If the Leningrad was Shostakovich’s official response to the second world war, the Eighth Symphony was his answer to the question: “Will you tell us what you really think?” Written while the fighting was still under way, its immediacy remains striking today, a quality reflected in Alain Altinoglu’s purposeful interpretation with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony orchestra. Schostakovich Symphony No 8 album cover You hear that directness at once in the way the strings dig deep, bringing remarkable colours to a 26-minute Adagio that, in the wrong hands, can sound merely bleak and black. Not that Altinoglu shuns the horrors: his phrasing and textural dynamics bring fearsome weight and a sense of wide-eyed terror to the composer’s protracted cry of despair. The orchestra covers itself in glory with instrumental solos that are piquant and precise. Resonant details are captured by an outstanding German production team that manages to outdo the Berlin Philharmonic’s excellent 2020 account under Kirill Petrenko (Shostakovich fans will need both). The second movement, a portrait perhaps of the Nazi war machine, and the …

Pairing Samuel Coleridge-Taylor with his musical idol Dvořák is a shrewd idea. The British composer, of Sierra Leonean heritage, usually finds his Violin Concerto coupled with a little-known English work. Here, juxtaposed with one of the 19th century’s most popular concertos, it more than holds its own. Album cover art. Photograph: Canary Classics Coleridge-Taylor’s concerto premiered in Connecticut in 1912 (despite the original parts going down with the Titanic). Although he doesn’t quote actual spirituals, the harmonies and melodic contours are reminiscent of African folk music. Gil Shaham has the measure of the work, his plush tone and laser-focused intonation enriching the solo line in a generally more sumptuous performance than most rival recordings. Eric Jacobsen and the excellent Virginia Symphony Orchestra ensure the accompaniments remain sufficiently light on their feet. Dvořák took a similarly folk-oriented tack in his 1883 concerto, though his chosen idiom was Slavonic. Internalising the music of his homeland, the composer managed to squeeze both a dumka and a furiant into its breezy finale. Again, Shaham is fluid and imposing, especially …