Norman Lebrecht

Norman Lebrecht is a British commentator on music and cultural affairs, a novelist, and the author of the classical music blog Slipped Disc. He was a columnist for The Daily Telegraph from 1994 to 2002, and assistant editor of the London Evening Standard from 2002 to 2009. He tweets at @NLebrecht

Grazyna Bacewicz: Symphonies 3 &4; Concerto for string orchestra (both on Chandos)

Valentin Silvestrov: Widmung, Postludium (Naxos)

As dramatic opera, The Passenger inhabits a grey zone of guard–prisoner relations

Relive the moments when music changed forever

Elgar: Symphonies (Halle/Oehms)

Walter Kaufmann: 3rd piano concerto, 3rd symphony &c. (CPO)

No conductor from China or Japan ever commanded world orchestras before Seiji Ozawa, and none has since matched his impact