In the midst of war, three composers in different countries wrote sonatas which have now been collated in an album of pure escapism

Italian-born and London-bred Antonio Pappano lets the gentle rhythms of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s music say it all

Paul Hindemith’s music is extremely well-made, intelligent, civilised, and moderately witty — so why has it all but vanished?

Hahn’s finely honed skills as a violinist are seldom in demand on this one-star album

The baritone Matthias Goerne sings with a voice like brushed velvet and diction clearer than iced vodka in this five-star album

Stanchinsky occupies a tonal territory midway between Rachmaninov and Scriabin; an amalgam of suppurating misery and crackpot visionary

Kancheli’s miniatures grip you by the throat and won’t let you do anything else until it’s over

You may find that Con anima is one of the best ways of spending the next 15 minutes of your life

Mademoiselle was not much of a composer, too set on correct form to allow the flight of inspiration

I’m not giving up trying to persuade younger people to listen to new composers