…Sopranos Emma Kirkby and Elin Manahan Thomas are excellent throughout…Harvey is a solid, dignified presence elsewhere as well, while tenor Charles Daniels and countertenor Michael Chance are at their eloquent best… Both The Purcell Quartet and Fretwork relish the variegated sonorities afforded by Buxtehude’s score, as well as the word painting, while blending with the voices to effect a homogenous yet multi-timbred sound of great beauty.

This album features cello concertos by Witold LutosIawski and Henri Dutilleux performed by the multiple prize-winning German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, conducted by Thomas Sondergard. These works, premiered in 1970, are two of the biggest gems of the twentieth century, the golden age of the cello. While equally virtuosic and engaging, both pieces showcase different aspects of the musical landscape of the late twentieth century.

Despite establishing the bel canto tradition through a series of romantic, serious operas (Otello, William Tell) and elegant buffas (the timeless Barber Of Seville) Gioacchino Rossini retired at 37 to live life as a Parisian bon vivant. Fortunately, Rossini (1792-1868) came out of retirement to complete the Stabat Mater, a choral masterpiece every bit as impressive as his more famous works. An expression of the Mediterranean belief in life and faith, this setting of the Stabat Mater is written for full orchestra with four soloists and chorus.

The pairing of Igor Stravinsky's ballets Petrushka (1911) and Jeu de cartes (1937) may afford insights into his development of neoclassical style, which was anticipated in the former work and stated fully in the latter. Indeed, the bright and tuneful music of both ballets tends toward playfulness, clever parody, and colorful scoring, all characteristic of neoclassicism, and the scenarios – a marionette that comes to life in Petrushka, and the personification of playing cards in Jeu de cartes – suggest a further connection, perhaps even to Stravinsky's notions of musical objectivity.

Fifteen years on from his earlier recording of Bach’s three Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord (on Harmonia Mundi, alongside Rinaldo Alessandrini), Paolo Pandolfo is now returning to this repertory with a thoroughly-rethought approach, the fruit of active and concentrated years of consideration, study and research into the inherent possibilities of his instrument. Given the basic differing natures of these two instruments, the performance of these works very often turns – in Pandolfo’s words – into a “musical argument”, rather than what is demanded by the music’s essential nature: a “musical conversation” in which the score achieves “transparency and eloquence”.

The history of opera is inseparably linked with the biographies of singers; audiences have always been fascinated by both musical prowess and behind the scenes goings-on. The battle for prestige and fame was heated and passionate in the Baroque era, with legendary rivalries. Fiercely competitive, Cuzzoni and Bordoni were among the most acclaimed divas of the age, resorting to fisticuffs on stage. Present-day prima donnas Genaux, Prina, Nesi and Basso now follow in the footsteps of their fervid predecessors, presenting on disc a tongue-in-cheek survey of standout arias for mezzo soprano and contralto.

Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722), Bach's eternal 'predecessor' as Leipzig's Thomaskantor, has only been rediscovered in recent years and his true greatness has not yet been truly recognised. He was highly respected by his contemporaries, however, and not just as a musician: he had a doctorate, worked as a lawyer, wrote satirical novels - a polymath… His musical oeuvre must have been extensive, much of it is lost. It is therefore all the more pleasing that his magnificent Christmas cantata "Frohlocket, ihr Volker, und jauchzet, ihr Heiden" ['Rejoice, ye nations, and shout for joy, ye heathen'] has been preserved. It opens the programme on this CD and, with its instrumentation and duration of over 25 minutes, surpasses many a great cantata by his famous successor.

A previously unknown contemporary score of the St. Mark Passion falsely ascribed to Johann Heinrich Rolle recently came to light in Brussels. Due to the new identification of the copyist’s hand, a largely original version of Georg Philipp Telemann’s St. Mark’s Passion of 1759 is now available, reflected in this recording. Freshly penned “poetical reflections” were added to the Evangelist’s text. The anonymous, theologically educated author of these reflective arias and accompagnati, who in consultation with the composer also chose the selection of church songs and designed the overall structure of the libretto, coordinated the sacred message of the text with a finely calculated affective dramaturgy.

Larsen’s skilful string phrasing of his (non-period) players and, above all, Kirschnereit’s mellow, lightly pedalled touch adorned with discreet, tasteful ornaments combine to make this disc one of pure joy.

This new set on the revived Näive label comes from the Quatuor Diotima, long-associated with thorny contemporary repertoire. They're marvellous here, forensically accurate but never driving the music too hard…An outstanding achievement then, and a library choice. These quartets aren't always easy listening, but they contain some of the last century's most profound and emotionally affecting music. If you've not heard them before, start here.

John Eliot Gardiner continues his series for Archiv with works which Bach performed on the First Sunday in Advent - two of them linked, to a greater or lesser extent, to Luther's great hymn Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, itself a metrical version of the fourth-century Veni redemptor gentium, the third a parody by and large of birthday music which Bach performed several times during the mid to late 1720s.

Gidon Kremer and Harnoncourt imbue the Violin Concerto with intellectual strength and Romantic warmth.

The fugue of the mature Baroque was the final flowering of Renaissance and Baroque polyphony. While most composers of Bach's generation had turned to other musical forms, Bach himself continued to write in "older" styles, and was to become the unchallenged master of the fugue. Die Kunst der Fuge was written during the last years of his life, and was being prepared for publication at the time of his death.

A sublime survey of sacred music of the high Renaissance, Hyperion's 2018 release Amarae Morti offers transparent performances by Peter Phillips and the a cappella chamber choir El León de Oro. Covering music of the Franco-Flemish and Iberian schools, the program follows a trajectory from darkness to light, from somber motets by Dominique Phinot, Orlande de Lassus, Nicolas Gombert, and Manuel Cardoso to glorious works by Tomás Luis de Victoria, Cristóbal de Morales, and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. There is a consistency of subjects in the program, which includes settings of the Lamentations, Media Vita, the Regina Coeli, and the Magnificat, revealing different treatments of these familiar texts and varying levels of complexity and contrapuntal mastery, which culminate in the magnificent polychoral works of Victoria and Palestrina.

Festival d'Aix-en-Provence has firmly established itself as France’s preeminent summer festival and is a key fixture on the international festival calendar. It is particularly in the field of opera that the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence continues to break new ground and this release from the 2016 festival demonstrates that. In this new staging – a coproduction with the Opéra de Lille, Théâtre de Caen – Emmanuelle Haïm directs Le Concert d’Astrée with a star-studded cast including Franco Fagioli, Sara Mingardo, Michael Spyres, and exclusive Erato artist Sabine Devieilhe.