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 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.

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the San Francisco Symphony for this performance of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, which was originally broadcast by the American television channel PBS in 2009 as part of the 'Keeping Score' classical music series.

Daniel Barenboim leads the Berlin Philharmonic in this selection of popular classics recorded live at the Philharmonie Berlin, on New Years Eve, 2001.

Riccardo Zandonai's 1914 opera performed by a cast of three acclaimed singing actors - Renata Scotto, Placido Domingo, and Cornell MacNeil who bring the medieval characters to life in this production, filmed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1984. This opera is a prime example of the lush musical style of the late Romantic era, conducted here by James Levine.

Today's preeminent opera singers gather to perform and explain some of Italian opera's greatest arias. This release features the vocal talents of Ann Murray, Angela Gheorghiu, Eva Marton, Joan Sutherland, and many others.

Georg Christoph Biller leads the Gewandhaus Orchestre and the Thomanerchor Leipzig in this performance of J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor, recorded live in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig in 2000. Featured soloists include Ruth Holton, Matthias Rexroth, Christoph Genz and Klaus Mertens.

Between 1917 and 1962, Pablo Picasso was involved in creating the designs for nine ballets including 'Parade', 'Pulcinella' and 'L'Apres-midi d'un Faune', in collaboration with such artists as Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, Leonide Massine and Vaslav Nijinsky. Picasso, a native of Andalusia, also created the sets and costumes for the very Spanish ballet, 'Le Tricorne' ('The Three-Cornered Hat'). This release features the entire ballet along with a documentary which traces the story of Picasso's involvement with designs for ballet.