Handel's 'Messiah' is one of the most sung oratorios in the world and its great choruses and arias can be heard on countless classical collections. From its premiere to the present day, this great sacred work enjoys almost unbroken popularity and has always fascinated audiences and musicians alike. In the chapter "Resurrection of George Frideric Handel" of his book "Decisive Moments in History", Stefan Zweig provides a particularly colourful description of Handel’s "Messiah". Starting from the fresh spirit of the work, he creates a lively story that lets the reader look over his shoulder as he composes the work. In it, he illustrates the timelessness and special position of this great composition in the context of music history.

The Orchestra of the Antipodes' 2011 set of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos is certainly worth having for its exquisite period performances of these perennial favorites, but it is even more attractive for offering eight popular sinfonias from the cantatas, thereby giving listeners added value in an already excellent set. The Australia-based ensemble plays original instruments, and the performances are appropriate in textures, tempos, and ornamentation, so everything a fan of Baroque performance practice could want can be found here. The pacing is fleet and efficient, the counterpoint is transparent, and the sonorities are bright, so the combination will certainly excite even the most experienced devotees of these works.

Solo lute music flourished in large parts of Europe in the first half of the 16th century. In Italy, its most important early exponents were Francesco Spinacino, Joanambrosio Dalza, Vincenzo Capirola and Francesco da Milano. The leading lutenists in France were Albert de Rippe and Guillaume Morlaye. Germanys composers of unaccompanied lute music were Hans Judenkünig, Hans Newsiedler and Hans Gerle. The second half of the century brought new composers to the fore: in Italy, Vincenzo Galilei, Giovanni Antonio Terzi and Simone Molinaro; in Germany, Hans Newsiedlers son Melchior above all.

After half a century in the music industry, it's amazing that Cher is still making records in 2013. That Closer to the Truth is any good at all is even more shocking. With the help of her longtime producer Mark Taylor, plus Billy Mann and Paul Oakenfold, the album has a fully modern sound, a large portion of the songs (written by the usual cast of many who include P!nk and Cher herself) are hooky and fun, and her voice, aided by technology or not, still carries a lot of weight and power. The album is split down the middle with the first half made up of shimmering, supercharged dance tracks that have disco and house influences and seem destined to fire up clubgoers with their soaring choruses.

Music has been present in Hugh Laurie’s career in some form or another since the days of Fry & Laurie, even working its way into House, the American television series that turned him into an international star in the 2000s. Without House, Laurie would never have been granted the opportunity to record an album like 2011’s Let Them Talk, a full-blooded immersion into American blues via New Orleans, shepherded by acclaimed roots producer Joe Henry and featuring such Big Easy heavy-hitters as Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, and Irma Thomas. To his enormous credit, Laurie never sounds like a dilettante among this group; he holds his own, working his way into the marrow of the songs, playing credible piano throughout the record. Which isn’t to say that he quite makes this selection of standards his own, either…

HR cutting (High Resolution Cutting) from 2011 DSD master based on British original analog tape.

Safe Trip Home, the third album from singer-songwriter Dido, sees the chanteuse cook up a slightly different ambience than on previous albums No Angel (1999) and Life for Rent (2003). Though her signature elements remain in place–the limited, slightly cracked falsetto; the dreamy, comforting trip-hop vibe–there seems to be an extra density to Safe Trip Home, doubtless provoked by the loss of her father in 2006. The added weight is predominantly in the lyrics, which tend to focus on loss and heartache, but there's extra detail and depth in the musicianship too, since Dido has been busy honing her skills as a multi-instrumentalist. Despite the denser themes, the music still drifts by in classic Dido style, moving smoothly through the insouciant “Don't Believe in Love", the aptly titled “Quiet Times", and “Never Want to Say It's Love", before arriving at the somber-yet-elegant six-minute standout “Grafton Street", co-written with Brian Eno and featuring Mick Fleetwood on drums. The rest of the album unfurls in similarly sophicticated fashion, featuring the folkish “Look No Further", the upbeat “Us 2 Little Gods", and a nine-minute poetic closer called “Northern Skies". Put simply, Safe Trip Home is Dido in superlative form.

