Classical Companion

The first Croatian symphonist, friend of Rilke, aristocrat and frontline nurse... perhaps Pejačević's gender is the least remarkable thing about her, says Peter Quantrill

More than a century of recordings (in both date and number) present radically different versions of this spiritual testament. Peter Quantrill picks his favourites

According to an eminent cellist (perhaps you can guess which one...), pianist Martha Argerich’s favourite concerto is this one – not any landmark piece of the piano literature, but the Cello Concerto which Robert Schumann wrote, in a typically inspired frenzy, during two weeks of October 1850.

He was the first conductor to actively embrace each new phase in recording: from 78s to digital discs and then film. Christopher Breunig looks back at his orchestral work

Cantata and song-cycle, idyll and lament, scored for tenor and/or soprano... Peter Quantrill explores the tensions in the English composer’s pivotal work on record

His 17th century English madrigal defines the genre, says Peter Quantrill, but Orlando Gibbons’ output is astonishingly diverse for a composer who died before turning 40

Elgar poured heart and soul into the Second, says Peter Quantrill, plus the technique to produce a creative summation that brings out the best in its interpreters on record