Guardian Music — Banse/Madzar (ECM)Separated by 18 years, Alban Berg's two settings of Theodor Storm's poem Schliesse Mir die Augen Beide neatly articulate his composing career. The first version dates from 1907, the time of Berg's Piano Sonata, Op 1, and his studies... more info

Guardian Music — Thomas Trotter(Regent)Strictly speaking, only one of the three Schumann works Thomas Trotter plays here on the Ladegast organ of Merseburg Cathedral in Saxony Anhalt, the Six Fugues on BACH Op 60, was composed for organ. The others, the Four Sketches... more info

Guardian Music — Kerkezos/ LSO/ SimonovThe saxophone is so closely associated with jazz and big bands that we tend to forget that its inventor, Adolphe Sax, envisioned it as an orchestral instrument. The classical response to it has always been mixed, with French com... more info

All About Jazz — By Pico This past July the Axis Trio released Anthem, and it's one of those defining records for this young and fledgling jazz threesome. The Axis Trio is comprised of pianist Amino Belyamani, bassist Sam Miniae and drummer and percussionist Qasim ... more info

Guardian Music — Pascal Rogé(Onyx)As his Debussy cycle for Onyx has gone on, it has become increasingly obvious that Pascal Rogé has little time for the common perception of Debussy as an "impressionist" composer, all pastel shades and dewy outlines. His playing is... more info

Mercury News, California — Carey Bell, the orchestra's principal clarinetist, worked magic in a Debussy work, and 23-year-old French pianist Jean-Frédéric Neuburger charmed the audience in another work by the same composer. more info

The Telegraph — Orchestre National de Lyon, cond Jun Märkl. Rating: * * * * more info

Guardian Music — Llŷr Williams(Signum)The real quality that is so apparent in Llyr Williams's direct, unfussy piano playing when heard live might not always transfer so effectively to disc, but in this perhaps unlikely combination of Mussorgsky, Debussy and three pi... more info

Guardian Music — Orchestre National de Lyon/Märkl (Naxos)Volume 4 of Jun Märkl's Debussy cycle deals with mystic eroticism and theatre music. The main work is Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien, Debussy's incidental music for Gabriele d'Annunzio's 1911 "mystery", deeme... more info

Guardian Music — Royal Albert Hall, LondonAfter 15 years restoring London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to artistic health, Daniele Gatti became music director of France's national band at the end of 2008. On the strength of his first Prom with the orchestra, his ap... more info