Record Review Podcast

The Serenade's status as a darkly dazzling 20th-century classic is founded on Britten's unerring ear for finding and setting English poetry, coupled with his instinctive sense of instrumental and vocal virtuosity. Its six texts, from Ben Johnson to Tennyson, deal with night and the corruption of innocence, themes which preoccupied Britten throughout his career. Both the solo writing and the interplay between voice and horn are based on the strengths of the two musicians for which it was written, Britten's long-time partner, Peter Pears and the horn player Dennis Brain. They made the first recording in 1944, a year after the premiere, and since then many subsequent recordings, most often featuring British tenors, have followed.

Bach's Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV1043, affectionately known as the 'Double Concerto', is one of the most popular works of the Baroque repertoire. The two solo parts of this concerto have survived in Bach’s own handwriting, in an autograph that dates from around 1730, when Bach was living in Köthen.The outer movements illustrate the influence of the Italian Baroque style on Bach in their brisk rhythms, fugal imitations and much of the intricate passage work, while the central movement is deeply expressive as the melodic lines weave between the two violins.

Born in Moscow 150 years ago this year, Alexander Scriabin's music for solo piano has been recorded by many of the great pianists over the last century. But where to start if you're not familiar with this late-Romantic, sometimes elusive repertoire? David Owen Norris is on hand to navigate through some key pieces and makes some recommendations.

Building a Library: Jeremy Sams recommends his favourite recording of Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe (complete ballet).Maurice Ravel described his ballet, Daphnis and Chloe as a choreographic symphony. The story concerns the love between the goatherd Daphnis and the shepherdess Chloé. Ravel began work in 1909 after a commission from Sergei Diaghilev and it was premiered in Paris by his Ballets Russes in 1912. The orchestra was conducted by Pierre Monteux, the choreography was by Michel Fokine, and Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina danced the parts of Daphnis and Chloé. With rich harmonies and lush orchestrations it is one of Ravel's most popular works.

Simon Heighes recommends his favourite recording of Haydn's Symphony No 49 in F minor, 'La Passione'.This sombre and darkly dramatic Haydn symphony is one of a series of visceral minor key symphonies reflecting Haydn's reaction to the German proto-Romantic literary movement, 'Sturm und Drang' – Storm and Stress – where passionate subjectivity and turbulent self-expression were the order of the day. The symphony was one of the most popular during Haydn's lifetime and its ominous, almost continuous F minor intensity and arresting dynamism still make an impact today.

Pianist Lucy Parham picks through the greatest recordings of Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Sonata. Sergei Rachmaninov's Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36, in B-flat minor was composed in 1913 and revised it in 1931. Three years after his third piano concerto was finished, he moved with his family to Rome and started working on his second piano sonata. It is a mighty but technically challenging piece. Rachmaninov himself was not satisfied with the work and revised it in 1931. In 1940, the pianist Vladimir Horowitz created his own edition which combined elements of both previous versions.

Building a Library: Emily MacGregor recommends a her favourite recording of Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra.For Bartók, the circumstances surrounding the composition of his Concerto for Orchestra could hardly have been more miserable. In 1940 he fled his native Hungary to escape the Nazis and spent the remaining five years of his life in the United States, those years blighted by despair, painful illness and abject poverty. But unknown to Bartók, two fellow Hungarians, violinist Joseph Szigeti and conductor Fritz Reiner, conspired to persuade Serge Koussevitzky to offer a generous commission. In 1943, the glamorous conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra visited Bartók in his New York hospital, and flamboyantly presented the composer, not only with a commission for an orchestral work but also a $500 down payment. Bartók began work in August and finished the Concerto for Orchestra just under three moths later. It spotlights, often with brilliance and playfulness, all the sections of the orchestra and p

Katy Hamilton surveys the key works and recordings of American composer Amy Beach and chooses her favourite.Born in 1867 in New Hampshire, Amy Beach became the first successful American female composer, and her 'Gaelic' Symphony was the first symphony to be composed by an American woman. Despite great success during her lifetime, Amy Beach's music was neglected after her death in 1944, but enjoyed a renaissance in the late 20th century.

Marina Frolova-Walker recommends a version of Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony in Building a Library.Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No 5 in B-flat major in just a month in the summer of 1944 during World War II. He intended it as "a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit." The 1945 premiere was conducted by Prokofiev himself and the symphony has remained one of the composer's most popular works.

