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96kHz to 192kHz/24-bit FLAC, CKD478 (supplied by www. linnrecords. com) These Britten recordings were made at Snape Maltings between Oct ’12 and Apr ’15 – no mention of the Tallis Fantasia in the excellent PDF notes or on the cover but you do get the texts of the great Serenade. Young Apollo had been suppressed by Britten and was first recorded by Simon Rattle in 1982.

Ignore the shiver-inducing overtones of the title of this album by Dutch bass clarinettist Roelefs and you’re in for a treat. In fact, ignore the ‘oh really?’ reaction to the mention of bass clarinet. Having witnessed a killer set on that instrument by Courtney Pine not so long ago, I was up for hearing what Reolefs could do – and here, along with Matt Penman on bass and Ted Poor on drums, he delivers a set packed with instrumental colours, fine musicianship and plenty to keep a high-quality system busy, too. From the almost percussive lower registers of the instrument all the way up to its soaring solo potential, Roelefs keeps the attention, whether with the traditional jazz feel of tracks such as ‘Broadway’ and ‘Pseudo Bebop’ or the very short but very chilling title track, almost literally setting the teeth on edge.

Written for Joachim in 1853 (as was the more coherent Phantasy in C), Schumann’s Violin Concerto was suppressed until 1937 – with perhaps some justification. Zehetmair found many errors in the printed edition when preparing for his 1988 Teldec CD, and this is his second recording. Choosing a chamber orchestra for Schumann is now the norm but such is the reverberance of the venue, the Théâtre des Champs-Elyseés, it could be of any size. And I didn’t like effectively a separate acoustic for the solo violin.

The European Imaging and Sound Association celebrates the year's most desirable hi-fi hardware Welcome to the EISA Awards for 2016-2017. The European Imaging and Sound Association is the world’s largest independent awards panel and one that reflects the collective opinion of the 45 most respected specialist magazines centred on, but not exclusively based within, the European community. And while the repercussions of the recent in/out referendum dominate headlines in the UK, the collaboration between EISA’s member magazines continues without pause. Just as hi-fi and music-loving enthusiasts will persevere in scouring the world for the best that audio-centric brands can offer.