August 2015 sees three new recordings from Hyperion, and at the head of the list is a new album of Beethoven Piano Sonatas from Angela Hewitt. The programme, the fifth in her mini series that continues to receive glowing plaudits from the press as well as from Angela's legion of fans, encompasses almost all of Beethoven's career in the genre, from 1795 with Op 2 No 2 (Sonata No 2, somewhat inevitably) through to the great No 31, Op 110, written in 1821 as the middle of the final three. Fans of more frivolous piano fare will welcome our 66th Romantic Piano Concerto series release. Howard Shelley and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra have recorded Henri Herz Piano Concerto No 2 & other works, their third and final visit to the bejewelled territory of this Austro-Parisian sensation.

The Orlando Consort has returned to the studio to record the music of Loyset Compère, some two decades since their first album dedicated to this composer (of which a customer review on Amazon states "The Orlando Consort could probably sing the Manchester phone book and make it musically satisfying"!). This new album presents a gloriously inventive Magnificat, probably composed in Milan around 1475, along with a selection of rustic chansons and a couple of motets.

There are two new recordings from Signum Classics this month. Roderick Williams is joined by the Carducci String Quartet and Graham J Lloyd for an enterprising recital of Songs by Ian Venables, a worthy addition to the 'Wenlock Edge' tradition of English song and one which elicits performances of quiet rapture. In 1707 a young composer found much-needed patronage abroad: with Handel in Italy the pioneering London Early Opera begins an exploration of this extraordinary musical awakening. The group is joined by hugely talented singers Sophie Bevan, Mary Bevan and Benjamin Bevan.