Looking for some classical music to accompany your summer activities (at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere)? You'll find several choices among the albums our reviewers heard this past month. Andrew Davis conducts Charles Ives' Symphony No. 2, an example of his use of folk songs and hymns that suggest carefree New England summers. Nicholas Daniel gives us the pastoral sounds of Vaughan Williams' Oboe Concerto. Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra present Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with its depiction of a summer storm. Brilliant Spain is evoked in piano concertos by Granados and Albéniz, performed by Melani Mestre. And Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard teams up with the Barcelona Symphony to revisit a piece pondering the life of Joan of Arc. Relax and soak up some sun!

kristjan jarvi Fleurs
Damrau SpacekViolin Ctos Tasmin Little
Shosty PHQt Smetana

Blair Sanderson
Marin Alsop, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra - Prokofiev: Symphony No. 3; Scythian Suite; Autumn
Ivor Bolton - Berlioz: Of Madness and Love
Borodin String Quartet - Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet 1, 8, 14
Jane Chapman - The Oriental Miscellany: Airs of Hindustan
Stephen Cleobury - Liszt, Reubke, Mendelssohn: Organ Works
Andrew Davis - Charles Ives: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2
James Ehnes, Andrew Davis, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra - Berlioz: Harold en Italie; Rob-Roy; Rêverie et Caprice
Janina Fialkowska - Grieg: Lyric Pieces
Sarah Fox, James Burton - The Cole Porter Songbook
Bernard Haitink, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra - Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
Martin Haselböck, Wiener Akademie Orchester - Re-Sound: Beethoven Symphonies 1 & 2
Kristjan Järvi, Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic - The Kristjan Järvi Sound Project: Baltic Sea Voyage
Kuijken Quartet, Michel Boulanger - Schubert: String Quintet
Michail Lifits - Schubert: Piano Sonatas D 894 & D 845
Orchestre National de France - Orchestre National de France: 80 Ans de Concerts Inédits
Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra - Maurice Ravel: Orchestral Works
Maria João Pires - Maria João Pires: Complete Concerto Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon
Karl Richter - Mozart: Requiem
Luca Sanzò, Maurizio Paciariello - Hindemith: Sonatas for Violin and Piano; Kleine Sonata for Viola d'Amore
Steffen Schleiermacher - Hauer: Piano Works
Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic Orchestra - Beethoven: Egmont Overture; Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral"
Fredrik Ullén - Kaikhosru Sorabji: 100 Transcendental Studies, 63-71
Tamsin Waley-Cohen - Soli
Elizabeth Watts, Christian Baldini, Scottish Chamber Orchestra - Mozart: Opera Arias & Overtures
Pinchas Zukerman, Members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic - Bach: Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 1-6

James Manheim
Afiara Quartet, Skratch Bastid - Spin Cycle
Anima Musicæ Chamber Orchestra - Mozart: Divertimenti; Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante - Vivaldi: I concerti dell'addio
Boston Baroque, Martin Pearlman - Claudio Monteverdi: Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria
The Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice - Jacquet of Mantua: Missa Surge Petre & Motets
Alice Coote, Graham Johnson - L'Heure Exquise: A French Songbook
Lorenzo Coppola, Andreas Staier - Johannes Brahms: Sonatas for Clarinet & Piano
Marion Cotillard, Barcelona Symphony, Marc Soustrot - Arthur Honegger: Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher
Diana Damrau - Fiamma del Belcanto
Nicholas Daniel - Ralph Vaughan Williams, James MacMillan: Oboe Concertos
Barry Douglas - Brahms: Works for Solo Piano, Vol. 4
Mark Elder - Donizetti: Les Martyrs
John Eliot Gardiner - Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5 'Reformation'; Overture: Ruy Blas & Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage
Edward Gardner - Janácek: Orchestral Works, Vol. 2
Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, Geoffrey Webber - Romaria: Choral Music from Brazil
Folke Gräsbeck - Folke Gräsbeck plays Sibelius on the Ainola Piano
Daniel Hope, Paul Neubauer, David Finckel, Wu Han - Brahms, Schumann, Mahler: Piano Quartets
Leonidas Kavakos, Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Valery Gergiev - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9; Violin Concerto No. 1
Tasmin Little - Schubert: Chamber Works
Andrew Litton, Colorado Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sarah Fox, Christopher Maltman - Vaughan Williams: Dona nobis pacem; Stephen Hough: Missa Mirabilis
Francis MacDonald - Music for String Quartet, Piano & Celeste
Melani Mestre, BBC Scottish Symphony, Martyn Brabbins - Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 65: Albéniz, Granados
Morgenstern Trio - Tailleferre, Fontyn, Ravel
Emmanuel Pahud - Revolution: Flute Concertos
Pavel Haas Quartet - Smetana: String Quartets Nos. 1 "From My Life" & 2
Javier Perianes, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo - Grieg: Piano Concerto; Lyric Pieces
Julian Perkins - Smith & Handel
Carolyn Sampson - Fleurs
Josef Spacek - Dvorák, Suk, Janácek: Violin Concertos
Markus Stenz, Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic - James MacMillan: St. Luke Passion
Evgeny Svetlanov - Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Richard Tognetti, Australian Chamber Orchestra - Vivaldi: The 4 Seasons