Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries, renowned for his brilliant technique, direct interpretation and precision. When it comes to evoking the colours and moods of Vivaldi’s Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, Itzhak Perlman deploys an inimitably rich and varied palette. He directs the London Philharmonic Orchestra from the violin.

Cinema Serenade came to be as a result of the 1992 collaboration of the world's premier film composer, John Williams, with one of the world's finest violinists, Itzhak Perlman, on the score for Steven Spielberg's Holocaust epic Schindler's List. The duo reunited to create a collection of excerpts from a variety of different film scores presented in new arrangements that are centered around Perlman's violin. Williams arranged most of the numbers and conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. The selections are a strange hodgepodge culled haphazardly from some 50 years of film history.

In Perlman's words, Tchaikovsky "wears his heart on his sleeve" and his violin concerto is a work of "unabashed Romanticism". While bringing sensitivity and substance to his interpretation, Perlman never slips into sentimentality and he leads an exhilarating dance in the finale.

This is vintage, songful Perlman: each line in the Fauré and Strauss sonatas is beautifully drawn and meticulously judged and everything overlain with an attractive patina of age and experience. Ax imbues the romance and fire of these youthful works with genuine warmth and wisdom.

The music of Scott Joplin, the “King of Ragtime”, achieved a newfound popularity in the mid-1970s, nearly sixty years after the composer’s death. Its beguiling synthesis of African-American syncopations and European musical forms is eloquently captured by Itzhak Perlman and André Previn.

This brilliant audiophile download brings together the exquisite trio of Itzhak Perlman, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Lynn Harrell. The trio displays effortless virtuosity and lyricism, delivering a flawless rendition of a true masterpiece. The album would win the GRAMMY for Best Chamber Music Performance. This album is absolutely essential.