for his Irish Rhapsodies, Seven Symphonies and Clarinet Concerto, Stanford composed many chamber works, including several for clarinet written in what might be described as a ‘Brahmsian’ idiom. The Piano Trio No. 3, the last of three which span Stanford’s mature career, was written as a tribute to friends lost in the First World War.

"Hope Amid Tears," the new album by Yo-Yo Ma together with his friend and pianist Emanuel Ax, presents Beethoven’s five sonatas for cello and piano in the order in which they were composed, tracing an important arc in Beethoven’s development and approach as a composer. Joining them are Beethoven’s three sets of variations for cello and piano.

Florilegium’s latest release contains the complete instrumental trio sonatas of Bach. But if you discount the six-part Ricercar from the Musical Offering itself, which of course is not a trio, but which nonetheless is included here, only two of the remaining items are indisputably products of Bach’s pen. The Trio in G (BWV 1038) may be by Bach, who certainly provided its bass line; but the likelihood is that it was the work of one or other of his two elder sons or perhaps one of Bach’s Leipzig pupils. The Trio in C (BWV 1037), on the other hand, is certainly not by Bach, but by his gifted pupil, Goldberg.