A trio of twentieth-century masterworks makes for an essential Record of the Month in June: Steven Osborne becomes the latest in a long line of piano greats to rise to the challenge of the Ravel Piano Concertos & Falla Nights in the gardens of Spain, while Ludovic Morlot (making his Hyperion debut) and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra are equally alive to every detail of these wonderful scores. Nor is there any lack of high-voltage writing for piano and orchestra—from a composer much less well known—in Dimitar Nenov's Piano Concerto & Ballade No 2. This is music especially close to the hearts of soloist Ivo Varbanov and conductor Emil Tabakov (two further Hyperion debutants); glorious technicolour accompaniments are provided by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

On a much smaller scale, master accompanist Graham Johnson presides over a recital of Songs by Robert Franz: forty-seven exquisitely crafted lieder from a neglected contemporary of Liszt and Wagner. Tenor Robin Tritschler makes a compelling case for their revival. And finally on Hyperion this month, highlights from an English '48'—Stanford's Preludes were his creative response to Bach's Well-tempered Clavier. Sam Haywood here presents a personal selection; a real discovery for those who only know Stanford through his choral music.

Perfido! is a new album of concert arias from Signum Classics. The luminescent Sophie Bevan entices us into riches by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven in the accomplished company of Ian Page and The Mozartists. Malcolm Martineau meanwhile curates his team of singers—including Ann Murray, Iestyn Davies and Sarah Connolly—through a langourously delightful second volume of The Complete Songs of Gabriel Fauré.

From LSO Live this month we have an opulent new rendition of the sublime Mozart Serenade for thirteen wind instruments, the LSO Wind Ensemble inhabiting the very soul of this most divine chip of earth-derived perfection.

Soprano Gillian Keith has teamed up with Christopher Monks' innovative Armonico Consort to record a first volume of Bach Cantatas for solo soprano. This new Signum recording presents three of the master's most popular works in the genre.

Making his first solo recording for Signum this month is rising star Emmanuel Despax—this new performance of the Chopin Préludes (plus the Barcarolle and Berceuse) is as insightful as it is welcome. The name Julia Hwang will be new to most. But her playing of violin virtuosics by Grieg, Vaughan Williams, Lutosławski & Wieniawski entitled Subito gives this young prodigy the stage she deserves. Charles Matthews lends expert accompaniment.

The world encompassed is quite unique: Simon Callow and the expressive viols of Fretwork narrate the 'true history' of that 'right rare and thrice-worthy Captain' Francis Drake, and his pioneering circumnavigation of the globe in 1577-1580. Composer Orlando Gough interprets events, incorporating music of the time by Parsons, Taverner and White into a startling eye-witness narrative. Finally this month, Freya Waley-Cohen's Permutations & Unveil takes us into a rather different world: that of installation architecture. Multi-tracked sister Tamsin Waley-Cohen's violin is our guide.