Jaap van Zweden's successful series devoted to all Bruckner's symphonies - on the Exton label and now Challenge Classics - continues with another instalment, the Symphony No. 1 in C minor, in which he conducts the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (of which he is Honorary Chief Conductor).

Amongst the many recordings made by the internationally renowned conductor Jaap van Zweden have been highly successful cycles of the complete symphonies of Beethoven and Brahms. He is currently working on a series of Hybrid SACDs with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic for Octavia and Challenge Classics featuring the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, and recordings of Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7 8 and 9 have already been released to great critical acclaim. This disc features the Third Symphony in D minor, which was dedicated to Richard Wagner.

Billboard chart-topping violinist Rachel Barton Pine traverses Paganini’s ground breaking set of 24 Caprices with virtuosic flair and, in equal measure, reverence for the bel canto – or “beautiful singing” – style of the composer’s generation. Playing on the ‘ex-Bazzini, ex-Soldat’ Guarneri del Gesù violin from 1742 – made by the same Cremona-based maker in the same year as Paganini’s own violin – Rachel channels the composer’s own technical wizardry as well as his love for beautiful melodies.

Sony Classical honors the great Rubinstein’s historic recordings with this brilliant collection that contains some of his finest moments committed to tape. His Chopin ballades and nocturnes are front and center here, still holding up today as perhaps the most authoritative interpretations of the composer’s inventive works.

After an album of French songs (Néère, Alpha 215) that earned her a Gramophone Award in 2016, Veronique Gens presents her new recital, this time with orchestra, which gives her an opportunity to display the maturity of her Falcon soprano, the central tessitura typical of French Romantic opera, which takes its name from Cornélie Falcon, who created the works of Meyerbeer and Halévy staged in the 1830s.

Mariko Senju began studying violin under Saburo Washimi at the age of three and under Toshiya Eto at the age of twelve. In 1973 she won first place in the elementary school division of the All Japan Students Musical Competition. In 1975 she performed a Bach Concerto with the NHK Symphony Orchestra for its first Young People's Concert. This marked her debut as a professional violinist.