On October 5th, we celebrate the centenary of conductor and choir director Jürgen Jürgens, a leading figure among the new generation of early music explorers after the Second World War. Founder of the Monteverdi-Chor Hamburg in the 1950s, he distinguished himself through his pioneering concerts and recordings devoted to the Italian composer, who was little known and poorly served on disc at the time. This recording of the Vespers is one of the first major versions of this important work. It was recorded with the assistance of Concentus Musicus Wien, which featured Herbert Tachezi, Gustav Leonhardt, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, with whom Jürgens collaborated closely on this disc (the former taking charge of the instrumental arrangements, the latter of the critical work on the score). The vocal soloists include Max von Egmond and Nigel Rogers.

Im Jahr 1729 veröffentlichte der Edelmann und Dichter Annibale Marches (1686–1753) »Tragedie Cristiane«, eine bemerkenswerte Sammlung von zehn italienischen Theaterstücken.Von Racine, Corneille, Voltaire und der klassischen Tradition beeinflusst, sind diese innovativen Dramen tief in der Theaterpraxis der Jesuiten verwurzelt. Um seine Vision zu verwirklichen rekrutierte Marchese zehn erprobte Komponisten seiner Zeit – allesamt Meister der sogenannten Neapolitanischen Schule. Ihre strophischen Arien, oft nur mit Cembalo obbligato begleitet, reflektieren jeweils den individuellen Stil des Komponisten. Ergänzend erklingen bislang unbekannte Instrumental-Tänze.

The two albums enclosed in At Town Hall/The Amazing Nina Simone bookend the remarkable summer of 1959 in the career of Nina Simone, when she recorded a studio session, The Amazing Nina Simone, in May, and in September appeared At Town Hall in a superlative performance that was recorded and soon issued. Just 26, Simone displayed great assurance, especially on the live date, casting off the cloak of the vocal jazz/standards singer and performing with her own trio featuring her lively piano. The studio date features an orchestra, but it too finds her early on in her recording career stamping her voice on standards "Willow Weep for Me" and "Blue Prelude".

The only band to use the Beatles, Whitney Houston, Mission Impossible, Petula Clark, Doctor Who, ABBA, and the French national anthem as art statements. Circa 1987: Shag Times, one of the many deliberate cash-ins released in the wake of the Timelords, confirmed Bill Drummond and Jimi Cauty's supremacy over every last imitator and pop stunt plagiarist.

Unhalfbricking is the third album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in 1969. It is seen as a transitional album in their history and marked a further musical move away from American influences towards more traditional English folk songs that had begun on their previous album, What We Did On Our Holidays and arguably reached its peak on the follow-up, Liege & Lief, released later the same year. In 2004 Q magazine placed Unhalfbricking at number 41 in its list of the 50 Greatest British Albums Ever, and in the same year The Observer, describing it as "a thoroughly English masterpiece", listed it at number 27 in its Top 100 British Albums. The following year, 2005, it was included in Robert Dimery's "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

The three works on this recording bear witness to the changes that took place at the dawn of musical modernism. The reappraisal and reinterpretation of traditional musical genres and innovations led to new ways of organising and addressing the harmonic, melodic, timbral and rhythmic elements of music. Polish composer Karol Szymanowski developed a highly personal musical language that prioritises tone colour, an approach that is perfectly suited to the triptych Mythes, inspired by legends from ancient Greece. Here he developed a new mode of expression, a fusion of the violin and the piano into a single entity with the use of extended violin techniques.

Although gone too soon at age 64 in 2002, Waylon Jennings' legacy continues to live on thanks to his son, Grammy-winning producer Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings. The younger Jennings is assembling a trio of albums sourced from a trove of high-resolution transfers of multitrack material recorded between 1973 and 1984 that was unreleased at the time of his father's passing. The first collection, Songbird, is headlined by Waylon's surprisingly heartfelt take on Christine McVie's "Songbird" (which closed side one of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 blockbuster, Rumours). Shooter wisely brought guitarist Gordon Payne and bassist Jerry Bridges—surviving members of his father's band, The Waylors—to refresh these tracks. "Songbird" also features new background vocals from Ashley Monroe and Elizabeth Cook. While the exact recording dates and personnel of these cuts are not apparent, together they add up to a coherent album with the kind of flow and storytelling that made Waylon's best albums so essential.

