Benjamin Britten's opera, composed to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. He took as his starting point Lytton Strachey's 'Elizabeth and Essex'. Sarah Walker and Anthony Rolfe Johnson star.

Live performance by Azerbaijan soprano Dinara Alieva in Moscow. She performs classical works by, among others, Charpentier, Massenet and Puccini, as well as more modern pieces such as 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' and ' I Could Have Danced All Night'. Constantine Orbelian conducts the Russian National Orchestra and the Grand Choir 'Masters of Choral Singing'.

Janusz Wawrowski's album Phoenix pairs two violin concertos - one a repertoire favourite, the other a fascinating rediscovery. The life-affirming spirit of each defies the circumstances of its genesis: Tchaikovsky's concerto dates from the aftermath of his disastrous marriage, while Polish composer Ludomir Rózycki wrote his concerto during the traumatic Warsaw Uprising, when his countrymen attempted to defy their Nazi occupiers.

"Rózycki's wonderful concerto spoke to me immediately," says Janusz Wawrowski. "It reminds me of Gershwin or Korngold, yet retaining at the same time a distinct Slavic flavour." Wawrowski, praised by Gramophone magazine for his "dark, luscious sweetness of sound", spent 10 years reconstructing the work from long-lost fragments. He performs here with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and its Polish-born Permanent Associate Conductor, Grzegorz Nowak.

In 1944, before escaping Warsaw with his family, Rózycki buried the manuscript of his concerto in his garden. His house was eventually destroyed and Rózycki, living in the city of Katowice, resigned himself to the loss of the score. He died in 1953 at the age of 69. As it turned out, the buried concerto was discovered by construction workers and found its way to Poland's National Library.

"Rózycki's concerto is full of the energy and life of Warsaw before the war," says Janusz Wawrowski. "It is incredible that it was written in the darkest times and carries such positive energy. Rózycki's spirit of hope for a better future was well and truly still alive."

Track list
Rozycki: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra Op.70 Andante
Rozycki: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra Op.70 Allegro Decis
Tchaikovsky: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra Op.35 Allegro M
Tchaikovsky: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra Op.35 Canzonett
Tchaikovsky: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra Op.35 Finale. a

Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Torino in this performance of Verdi's tragic opera.

The Metropolitan Opera give a live performance of Wagner's work. Daniele Gatti conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra with Jonas Kaufmann as the eponymous character.

Riccardo Chailly leads the Chor de la Generalitat Valencia and the Orchestra de la Comunitat Valencia in Davide Livermore's energetic production of Puccini's opera, recorded at the Palau De Les Arts Reina Sofia in December 2012. The soloists include Gal James, Aquiles Machado, Carmen Romeu and Massimo Cavalletti.

The Teatro Regio Di Parma perform Verdi's opera at the Parma Festival in 2010, with a cast including Giovanni Battis Parodi, Susanna Branchini, Sebastian Catana and Roberto de Biasio. Andrea Battistoni conducts.

Donato Renzetti leads the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio di Parma in this live performance of Verdi's opera, recorded at the Parma Festival in 2009. Staged by Joseph Franconi Lee, the cast includes Leo Nucci, Roberto de Biasio, Tatiana Serjan and Roberto Tagliavini.

Placido Domingo stars in Michal Znaniecki's 2009 production of Alfano's opera at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia. Patrick Fournillier conducts the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana and the Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana.

Viola player Garth Knox performs pieces by Giacinto Scelsi, Salvatore Sciarrino, Gerard Grisey, Michael Edwards and Kaija Saariho, with accompanying visuals by video artist Brian O'Reilly.