Chloë Hanslip and Danny Driver are approaching the culmination of a complete Beethoven Violin Sonata cycle where each concert is both broadcast live by the BBC on Radio 3, and recorded by Andrew Keener and Phil Rowlands for Rubicon. Beethoven’s ten violin sonatas represent the supreme challenge for a violin and piano duo, and the drama, visceral excitement and many intimate moments of these masterpieces is superbly captured in these live performances.

„I wanted to create an instrument that, by the character of it’s voice, was similar to string instruments, but with a great deal more force and intensity."

Venice, July 1603: Giovanni Croce, known as ‘il Chiozzotto’, a priest at the church of Santa Maria Formosa, was appointed maestro di cappella of St Mark’s basilica, one of the most prestigious posts in the musical world of the time.

Alexander Sevastian is one of the world’s greatest accordionists. At his visit to La Fête de la musique de Tremblant last month he was cheered repeatedly by an audience won over by his virtuosity, his exhilarating playing and his contagious enthusiasm. Today Analekta is proud to announce the appearance of his new album, J.S. Bach: Famous Works.

One of the most famous musical enigmas in literature, the fictional Vinteuil Sonata at the heart of Marcel Proust's magnum opus, In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu), is the inspiration for a new CD featuring sibling musicians Maria (violin) and Nathalia Milstein (piano).

George Gershwin composed his Rhapsody in Blue in 1924. In the same year, he launched his collaboration with his brother Ira, which produced countless songs. He never achieved his ambition of studying with Maurice Ravel, but was always enthralled by the symphonic poem and the concerto. His masterpieces, such as An American in Paris and the opera Porgy and Bess, greatly enriched the American musical heritage.

Amandine Beyer and Gli Incogniti pay tribute to a period when copyright was unknown with a program of works attributed to - or transcribed by - Johann Sebastian Bach. The common denominator in all these works is both musical excellence and a spirit that testifies to the dazzling creative freedom that inspires these artist's passionate performances.

Heavenly is Johnny Mathis' most successful regular album release, exceeded in his catalog only by the compilation Johnny's Greatest Hits and the seasonal Merry Christmas collection. It's not hard to understand why; this record is the epitome of Mathis' approach to music. Standards like "More Than You Know" and "Moonlight Becomes You" are joined by show tunes like "Hello, Young Lovers" and "Stranger in Paradise" and a few more recent titles, such as the Burt Bacharach-composed title song and "That's All." The tempos are slow, the strings swell, and Mathis' vulnerable tenor, dripping with tender emotion yet never missing a beat, soars and swoops over all. The best track, a revelation when it appeared on this album, is "Misty," a treatment of Erroll Garner's jazz piano classic with a newly added lyric by Johnny Burke.

Tommy Leonetti was an American pop singer-songwriter and actor of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. In Australia his most famous song was "My City of Sydney" (written by Leonetti & Bobby Troup) and was used by the Australian TV channel ATN7 in Sydney for station identification into the 1980s. In America he achieved greater success as a songwriter for movies and Broadway plays. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) lists 49 works credited to "Tommy Leonetti". Music for films included: Squeeze a Flower (1970), Massacre at Central High (1976, starred stepdaughter Beck) and She Came to the Valley (1979).

Pianist Hasaan Ibn Ali only made one recording in his life, this trio set with drummer Max Roach and bassist Art Davis. A very advanced player whose style fell somewhere between Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor (with hints of Herbie Nichols), Hasaan actually had a rather original sound. His performances on his seven originals here are intense, somewhat virtuosic and rhythmic, yet often melodic in a quirky way. This is a classic of its kind, and it's a tragedy that Hasaan would not record again and would soon sink back into obscurity.

Actor Lorne Greene enjoyed a brief recording career in the mid-'60s, when he was at the height of his popularity thanks to his role as Ben Cartwright on the long-running Western series Bonanza. Greene was born in 1915 in Ottawa, Ontario, and went to college to study chemical engineering. He wound up discovering theater instead, and opted for a career in the performing arts. He worked in radio for a time, working his way up to become Canada's best-known newscaster. He left for New York in 1950, and soon appeared in Broadway productions and several films. He won the role of Ben Cartwright in 1959, playing the Ponderosa Ranch's patriarch until Bonanza finally went off the air in 1973.

This is the third album in vocalist and bassist Nicki Parrott's four-part seasonal series. Autumn Leaves follows the spring-themed Sakura Sakura and Summertime. Similar to those two albums, an excellent group of musicians support Parrott on the album. John Di Martino is featured on piano and Nicki's sister Lisa shines on the baritone sax. Harry Allen on tenor saxophone is an added bonus. These well-known autumn themed songs are refined and cleverly arranged with determined sensibilities and performed with loving lyricism.