Another exciting new series of recordings are available to download from the Chandos website this month, from CDK Music , famous for its archive of Russian repertoire.

Piano soloists are very well represented this month, Mikhail Pletnev playing Tchaikovsky's Grande Sonata in G major, Op. 37 (CDK 0033), Svyatoslav Richter performing a delightful recital of short piano pieces by Tchaikovsky that combine brilliance and charm (CDK 0085), and Tatiana Nikolaeva giving distinguished performances of the Preludes and Fugues, Op. 87 by Shostakovich (CDK 0073).

There are all sorts of rarely performed repertoire available, too, from this label, including the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (CDK 0053) and the one-act opera Aleko (CDK 0051) by Rachmaninov , so please have a good look through the list of available repertoire. There is something extra-special about Russian music performed by Russian artists, and the vitality and distinction of these releases are astonishing.

Is was perhaps inevitable that Chandos Records at some stage should record the Chandos Anthems of Handel ! During 1717 – 18, Handel wrote eleven anthems for his patron, the Duke of Chandos , to be performed at his country house, Canons, near Edgeware. Reflecting the period, they have grandeur, but are also direct and unpretentious; the elements of Italianate elaboration and German fugal complexity are married with an assurance that only Handel could achieve. The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra, under Harry Christophers, received superb critical acclaim for their recordings of this uplifting music, which no lover of the baroque should be without (CHAN 0503, CHAN 0504, CHAN 0505, CHAN 0509). All sorts of other Handelian goodies are also released this month, from the famous Messiah (CHAN 0522) to the rarely performed but very beautiful Apollo e Daphne (CHAN 0583) – as well as the magnificent Dixit Dominus (CHAN 0517).

The Masses are amongst the finest music Haydn ever wrote, and some of the greatest choral music in the repertoire. They are full of bubbling vitality, melody, excitement as well as much beauty and depth. Richard Hickox has recorded all of them to tremendous critical acclaim. Whilst the Nelson Mass may be the most famous, each is equally rewarding, and both the ‘Creation' Mass (CHAN 0599) and Theresienmesse (CHAN 0592) are highlights among the Chandos recordings of this exceptionally thrilling music.

The world is full of unsung heroes and the world of music especially so: the musical score is often overlooked in a film's success, the bar pianist is talked over and an audience is often unappreciative. But there is a group of composers who are the most unsung of all: composers who wrote so-called ‘library music'. Next time you watch a film, especially a pre-1980s film, the music you hear pouring out of radios, night clubs, lifts, bars, parties and the like is more likely than not ‘library music'. That is, music especially written by composers to be used in films, newsreels, TV programmes etc. to create a mood or atmosphere.

Chandos also recorded some exceptionally attractive light-music discs for commercial release in the 1960s and '70s. Cynthia Glover and John Lawrenson were famous performers for many years on the BBC 2 programme Friday Night is Music Night and recorded an LP called Stars of Friday Night (MISC 1012), with accompaniments by Jack Byfield and now available as a download. Quite different is a disc called The Amazing Music of the Electronic Arp Synthesizer (MISC 1011) which has a real period feel and no doubt a cult following.

However, one of my favourite releases is Airs of the Isles , comprising traditional tunes that have been beautifully and imaginatively arranged by Gordon Langford (MISC 1010). Langford also orchestrated and a arranged a disc of children's nursery rhymes: it features some deliciously piquant orchestral arrangements, from the bright and breezy ‘Here We Go round the Mulberry Bush' to the short and almost macabre sounding story of ‘Solomon Grundy'. Nursery rhymes can be enjoyed on many levels (there are plenty of dark elements in them) but in these versions, sung by Derek Hammond-Stroud and Audrey Atwood with beautiful diction, and by the fresh and enthusiastic Iceni Children's Choir , the result is a delicious mixture of exhilaration and nostalgia (MISC 1013).

Joanna Kurkowicz is not a new name on the Chandos label: she has already released a CD of music of Grazyna Bacewicz (1909 – 1969) on CHAN 10250, reviewed to much acclaim by the international press. Kurkowicz's busy schedule is characterised by an impressively enterprising repertoire and she has premiered a host of important new contemporary works. Her Bacewicz recording on Chandos is a prime example of her approach: enterprising repertoire with superb, virtuosic musicianship (‘disciplined virtuosity', as Gramophone magazine wrote!) and a dazzling freshness of inspiration.

This month sees the release of some remarkable, varied and striking music in the Violin Concerto Svara Yantra of Shirish Korde. This haunting work, richly imbued with Indian colours and musical tradition, offers something unique and powerful, with all manner of exotic and imaginative instrumental textures and detail from both the soloist, Kurkowicz, and the orchestra. By way of contrast, Japan is the inspiration for the second concertante work on this recording, Cranes Dancing . Again, one finds oneself responding to the myriad of haunting and exotic sounds conjured up in this impressive work, which is dedicated to Joanna Kurkowicz and was premiered in 2005 (MISC 1005).

For more information on this superb artist and this repertoire, please press the following link: http://joannakurkowicz.com/

It is something of a Mendelssohn celebration with Pristine Audio downloads this month: there is the Violin Concerto in E minor with the legendary Fritz Kreisler and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Landon Ronald, from 1935 (PASC 051); Yehudi Menuhin in the rarely performed but very appealing D minor Concerto , with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Boult, from 1953 (PASC 052), and the same soloist accompanied by Gerald Moore in the Violin Sonata in F major , from 1953 (PACM 037). The dashing ‘Italian' Symphony is heard in a little-known performance by Fritz Rieger and the Munich Philharmonia Orchestra, from 1951 (PASC 053) and there are also recordings of the delightful Piano Trios , with the Trio Santoliquido (No. 1), dating from 1955, and The Zilcher Trio (No. 2), dating from 1930. Peter Katin dashes off some exhilarating performances of the Capriccio brillant and Rondo brillant , aided and abetted by Jean Martinon and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, along with the wildly demonic Totentanz of Liszt , recorded in 1954 (PASC 054). The same soloist is also featured in two virtuoso Liszt recitals recorded by Decca in the 1950s (PAKM 024 / 025), which are not to be missed on any account by fans of bravura playing.

All of us, I'm sure, have a favourite piece of ‘off the beaten track' repertoire, which we consider a jewel and which few seem to know about. In my case, it is the Quintet in B flat by Rimsky-Korsakov . Although I would hate for it to become too popular, for me it is one of the most exhilaratingly fresh and bubbling pieces of music ever written. It is impossible to listen to it without feeling better: its charms are seemingly infinite but it is tempered with just the right amount of compensating gravitas. The slow movement is quite magical. This hidden treasure is performed to perfection by the Nash Ensemble and the price of downloading this piece is ludicrously small compared to the pleasure it gives. The coupling, the D minor Trio by Arensky , is also very enjoyable, with similar dedication from the Nash players and perfect recording (CRD 3409).

CRD is famous for its chamber music recordings and this month's downloads includes some of their very best: the Nash Ensemble appear in several other notable recordings, all of them remaining top choices in the CD catalogue: the evergreen Serenade in D minor by Dvorak is coupled with the Nonet in E flat by Krommer , a rarely heard but highly tuneful work in the best late classical / early romantic manner (CRD 3410). The lively ‘Military' Septet by Hummel makes an ideal partner for the ‘Grand' Septet by Kreutzer , both unpretentious works full of vitality and invention (CRD 3390); both the delightful Clarinet Quintet and the Flute Trio of Weber are marvellously entertaining pieces in the composer's freshest and most beguiling manner, and a disc featuring the Septet in A minor for Piano and Wind and the Piano Quintet in C minor by Spohr is a real winner (CRD 3399). All these composers wrote to entertain their audiences, but the entertainment is sophisticated, offering both wit and elegance, and belonging to another age. Happily, this age comes back to us through these recordings.

CRD's impressive recordings of works by Fauré continue to make their way to downloads: this month the haunting and powerful D minor Piano Trio is coupled with one of the composer's finest song cycles, La Bonne Chanson , sung by Sarah Walker , and the instrumental parts are (again!) flawlessly played by the Nash Ensemble (CRD 3389). The recording by Paul Crossley of Fauré's magical Nocturnes are now available, with Nos 1 – 7 on CRD 3406 and Nos 8 – 13 on CRD 3407.

Also from this artist – famous for his interpretations of French music – come two CDs of the solo piano music of Ravel (CRD 3383 and CRD 3384). There is plenty of chamber music by Handel that is hardly known at all, but very little of it is not worth hearing. L'École d'Orphée made a distinguished series of recordings exploring this repertoire and three titles are released this month, offering violin sonatas (CRD 3374), recorder sonatas (CRD 3378) and the Trios Sonatas, Op. 2 (CRD 3375).