The Basel vocal ensemble Voces Suaves specialises in Renaissance and Baroque music. Thanks to their profound knowledge of the respective historical context and the original languages, the singers succeed in giving a performance which is characterised by warmth and full sound, and which allows direct emotional access to this music, which is sometimes a little difficult to understand.

In this record, Nicolas Deletaille, a young graduate of the Queen Elisabeth Musical Chapel and of the Juilliard School of New York, brings together exceptional partners for a special "Schubertiade". First, the Arpeggione sonata, performed on a superb Arpeggione, specially built by the instrument maker Benjamin Labrique. Our young virtuoso is accompanied by none other than the great Paul Badura-Skoda, who was absolutely fascinated by the re-discovery of the short-lived instrument. Then we come to the quest for the Graal: the posthumous Quintet, where the cello succeeds this curious "guitar with a bow" and melts harmoniously in the refined sounds of the Rosamonde Quartet. An exceptionally interesting chamber music record that allows a dynamic and original young musician to produce himself in very elegant company indeed!

We therefore featured three cantatas by G. Porsile, each of which has a musical or literary characteristic trait. Also by Mancini, Va sospirando il core is one of the cantatas that can be found in many collections. A. Scarlatti naturally appears in this Neapolitan part of the CD with the cantata Lontananza non risana recorded on a tenor viol. Two other cantatas in the manuscript caught our attention: Poiché più dell’amore, by the Milanese Carlo Antonio Monza, whose vocal music remains extremely poorly known; and the cantata E che più far poss’io by Francesco Gasparini, one of the most important Italian opera composers of the first three decades of the 18th century.

Gabriel Chmura conducted a notable recording of Franz Schubert’s Lazarus (D 689, "Die Feier der Auferstehung") with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and chorus for the Orfeo label, released in the early 1980s. Featuring soloists Edith Mathis, Hermann Prey, and Werner Hollweg, this acclaimed interpretation received the prestigious Grand Prix de Disque Mondial de Montreux.

Foxtrot is where Genesis began to pull all of its varied inspirations into a cohesive sound - which doesn't necessarily mean that the album is streamlined, for this is a group that always was grandiose even when they were cohesive, or even when they rocked, which they truly do for the first time here. Indeed, the startling thing about the opening "Watcher of the Skies" is that it's the first time that Genesis attacked like a rock band, playing with a visceral power. There's might and majesty here, and it, along with "Get 'Em Out by Friday," is the truest sign that Genesis has grown muscle without abandoning the whimsy. Certainly, they've rarely sounded as fantastical or odd as they do on the epic 22-minute closer "Supper's Ready," a nearly side-long suite that remains one of the group's signature moments. It ebbs, flows, teases, and taunts, see-sawing between coiled instrumental attacks and delicate pastoral fairy tales…

A reissue of the similarly named concert film, Maiden England '88 expands on the epic set of the original with a two-disc CD set. While this version only has three more tracks than its predecessor, it shows that a little change can go a long way, adding classics like "Run to the Hills," "Running Free," and "Sanctuary." Though it doesn't seem like much, these single cuts help to turn the live set into a more well-rounded listening experience, as the band forgoes the more far out tracks from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and Somewhere in Time in favor of some of their earlier, more direct work. Whichever way you slice it, though, Maiden England '88 is a solid concert that shows one of the most influential bands in heavy metal getting down to business and bringing some epic metal to an enthralled crowd, making it an easy recommendation for any Iron Maiden fans out there who haven't already checked this one out.

Nikolaus Harnoncourt The Complete Sony Recordings brings together for the first time Harnoncourt s complete recordings from 2002-2015 with his Concentus Musicus Wien, the Wiener Philharmonike, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Symphonieorchester des Bayrischen Rundfunks. The Sony Classical edition features his famous symphony recordings of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Bruckner, alongside his celebrated performances of great choral works such as the Verdi, Brahms and Mozart Requiems and Haydn's Die Schöpfung, as well as Mozart's opera Zaide, Haydn's Orlando paladino and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Also included are previously authorized but unreleased recordings of J. S. Bach s Cantatas Nos. 26 & 36, Beethoven's Christus am Ölberge and Dvorák's Stabat Mater.

This colorful and wide-ranging program brings together two virtuoso soloists, violist Tabea Zimmerman and pianist Javier Perianes, for an exploration of repertoire from Spain to South America featuring works by the greatest composers the countries of these regions have produced. Spanish folk songs arranged by Falla are paired here with compositions by Casals, Granados, Montsalvatge, Piazzolla and the beloved aria from the fifth Bachiana brasileira by Brazil's Villa-Lobos.

This CD is a wonderful selection of shorter works by the composer, including two of his radical programmatic pieces, played with skillful zest or, where appropriate, contained emotion by the Concentius Musicus Wien directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Originally written for the virtuoso orchestra of the Bishop of Olomouc, the performances here are based on the original, unrevised manuscripts. The collection opens with the "Sonata II a 5 Violae", one of the two included five-part string sonatas, accompanied by a continuo with bass and harpsichord in a lively Allegro, which alternates with brief Adagio interludes, and seques eventually into a skipping triple meter Presto tempo and an Adagio coda.

Dizzy Gillespie (along with altoist Leo Wright, pianist Lalo Schfrin, bassist Bob Cunningham, and drummer Chuck Lampkin) were in peak form for this live performance. Their versions of "Kush," "Salt Peanuts," and "The Mooche" are all excellent, but it is "A Night in Tunisia," with its absolutely stunning trumpet break (which lasts half a chorus), that is most memorable.