Meyerbeer

Joncières epitomises the Romantic artist fascinated by nobility and grandeur. This is clear from the titles of his works alone: Sardanapale, Lancelot, Le Dernier Jour de Pompéi, Le Chevalier Jean, Dimitri. Listening to the latter, his masterpiece (1876), we realise too that he was a contemporary of Gounod and a champion of Wagner. Dimitri carries on the tradition (begun by Meyerbeer) of spectacular, monumental works. It takes the listener from a monastery near the River Don to a palace in Krakow, then to the castle of Wyksa and finally the Kremlin in Moscow. At the time it was written, Bayreuth, Orange and Béziers were about to turn opera into a popular art with mass appeal.

It is grand to hear novice players so successfully take on three of Chopin's chamber pieces, the Cello Sonata, Piano Trio, and Grand Duo for cello and piano. There have certainly been great recordings of these works in the past – one thinks immediately of those by Mstislav Rostropovich and Jacqueline du Pré – but the energy, enthusiasm, and sincerity that cellist Andreas Brantelid, pianist Marianna Shirinyan, and violinist Vilde Frang bring to this music more than justifies preserving their performances. Brantelid has a big but nuanced tone, an elegant but impressive technique, and an obvious affinity for the music, and he is well-matched by Shirinyan's polished technique and empathic accompaniments and Frang's easy virtuosity and lyrical interpretation. The ensemble is poised but comfortable and the interpretations are cogent and compelling. Captured in close but smooth digital sound, these performances deserve to be heard by anyone who loves this music, or great chamber music playing.

Pavarotti Forever prougly presents the ultimate collection from the world's favourite tenor. Specially selected from six of his landmark concerts (including The Three Tenors and his one-man spectaculars Hyde Park and Central Park), this DVD collection captures the unique warmth, personality and charisma of Luciano Pavarotti…

THE FIRST OF THE TWELVE discs in this collection of Anna Moffo’s RCA recital recordings begins with a 1960 performance of the jewel song from Gounod’s Faust, and that selection, along with the others on this disc, sets out the singer’s basic assets and liabilities. It’s a fresh lyric sound - Moffo was twenty-eight that year - ven throughout the range, accurate in pitch and coloratura, with a good try at a trill.