The compositions of Joseph Haydn's lesser known brother, Michael, have long been a special focus for CPO. Following the symphonies, the label are now dedicating themselves to a group of five works for a quintet ensemble consisting of two violins, two violas, and basso. The score is interpreted by the Haydn Quintet of Salzburg and its first violinist Hiro Kurosaki, on historical instruments in the Kuenburg Palais in the heart of Salzburg.

Austrian pianist Ingolf Wunder won second prize at the 2010 Warsaw International Chopin Competition, demonstrating how skillfully he plays works by the great Polish composer. On this 2014 release, Wunder revisits his beloved Chopin and presents two of the greatest hits in the piano repertoire: Chopin's and Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concertos, recorded live at St. Petersburg's 2012 White Nights Festival. Wunder teams up with the supreme musicianship of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of legendary conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Vitality of performance preserved even half a century after its recording. The recordings of Tchaikovsky’s late symphonies by Evgeny Mravinsky (1903 to 1988) - one of the premier conductors of 20th century Russia - taped by Deutsche Grammophon in 1960, are timelessly famous masterpiece recordings that have always been available as an integral part of the Deutsche Grammophon catalog since the album was released.

Isabelle Faust hit the Classical charts earlier this year with her mesmerising recording of Beethoven and Berg with Claudio Abbado. She followed up with some welcome live appearances here in the UK, which included the Brahms' concerto at the Barbican with frequent collaborators Jiri Belohlavek and the BBCSO. Isabelle's recordings have won prizes since her harmonia mundi debut in 1997 which earned her a Gramophone Young Artist Award. In 2010 her Beethoven Violin Sonatas with Alexander Melnikov also won.

On two previous discs, Yevgeny Sudbin and Osmo Vänskä have released Beethoven’s three last piano concertos to critical acclaim. Distinctions include Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and top marks from the Italian magazine Musica and the German website Klassik-Heute.de, and performances have been described as ‘electrifying’ (classicfm.com), ‘absolutely stunning’ (Fanfare) and ‘a Beethoven experience you will not want to miss’ (ClassicsToday.com). For the final disc in their cycle, Sudbin and Vänskä have travelled to Helsinki to team up with Tapiola Sinfonietta, one of the top Nordic ensembles, and well suited for these earlier and more classical of Beethoven’s concertos.