Galician piper Carlos Núñez is one of the world’s main exponents of Celtic music, a genre that he defends and has studied at great depth. For 30 years he has collaborated with The Chieftains (Ireland), Alan Stivell (Brittany), Capercaillie, Phil Cunningham, Julie Fowlis (Scotland)… but also Jackson Browne, Ry Cooder (USA), Milton Nascimento (Brazil), Gustavo Santaolalla (Argentina), Ryuichi Sakamoto (Japan), Jordi Savall (Catalonia), Bryn Terfel (Wales), or even Julio Iglesias.

Both tracks start off with slow waves of ethereal sounds. During the 50 minute track, "Time - Cage," much evolution occurs. The slow melodic opening becomes a darker atmosphere. In the darker part, which takes up the majority of the song, low drones provide a foundation while wisps of air and (for a lack of a better term) spacey computer sounds flow by. There is a quiet percussion line with a cricket-sounding element that adds a sleepy characteristic. Eventually lighter or higher pitched background elements return providing a more ethereal sound late in the song. This gives way a short while later with the song ending with nothing but echoed electronic sounds surrounded in thick reverb. In every part of the song (the background drones, subtle percussion, foreground melodies and noises) there is constant, slow change…

Re-released on Capriccio this month is a disc of Italian Concertos performed by the Concerto Köln. Alongside masterpieces by Vivaldi and Pergolesi, this 2 CD set contains some rarities of Neapolitan composers such as Francesco Durante and Leonardo Leo.

Alexander Tcherepnin was a very good composer, and his six piano concertos, licensed from BIS for this Brilliant Classics release, constitute an impressive body of work, full of color, variety, and contrast. The first two are single-movement pieces, while in the third Tcherepnin expands the formal layout to two movements without exceeding the very modest length of his first two concertos. In the Fourth Concerto things get really interesting: it consists of three short tone poems based on Chinese stories and melodies. Now admit it, who can resist a slow movement called “Yan Kuei's Love Sacrifice”?

In 2001 this young British tenor became an international phenomenon with his platinum-plus debut album THE VOICE. With that blockbuster recording, he defined himself as the pop-opera crossover sensation of the 21st century. The appropriately titled follow-up ENCORE will likely be regarded with suspicion by those with their feet planted firmly in either the pop or operatic world. Those whose tastes fall somewhere in between are exactly the folks who've already made him a superstar, and it is for them that ENCORE was made.

If you might be interested in Early Music, you cannot go wrong with any CD's from David Monroe. These are historically accurate performances by one of the pre-emminent musicians of the early historical instrument repertoire. Unfortunately there is a somewhat limited number of his CD's available from the 1963-76. There are still ongoing professional discussions on what may be considered as an "historical performance" for this period music.

Here are some prime works by Vivaldi that are not hot from a recording studio, but bring a new Nibiru title to our catalogue. They feature Ensemble Inegal and Prague Baroque Soloists conducted by Adam Viktora, who are legendary for their performances of music by Zelenka. We know lots about him, but it is unclear if Antonio Vivaldi ever actually visited the Czech lands - Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Certainly his music was circulating there, as some of his operas appeared in Prague.