Better by Far is the eighth studio album by Canterbury scene rock band Caravan. Caravan are an English rock band from the Canterbury area, founded by former Wilde Flowers members David Sinclair, Richard Sinclair, Pye Hastings, and Richard Coughlan in 1968. The band have never achieved the great commercial success that was widely predicted for them at the beginning of their career, but are nevertheless considered a key part of the Canterbury scene of progressive rock acts, blending psychedelic rock, jazz, and classical influences to create a distinctive sound.

The second of 2 EPs preceding the next FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON album in 2025. Multiple Angle Distortions EP ( M.A.D ) see FSOL moving into a darker percussive electronic soundscape - tinges of 303 acid mix with menacing orchestral compositions, Grammy nominated Daniel Pemberton makes an appearance on “Improvisations” - recorded live at a London fashion show - also recorded live is the final track Northern Point which uses two of FSOL’s own designed synthesizers ….

Esoteric Recordings are proud to announce the release of a newly re-mastered and expanded edition of the classic 1970 album Home by Procol Harum. Released in June 1970, the record followed on from the huge international success of the band's debut single A Whiter Shade of Pale and the superb albums Procol Harum, Shine On Brightly and A Salty Dog. Hailed by many fans as one of the finest albums released by the band, Home saw the exquisite song writing of Gary Brooker and Keith Reid reach new heights on pieces such as The Dead Man's Dream, the epic Whaling Stories, About to Die and more. Produced by Chris Thomas, the album captured a new line-up of the band featuring Gary Brooker (voice, piano), Chris Copping (bass guitar, organ), Robin Trower (lead guitar), and B.J. Wilson (drums).
Newly re-mastered from the original tapes, this Deluxe edition of Home has been expanded to include 11 bonus tracks…

On Sacred Ordinary Paul’s artistry of creating a palette of rich emotional sounds sets a foundation from which he weaves a series of electronic web like pieces with a keen sense of melodic invention and dimensional symmetry. There is an hint of nostalgia in these tracks as well if one has been privy to the classic melodic sequencer style electronic music periods over the past few decades. This brings another kind of depth to the experience while at the same time this music is really about the here and now as it unfolds with a kind a graceful patience and awareness to detail that keeps pulling you in deeper with each play.

Leon Bosch South African-born, British double bassist Leon Bosch is known as one of the world's top players of his instrument. After a long stint as principal double bassist with the Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, he branched out into solo repertory, playing concertos and founding his own ensemble, I Musicanti. He is also noted as an educator. Bosch was born in Cape Town, South Africa, on July 7, 1961.

Santana Arriving at the twilight of the 1960s, Santana were psychedelic pioneers who ushered Latin rock into the mainstream with their first three albums: Santana, Abraxas, and Santana III. Thanks to their appearance at Woodstock, their eponymous album was a smash hit right out of the gate, with its single "Evil Ways" making it into the Billboard Top Ten in 1969. They remained at the top of the charts until 1973, when leader and namesake guitarist Carlos Santana began exploring esoteric, spiritual jazz fusion on his own. Carlos may have wandered away from the band who shared his name, but he always returned to the group, sustaining them through years both productive and fallow.

The most beautiful jazz swing songs by Slim Pickins & His Twenty-Niners, Skip Martin & His Prohibitionists, The Storyville Stompers and many more on one compilation!

Graham Johnson’s complete Schubert and Schumann songs series for Hyperion are landmarks in the history of recorded music. Now this indefatigable performer and scholar turns to the songs and vocal works of Brahms. Each disc of this Hyperion edition takes a journey through Brahms’s career. The songs are not quite presented in chronological order but they do appear here in the order that the songs were presented to the world. Each recital represents a different journey through the repertoire (and thus through Brahms’s life). In a number of these Hyperion recitals an opus number will be presented in its entirety (in the case of this disc, Op 48). The folksongs of 1894 will be shared between all the singers in the series.