The core of this double album is the English cellist Steven Isserlis’ recording of Elgar’s emotionally charged Cello Concerto. Isserlis digs deep into the opening movement’s profound melancholy, while his playing fizzes with electric energy in the playful, scherzo-like second movement. The slow movement is searchingly poetic, and in the trenchant finale, conductor Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra provide unflagging support. This is one of the finest recordings of Elgar’s great Concerto. Isserlis’ impish sense of humour is given free rein in a joyful Minnesota Orchestra recording of Strauss’ tone poem Don Quixote, while the elegance of his playing takes centre stage in a sunny account of Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Dating from 1988-1991, these recordings come from a rich period in Isserlis’ career and show him in top form interpretatively.