LATEST ADDITIONS

192kHz/24-bit FLAC/ALAC*, Linn Records CKD 540 (supplied by www. linnrecords. com) Linn has worked with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for a decade and marks its 40th anniversary with a new Usher Hall recording of Wagner'sSiegfried idyll and two reissues (Sibelius' The Tempest and Mozart's Symphony 41 'Jupiter'), upsampled from 88. 2kHz/24-bit (Mozart: producer James Mallinson) and 96kHz/24-bit (Sibelius: Andrew Keener) masters.

The 2CD set was released in February '14 while Kremer and his strings group were touring the States with music by Weinberg in their programmes. (ECM made the recordings at Lockenhaus and Neuhardenberg in Nov '12/Dec '13, the Sonatina for violin/piano at lower resolution, as noted on HRA’s web page. ) Music by the Polish composer – who went to Moscow but did not prosper – was admired by Shostakovich, and Kremer sees an affinity, especially in the 1968 symphony here, commissioned by Rudolf Barshai. This is a tough work, with brief respite found in (iii), Canzona.

Subtitled ‘The Sacred Polyphony of El Greco’s Toledo’ this 70m selection of a mass by Alonso Lobo and motets, etc, by various composers, celebrates devotional music associated with Toledo Cathedral, and links to the painter who came to the city in 1557. Ensemble Plus Ultra comprises a small consort of singers, formed in 2001, who specialise in early Spanish music: their 10CD Archiv set of sacred works by Victoria was a runaway success. The unaccompanied voices, close-set in a reverberant acoustic have a strong presence. The music, of course, is by no means ‘easy listening’ (surprisingly, it was a Classic FM mid-May album choice), although the ‘et incarnatus est’ section in the Lobo Credo is strikingly lovely.

Singing variously in English and French, Canadian-born jazz singer/composer Diana Ariadne Panton has an enchanting voice, To Brazil With Love being her fourth album, released in 2011. It’s a meticulously manicured collection of Brazilian-infused MOR material with which you might want to chill out late at night: a curiously eclectic mix including compositions from Panton, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Paul McCartney. Panton’s moving interpretation of ‘And I Love Her’ (here it’s ‘And I Love Him’, of course) is a notable highlight – if you’re not offended by classic Beatles numbers being sprinkled with a heavy helping of saccharine – featuring a delightful piano accompaniment by veteran multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson. This is a lovely, if artificially intimate recording with a sound balance that’ll sound great on any good hi-fi system.