Maisky Maisky Best Album

Clearly, cellist Mischa Maisky has discovered a terrific marketing gimmick. With his recording of Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata coupled with transcriptions of 14 of that composer's songs; his recording of Brahms' cello sonatas coupled with seven transcriptions of that composer's songs; and his recording of almost nothing but transcriptions of songs by Fauré, Debussy, Ravel, Duparc, and Poulenc, Maisky has found an effective way to distinguish his recordings from those of other cellists. Thankfully, Maisky's gimmick is more than a publicity stunt: each of the above recordings is distinguished by his full-bodied tone, spectacular technique, and sensitive musicianship.

What a recital this must have been! Individually, both Maisky and Argerich are among the best living players of their instruments: Maisky is a big-toned, full-blooded cellist and Argerich is a recklessly impulsive pianist blessed with a flawless technique. Together, Maisky and Argerich challenge each other to even higher heights, with Maisky singing like an operatic baritone and Argerich taking ever dangerous risks.

A violinist in a class of his own, Renaud Capuçon shows why he is 'Le Violon Roi'; (The Violin King) in this 3-CD collection. As the leading French violinist of his generation, Capucon records exclusively for Virgin Classics and has a rich discography. The set brings together not only some of his best and most popular performances as a soloist but as a collaborator.

Beethoven is undoubtedly one of the most influential and important composers of all time. This album features the landmark symphonies, concertos, chamber music and solo piano music from this giant of music, all performed by the greatest interpreters – Claudio Abbado, Martha Argerich, Wilhelm Kempff, Carlos Kleiber, Rafael Kubelik and many others.

Martha Argerich's involvement with chamber music has dominated the later part of her career, so it's easy to think of her name with the words "and friends" tacked on, and to visualize the large and diverse retinue of famous musicians who have recorded with her. This triple-disc box set from EMI Classics presents live recordings from the 2010 Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, several of them collaborations with Argerich, notably in works by Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, and Béla Bartók, as well as a performance of Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, where she is the featured soloist with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana.

This extraordinary pianist studied the piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Emil Gilels and Yakov Zak…