The first installment in an exploration of the German Romantic trio repertoire, this double album by the Zadig Trio (Miclen LaiPang, Marc Girard Garcia, and Guillaume Vincent) offers an absolutely exhilarating journey between light and shadow. At its center are the marvelous Trios for violin, cello, and piano by Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, complemented by a few rare transcriptions. The first installment in an exploration of the German Romantic trio repertoire, this double album by the Zadig Trio, now on the naïve label, offers a journey…

The age-old spirit of the composer-performer lies at the heart of the 10-year collaboration between cellist-composer Christoph Croise and composer-saxophonist Daniel Schnyder (pronounced SHNEE-der).This resulting album features two of Daniel's concertos, both commissioned by Christoph, alongside numerous world premieres of solo and chamber works. Christoph shines in the Concerto for Cello, Percussion and String Orchestra, whilst the two Swiss compatriots share the limelight in Concerto Populaire for soprano saxophone, cello, percussion and string orchestra, both backed by members of Christoph's hand-picked Beyond Modern Orchestra, an ensemble dedicated to the creation and performance of new music. Christoph brings in other close collaborators, including Alexander Panfilov for Jazz Sonata for Cello & Piano, harpsichordist Peter Gorobets for Cello BLU - another Christoph commission that explores the unique timbral relationship between the two instruments - and an octet of leading European cellists for Cubac - a fusion of Cuban rhythms and Bachian-counterpoint. Throughout, Daniel's compositions seamlessly fuse a melting pot of musical styles, including classical, jazz, Middle Eastern, African and Latin American. Christoph, who himself is rapidly gaining renown as a composer, says, "There is no more fitting way to celebrate contemporary music than by performing it alongside the composer himself."

Available from today “DISCOVER”, the first covers album of ZUCCHERO “SUGAR” FORNACIARI’s career. Consisting of previously unreleased cover versions, the release of “DISCOVER” comes two years after Zucchero’s last studio album, “D.O.C.”. The record sees the singer strip down and rearrange a selection of iconic songs from the Italian and international music scene in his own inimitable style, drawing on his two main musical influences: the finest Italian melodic traditions and the deepest Afro-American roots.

Chicago’s post-rock and jazz dons look to new electronic horizons subtly urged by their home city’s deep house heartbeat.

Needing no introduction, Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth has championed the trumpet repertoire amongst audiences on all six continents, meriting the highest critical praise for her soulful, lyrical sound and collaborative approach to music-making.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds are back after a five-year break with their new album Wild God! Across ten tracks, the band dances between convention and experimentation, taking left turns and detours that enhance the rich imagery and emotion in Cave's heartfelt narratives. There are moments that fondly recall the Bad Seeds' past, but they are fleeting and only serve to add another facet to the band's relentless and restless forward momentum. Nick Cave says of the album: "It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it. It's a complicated record, but it's also deeply and joyously infectious."

Containing eleven brand new tracks, including their raucous take on surprise single and ‘Beetlejuice’ staple ‘Jump In The Line’, Ad Astra sees Blur guitarist Graham Coxon appear on two particularly sassy songs and catches the perennial power-pop kings in especially rocket-fuelled form.

Christmas simply wouldn’t be Christmas without the iconic voices of The Sixteen providing a soundtrack to the season. Celebrated for collections that provide an alternative to the customary festive offerings, this new album from the world-renown choir is no exception. No other festival in the Christian year has inspired so many composers and such a variety of musical styles as Christmas. The Wise Men and the Star features a veritable cornucopia of yuletide music from the premieres of three new works to traditional carols including Away in a manger and In the bleak midwinter, and modern classics such as Eric Whitacre’s Lux aurumque and Mykola Leontovich’s Carol of the bells. This new album promises something for everyone.