WHAT’S ON: Samling Concert, Sage Gateshead, 7pm, Saturday. Eight young professional singers and pianists and their mentors, Thomas Moser, Caroline Dowdle and Joseph Middleton, present an evening of opera and song that never fails to shine a spotlight on the stars of the future. Box Office: 0191-443-4661.

REVIEWS: Flowers of the Field (Naxos 8.573426) This timely disc offers a poignant reminder of the devastation of the First World War. Butterworth, Finzi, Gurney and Vaughan Williams were all composers affected by the folly of war, and their elegiac music expresses regret and lost innocence. The City of London Choir and London Mozart Players are conducted by Hilary Davan Whetton. Highly recommended.

De Profundis: Miserere/Requiem (Naxos 8.573196) These three pairs of sublime choral settings, performed by the Vasari Singers, span more than 350 years. The earliest is Allegri’s Miserere and the latest James MacMillan’s 21st Century companion piece. The album is rounded off with Malipiero’s and Pizzetti’s differing settings of De profundis.

Dvorak: Requiem (Naxos 8.572874-75) Dvorak’s Requiem is performed by Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir under the baton of Antoni Wit. Featuring soloists are Christiane Libor, Ewa Wolak, Daniel Kirch, and Janusz Monarcha and this is a significant addition to the discography.