Itzhak Perlman and Carlo Maria Giulini teamed up again, along with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in a truly exquisite, beautiful recording of the Brahms violin concerto.

A fiery, technically brilliant performance from Maxim Vengerov with Daniel Barenboim conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; still among the finest recordings of this concerto.

An emotionally riveting, intense performance from Anne-Sophie Mutter with Kurt Masur conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Hilary Hahn offers an exquisitely lyrical, thoughtful interpretation which also features superb playing from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Zinman.

A sensational sequel to their first Prokofiev and Shostakovich violin concertos recording from Vengerov, Rostropovich and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Exquisite, lyrical performances of the Brahms concerto and the - often neglected - Schumann concerto from a young Joshua Bell with Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. It's an unusual coupling emphasizing the artistic - and emotional - ties between both composers.

Superlative, heart-felt performances of the Barber and Korngold violin concertos from Gil Shaham with Andre Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, making a persuasive case for adding Korngold's concerto to the standard repertoire.

Exquisite playing from Gil Shaham of Bartok's second violin concerto with Pierre Boulez conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a spirited, superb performance.

Elegant, lyrical performances from violinist Pamela Frank, with warm brilliant playing from the Tonhalle Orchestra under the baton of David Zinman; one of the best Mozart violin concerti cycles - which Grammophone has regarded as the definitive one - and a steal at this price!

Quite possibly the best recording of the Beethoven Triple Concerto I've heard so far, with elegant, rhapsodic playing from the London Symphony Orchestra's former concertmaster and former principal cellist and from the orchestra under Bernard Haitink's baton. It's part of Haitink's critically acclaimed LSO Live Beethoven Symphony cycle recordings.

Impressive playing from Russian violinist Viktoria Mullova in both works - who opts for less of a bright, sweet tone from her violin than does Bell in his recent recording - and from John Eliot Gardiner's period-instrument band. This may be a rather odd choice to purists, but it works quite well.

One of my two primary recommendations for the Tchaikovsky violin concerto (The other is Joshua Bell's.). Vengerov excels in putting some fiery Slavic intensity into Tchaikovsky's score, balancing well both the technical brilliance and lyrical quality of his playing. Abbado and the Berliners are superb accompanists, giving their own splendid performance of this work.

An intensely compelling, brilliant interpretation of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto from young German violinist Julia Fischer.

Janine Jansen's unusually sparse, bare-bones approach to Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", but one which works.