• The young British pianist Ashley Fripp, strong across a range of repertoire, is already a specialist – as performer and as current Guildhall doctoral scholar – in the music of Thomas Adès. In this recital (Willowhayne Records), Fripp includes the first recording since the composer’s own of Concert Paraphrase on Powder Her Face, Adès’s explosive precis of his 1995 opera. Fripp captures all its insouciance, darkness and extravagance. Either side, he plays works by Bach – the English Suite No 2 in A minor, BWV 807, here springy and pliant – and Chopin. It’s perceptive programming. The transition from the erotic tango finale of Powder Her Face into the gentle simplicity of Chopin’s Barcarolle in D flat major, Op 57 is tender and natural. The album ends with the Grande Polonaise Brillante Op 22, played with virtuosity, nobility and the right dash of glamour.

The Berlin composers of the Weimar years were skilled at mixing art music with popular cabaret and music hall styles. In Bye-Bye Berlin (Hamonia Mundi), singer-songwriter Marion Rampal and the Quatuor Manfred perform songs by Hanns Eisler and Kurt Weill as well as Alban Berg, Erwin Schulhoff and Friedrich Hollaender. The mood is smoke-filled dives and The Blue Angel. A must listen: Paul Hindemith’s arrangement of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman overture for string quartet which sounds as if the sea is laced with rum. Collaborator Raphaël Imbert interjects with bluesy persuasion on saxophone and bass clarinet.

The young saxophonist Jess Gillam (right), who made her name as a finalist in 2016’s BBC Young Musician, presents Young Musician 2018, a new series of podcasts with fellow young players in mind, but interesting for all. She tackles stage fright, memory lapses, how to present yourself on stage and more.