Back from travels to Brussels and Paris. 'Flu has struck and I am laid low with a vast pile of new CDs to choose from. What will I pick first? Well, first was Paul Agnew singing Purcell songs; yet another Purcell song disc for my collection, but no one can have too many such discs. Agnew sings very well indeed; the three accompanying instruments are excellent (Elizabeth Kenny et al) and a special note for the recording quality; one notices right from the start the excellent balance between the four participants and the excellent "space" around the music. I like Purcell.

Second was Chloë Hanslip's new CD of Hubay (Naxos) that comes with a special "glamour" outer cover of the podgy Chloë (presumably paid for by her mother, since Naxos does not usually push young flesh). Once discarded and binned, the tasteless outer sleeve reveals a normal CD inside with a cover picture of Jenö Hubay; much more appropriate, given that he composed all the music on the disc. Hubay was not a great composer, but he wrote some attractive late-romantic music. Ms Hanslip plays very well and partly makes up for the tacky outer sleeve. At least she habitually gives us Hubay, Bazzini, et al and not yet more Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Brahms and the other usual suspects.