Galina Vishnevskaya, Mstislav Rostropovich: Russian live recordings from the Sixties (Melodiya)

From the opening phrase of Mussorgsky's Songs And Dances Of Death, it's clear that this is a very special disc. Shostakovich's orchestration of these songs, normally sung by a bass, was conceived expressly for the remarkable soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, and the recording here is of the 1963 premiere in Gorky. The remaining items all come from a single 1967 concert, Shostakovich's Satires, Op. 109, and Blok songs, Op. 127 (another premiere) - both dedicated to Vishnevskaya - and Prokofiev's Op. 27 Akhmatova settings. Vishnevskaya, one of the outstanding singers of her generation, was here at the height of her powers in repertoire she delivered with incomparable understanding. Her partners include her husband Mstislav Rostropovich, David Oistrakh and Moisei Vainberg. Unmissable. By Michael Dervan

Eberhard Blum: "Japan Flute 1997"

The German flautist Eberhard Blum offers a survey of Japanese music for solo flute from the 1960s to the 1990s. His interest is in the Japanese-ness of the music, particularly the cross-fertilisation between the long tradition of Japan's bamboo flute, the wispy, overtone-rich shakuhachi, and the familiar Western concert instrument. He represents the bringing together of avant- garde and imperial gagaku of Yoritsune Matsudaira, the freer experimentalism of his son Yoriaki, the timbral sensuality of Takemitsu, and varied approaches to alto and bass flute by Takehito Shimazu (playful, dramatic), Makoto Shinohara (electronically spatialised) and Toshio Hosokawa (breath obsessed). By Michael Dervan

Piano Masters: Simon Barere (Pearl). Piano Masters: Noel Mewton-Wood (Pearl) The Russian-born pianist Simon Barere, who died at the age of 54 during a 1951 performance of the Grieg concerto, has a reputation as a virtuoso with few equals. He will readily satisfy anyone who likes their virtuosity with a whiff of sulphur, yet while his playing is often sensational, it's rarely sensationalist. Liszt rightfully dominates in Pearl's selection from his commercial recordings of the 1930s alongside three Russians (Balakirev, Glazunov, Blumenfeld) plus Chopin and Schumann. A fine early LP recording of Stravinsky's Concerto for Piano and Wind alerted me to work of Noel Mewton-Wood, who, aged 31, committed suicide in 1953. However, his teenage recordings of Weber (Sonatas 1 & 2) and Chopin (Tarantelle) do not show his thoughtful and wide-ranging talent at its fullest. By Michael Dervan