Armida is the tenth opera in the Vivaldi Edition; it's the second one to be recorded by Rinaldo Alessandrini (their first was L’Olimpiade). It's a great success. Marking the end of Vivaldi's first period in Venice, it lacks music for Act II. Alessandrini has reconstructed it here using carefully chosen existing music of the composer with the assistance of the musicologist Frédéric Delaméa.

This is a selection of outstanding examples of Buxtehude’s vocal and instrumental music. Settings of Latin biblical texts and ariosa-style works based on German hymns, alternate with instrumental sonatas. The recording has been given a special “North German” colouring through the use of a wide range of historical wind instruments such as the Baroque trombone and dulcian.

In 1789 Mozart arranged George Frideric Handel's Messiah on behalf of a group of Viennese noblemen.He abridged the work in an effort to tauten the drama, transposed arias to suit his singers' abilities and he subjected it to a fundamental re-orchestration to adapt the sound of the work to the musical taste of his time. lt was not until the 20th century that the historical and musical value of Mozart's Messiah arrangement was reappraised. Mozart's interpretation of Handel's Counterpoint and his synthesis of Baroque and Classical stylistic elements give the work a compelling new sound.

The two works performed here are two that have never gone out of fashion, even in the days before the Bach revival, in the darkest times for his reputation, these works were recognized as masterworks and have never been out of the repertoire. La petite bande was founded by Sigiswald Kuijken in 1972. It is a period instruments ensemble which has come to be recognized as having the highest standard of performance in Bach and other composers as well.

The string sextet genre was introduced at the end of the 18th century by Boccherini but did not fully blossom until Brahms, Tchaikovsky, before Schönberg, Reger, Martinu and Richard Strauss. Antonín Dvořák composed his sextet, his only work in that genre, in just two weeks in May 1878. His reputation as a composer was beginning to escalate, he was experienced with chamber composition, having already produced nine string quartets, a string quintet, four piano trios, a piano quartet, and a piano quintet.

Recording exclusively for Sanctuary Classics, the Lindsays’ extensive discography includes complete cycles of Beethoven and Bartók, and a series devoted to Haydn, Schubert and to 'The Bohemians'. In 1984 they received the Gramophone Award for their recording of the Beethoven ‘Late’ Quartets. As an enthusiast of the Lindsays, I have long admired their special affinity for the string quartets of Schubert. This four disc box set from Sanctuary Classics on their Resonance label uses previously released material and proves a fitting tribute to the ensemble’s art.

Italian Prog band Le Orme were one of the most important representatives of the genre in the early 1970s and recorded several classic albums, which are considered some of the best to come out of this country. The band shared the fate of most of the other Prog bands slowly disappearing from the scene by the end of the 1970s, when the popularity of Prog genre suffered a serious decline. They recorded and performed sporadically over the years, and by the mid 1990s, when Prog was back on the scene, the band formally reformed and recorded their comeback album "Il Fume" in 1996. But it took them another five years to come up with an album, which was a true reflection of their abilities and a formidable companion of their 1970s achievements - "Elementi". This beauty as a concept album, full of great melodies and excellent instrumental work, in the best tradition of the Italian Prog…

So good to hear Chris Norman is still turning out great albums. The former Smokie lead singer with the distinctive voice has still got it. A nice variety of tracks here - all well delivered - and a second CD which contains additional tracks, some extended versions of songs on the first CD and 3 karaoke versions - instrumental only - for you to sing along to if you so wish. Well worth the money and so good to hear that one of the voices of the 70's has not faded one bit with the passing years.

Some people still see the name Reger and are afraid to listen to the music because of all the preconceptions about it: It is dense, it is highly contrapuntal, it is harmonically wandering, it is difficult. Certainly there are works written by the great Bavarian composer Hindemith called him “the last giant in music” that could be considered virtually all of those things. And there are works by him by virtually every great composer one can name—that are less inspired, less interesting, that simply work less well than others.

A 2005 appearance on a German television program, followed by a tour - throughout which the original four members performed 1981's Architecture & Morality in its entirety - culminated in the first OMD album since 1996 (and this particular quartet’s first since 1986). History of Modern, for the most part, sounds like OMD. There are two alarming exceptions: “Sometimes” incorporates turntable scratching and guest vocalist Jennifer John, who interjects with lines from “Motherless Child,” while “Pulse” is oversexed and awkward neo-electro sleaze, full of bedroom whispers, moans, and yearning yelps. Most updates to the group’s sound are natural, though only a handful of the songs - the placid ballad “New Holy Ground” and the somehow cathartic and pensive “Green” especially - rate with the earlier material…

Twenty-one years ago, June Tabor and Oysterband got together to record what is now recognised as an English folk-rock classic. It wasn't exclusively a folk album, though there were some traditional tracks, but rather an eclectic, powerful reworking of anything from Lou Reed to Shane McGowan. Now, at long last, comes the followup that so many of us have been asking for, and it's no disappointment. The energy is still there, along with the desire to startle and experiment, but so is a new maturity and emotional depth, and even greater variety. The traditional songs include Bonnie Bunch of Roses, in which the stomping backing is never allowed to overshadow Tabor's no-nonsense storytelling; then there's a glorious melodeon and fiddle-backed treatment of Fountains Flowing, that song of parting and grief, and there's delicate, unaccompanied vocal harmony singing on the Scottish lament (When I Was No But) Sweet Sixteen. The contemporary songs range from a fiddle-backed stomp through Dylan's Seven Curses, through to a thoughtful, gutsy reworking of PJ Harvey's That Was My Veil, and a pained, acoustic version of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart.