Katherine Cooper

The past fifteen years or so have seen a veritable explosion of countertenors set on breaking the mould for their voice-type, but few have ploughed their own furrow with quite so much assurance as the exhilarating American John Holiday, whose career has encompassed NBC’s singing competition The Voice and several pop singles as well as appearances at major opera houses across the US and Europe.

Today's new releases include a Franco-Belgian recital from Elena Urioste and Tom Poster on Chandos, Peter Donohoe's favourite Chopin on SOMM, a Finzi triptych from the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge on Hyperion, and Schubert from George Xiaoyuan Fu and Lotte Betts-Dean on Platoon. The centrepiece of this recital of lesser-known French and Belgian repertoire is Guillaume Lekeu's Violin Sonata in G, which was commissioned by Eugène Ysaÿe in 1892.

As its title suggests, Hungarian Pictures is an exhibition of authentic recordings made in the country itself by preeminent musicians. The majority date from the early 1960s, soon after the Hungarian Revolution yet a long time before its emergence from behind the Iron Curtain. The recordings are given welcome, much-needed remasters from Chris Bernauer, who balances the many orchestral shades of this rich, expressive music.