WHAT’S ON: Northern Sinfonia, conducted by Eduardo Portal, The Sage Gateshead, 7.30pm tonight. Programme includes Schubert’s String Quintet and Beethoven’s Symphony No 7. Box Office: 0191-433-4661.

REVIEWS: Pergolesi: Stabat Mater etc 3-CD set (Naive OP30507) Naive re-issue three renowned recordings to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. The set is headed by the Gramophone award-winning version of his Stabat Mater by Rinaldo Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano. The set is rounded off with Fabio Biondi’s recording of the Salve Regina and Alessandrini’s of Messa di San Emidio. Highly recommended.

Erkki-Sven Tuur: Strata (ECM New Series 476 3799) Estonian composer Tuur, presents two large-scale pieces for orchestral forces.

Symphony No 6 Strata and Concerto for Violin and Clarinet Neosis are played by the Tallinbased Nordic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Anu Tali. The former consists of a massive 32- minute movement with shifting musical layers which expand and contract, completely immersing the listener in its accumulations.

Neosis starts with individual instruments in isolation, which gradually merge.