There's no in between with the recorder. It's either a toy in a child's hands or you're an international virtuoso like Marion Verbruggen or Michala Petri. Yet in Lucie Horsch, we have that rarity. Both. At 17, the Dutch girl already has an enviable reputation as soloist on her instrument. And what other recorder player gets a Decca recording contract while still at school?

Presently, Horsch is a student at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. She has an assured technique paired with outstanding musicianship and musicality. Her playing is so good, it invites comparison with the best recorder players such as the two ladies mentioned above. Horsch matches both for technique and musicality. 

This magnificent box set came after the somewhat ill advised 2012 Stereo Box Set. Those LPs were remastered from digital masters and have received mixed reviews. For most, the stereo records would be perfectly satisfactory. But for many Beatles enthusiasts and completists, back to the originals are the recordings they lust after.

Reflection informs most of the performances on the latest CD release from the great Italian pianist, Maurizio Pollini. He recently celebrated his 75th birthday, maybe the perfect time for reflection, especially with the autumnal works chosen here. But let's not forget, 'autumnal' in Chopin years is 30 to 35, young by any other standard. He died at 39 of tuberculosis. And it seems a lot of worldly stress was informing his life. A break up with George Sand, fights with her kids, money troubles and lingering illness. All affected his inspiration.

Pierre-Arnaud Dablemont’s CD of Beethoven Sonatas on Resonus Classics brings a fresh approach and a superb recording to these often recorded works. The Parisian born and Brussels based French pianist has a fluent technique and produces a lovely tone, but it’s his musicality that wins here.

One can never have enough Mozart or Brahms Clarinet Quintet recordings in a collection. With both composers in mind, I wish Jörg Widmann would have added the Brahms to the Mozart rather than the accompanying Mozart String Quartet K421. His playing is that good. A revelation, actually.

Not that you’ll be slumming with the superb Arcanto Quartet (founded in 2002). They perform Mozart as well as any and you’ll love their performance of the second of the so called ‘Haydn Quartets’ (No. 15 in D minor K.421). Dedicated to ‘To my dear friend Haydn’, the performance by the Arcantos will have you wishing for a complete set.

German clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld (1856 – 1907) must have been one hell of a player. His artistry nudged a semi retired Brahms to write the seminal chamber work for the instrument, the Clarinet Quintet (1891), a fine trio and the two most famous sonatas for the instrument.

The same could be said for Austrian clarinettist Anton Stadler (1753 – 1812). His playing inspired Mozart to write an equally wonderful Clarinet Quintet (1789) and the instrument’s greatest Concerto (1791).

Andreas Staier, the German-born, Hanover and Amsterdam-trained pianist/harpsichordist is fast becoming the harmonia mundi go to man for recordings of modern instruments and the fortepiano.

For this recording of Schubert Trios, Staier is joined by Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie concertmaster, Daniel Sepec and Roel Dieltiens, cello. All three play period instruments. Happily, Staier's fortepiano, a copy of an 1827 Graf, sounds nothing like others I've heard -- poor tone and sounding hideously out of tune. Staier's piano sounds wonderful. And, in tune.

Many people consider the companion recording to this Beethoven 7 DG classic (Beethoven's 5th Symphony with the same forces) as not only the greatest Beethoven recording of all time but the greatest recording of all time. I'm inclined to agree. It's perfection in an imperfect setting. Have you heard it?

The Curzon Emperor Concerto is not only one of the finest performances on record of the great Concerto, it's one of the greatest performances on record, period. 

Sir Clifford Curzon is one of a handful of English pianists that can be compared with the best of the continent and the USA. I'd add Dame Myra Hess and Solomon to the mix. The difference between Curzon and many others that he made magic not only on stage but in the studio. No more than on this famous record. 

The 'dude', also known as Venezuelan conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, has a real affinity for this Russian music. He draws incredibly committed playing from the Vienna Philharmonic in a glorious sounding DG recording.

You can imagine a frosty Monday morning in Vienna. The orchestra members want to be home in bed and once again, the old warhorse Pictures at an Exhibition is on the stands. Again! It's at that moment the Vienna machine gets into gear. Dudamel is such a wonderful conductor, he could charm a great performance anytime, anywhere. But all musicians really outdo themselves, here.

Originally composed as a concertante for piano and orchestra, Stravinsky later cobbled it into the wonderful ballet Petrushka to satisfy a commission from Paris' Ballet Russe, the great impresario Diaghilev, in particular. After the grand success of his first ballet, The Firebird, the public wanted more from the young Stravinsky. Petrushka was also very successful and laid the groundwork for The Rite of Spring, an altogether different proposition.

This is the second album in a renewed partnership between Montreal's famous orchestra and Decca Records.

Although I have lived in Toronto, London and Victoria since, Montreal's my beloved hometown. The spectacular (and snowy) city is hard to remove from your DNA, even if you wanted. Montrealers don't. Some of my musical education was in Montreal. I have a lot of friends in the orchestra past and present.

It was nice to reacquaint myself with this superb  Gallic rendition of Symphonie Fantastique after the disappointment of Daniele Gatti's recent debut with his new orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra [reviewed here].

Most complete cycles of symphonies present their difficulties. Most have a red headed step child. Even the most famous cycles, Karajan's first DG Beethoven set (still on sale by DG), has its spoilt kid, the Pastoral.

This is Daniel Barenboim's third kick at the can with Bruckner. Previous cycles with Chicago and Berlin were well played but had their fans and detractors.