Perhaps the first of Mozart's extraordinary sequence of 'late' piano concertos, the D minor, K466, has attracted pianists as varied as Edwin Fischer and Mitsuko Uchida, many directing the orchestra from the keyboard. Tom Service guides us through a selection of the finest of these, with a recommendation for the essential recording to buy, download or stream.

Pianist Iain Burnside with a recommendation of the ultimate recording of the third, and arguably greatest, of Beethoven's five sonatas for cello and piano.

Edward Seckerson recommends a version of Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony.Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 in C major was at first dedicated to Lenin. But eventually the composer dedicated it to the besieged city of Leningrad, where it was first played in 1942, during the siege by German and Finnish forces. It soon became popular in both the Soviet Union and the West as a symbol of resistance to fascism and totalitarianism. The work is still regarded as an important musical testament to the 27 million Soviet people who lost their lives in World War II.

Natasha Loges compares recordings of Brahms's String Quintet No 1 in F major, Op 88, and chooses her favourite.Brahms composed his String Quintet No 1 in F major in 1882 during a summer sojourn in the Austrian Spa town of Bad Ischl. Like the Mozart string quintets, it is written for two violins, two violas and one cello and Brahms intimated to his friend Clara Schumann that it is one of his finest works. To his publisher, Simrock, he said 'that you have never before had such a beautiful work from me'.The Quintet comprises three movements: a glowing Allegro non troppo ma con brio and an exuberant fugal finale bookend an expansive and passionate slow movement.

Henrich Schütz is one of the most important composers before JS Bach. But with over 500 surviving works and despite his pivotal position as the first German composer to achieve international fame and repute, Schütz is perhaps still not as well known as he should be. Kirsten Gibson surveys recorded collections of the 17th-century composer and recommends the best one for anyone unfamiliar with his music.

Roger Parker talks to Andrew about the wide range of approaches to one of Mozart's masterpieces, the Divertimento in E flat, K563, from classic recordings from the 60s and 70s to young ensembles' recent additions to the catalogue.

Mark Simpson compares recordings of Richard Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie and chooses his favourite. The epic Alpine Symphony is Strauss's vivid evocation of the thrills and spills of a day out in his beloved Bavarian Alps, including dangerous moments and a glacier on the way up to a spectacular view from the summit. On the way down there's a violent thunderstorm and at the end, as the sun sets and night falls, the deep, emotional satisfaction of having completed an arduous and exhausting journey. The 1915 tone poem thrillingly tests an orchestra, at once collectively, its individual sections and its principal players. And it also tests a conductor who has to convincingly marshal a score calling for 130-plus musicians including 34 brass players (with 12 offstage horns) and a percussion section stocked with, among other things, wind machine, thunder machine and cowbells. Spare a thought, too, for the recording engineers... Presented by Andrew McGregor.

Hannah French surveys the key works works and recordings of Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka and chooses her favourite.Zelenka was born in Central Bohemia in 1679 and, after his musical education in Prague and Vienna, he spent most of his professional life in Dresden. Much admired by Bach for the harmonic inventiveness of his counterpoint, and friends with Telemann, Pisendel and Weiss, Zelenka was considered one of the giants of the Baroque era. Zelenka's music is also inspired by Czech folk music and it was Smetana who is credited with rediscovering the music of his forebear during the 19th century.

David Owen Norris chooses his favourite recording of Elgar's Violin Concerto.Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor was composed for the violinist Fritz Kreisler, who gave the premiere in London in 1910 - and Elgar made a recording with the young Yehudi Menuhin in 1932 that has become a classic. The score has the inscription "Herein is enshrined the soul of ....." The five dots are one of Elgar's enigmas, and many names have been suggested to fit the inscription. Elgar said of the Violin Concerto, "It's good! Awfully emotional! Too emotional, but I love it." Presented by Andrew MacGregor.

There has never been a more prodigiously talented child composer than Felix Mendelssohn and proof of that is his Octet. Written in 1825 when he was 16 years old, it was unprecedented in form: there had been double quartets but nothing like this where all the instruments are combined with unique brilliance and clarity of texture. Above all, though, it's the Octet's sheer lyrical joyousness and exuberant energy that set it apart, the teen Mendelssohn's generosity of spirit thrillingly combined with his compositional genius.

Haydn's Mass in Time of War is sometimes known as his Paukenmesse because of his prominent use of timpani for dramatic effect. It's one of the best known of his fourteen mass settings, and has been lucky on record. Richard Wigmore talks to Andrew about the work and about the very different approaches performers have brought to it, and settles on the ultimate recording to buy, download or stream.