Byrbe's approach seems to focus more on dazzling climaxes than characterisation.

The works sound impulsive and fresh in the hands of Cuarteto Casals.

A young Russian virtuoso, Anna Vinnitskaya, takes a considered and personal approach to the work.

In 1975 few music lovers knew this work. It was the young firebrand Roger Woodward who made the first complete recording in the West.

The BBC Symphony seems to have assimilated a genuinely Czech sound into their playing.

The sound is so stunning it’s hard to believe these are live performances.

The two soloists are excellent, and the outstanding Akademie für Alte Musik plays at the high level we have come to expect.

On the strength of this selection, Vivaldi’s tenor arias seem to lack the variety of those for the female voice.

Aimard and Boulez give a strong account of the first, more forceful than the norm, and the pianist’s technique is astonishing.

Volume 1 is a complete cycle of the Beethoven sonatas, which do not traverse the same range of styles or psychological landscapes as the piano sonatas, string quartets, or symphonies.

A superb CD of delightful music that is refreshing to the ear.

Music of this heft really needs majestic phrasing and it certainly receives it here.