Pianistic intelligence of the highest order is on extravagant display in our Record of the Month for April: Medtner & Rachmaninov Piano Concertos. Marc-André Hamelin's eagerly awaited recording of 'Rach 3' makes that work into so much more than a virtuoso warhorse (not that there's any lack of virtuosity), while Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra prove the most attentive of accompanists. The sunset glow of late Romanticism also permeates the String Quintets & Octet by Max Bruch—richly rewarding chamber music from the very end of the composer's long life, in sympathetic performances from The Nash Ensemble.

Music for the 100 Years’ War is an exploration and celebration of the range of English music in the century leading up to the Battle of Agincourt. But this is no mere scholarly exercise, the music of this country's distant past here excitingly revivified by Andrew Kirkman and The Binchois Consort. Finally from Hyperion this month, Mozart Violin Sonatas K296, 306, 454 & 547 comprise the third instalment from Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien in what is rapidly becoming seen as the benchmark for this repertoire. As before, works by the boy Wunderkind are coupled with the mature masterpieces.

A new release from Signum Classics once more brings together the Gabrieli Consort & Players and the Wrocław Philharmonic Choir & Baroque Orchestra for an epic rendition of Haydn's The Seasons under the expert guidance of Paul McCreesh. Sung in English, the soloists are Carolyn Sampson, Jeremy Ovenden and Andrew Foster-Williams.