This album from PentaTone Classics features Gordan Nikolic as both solist and conductor with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. The recording opens with the overture "L'isola disabitata," which Nikolic conducts from the harpsichord. The Sinfonia Concertante features Nikolic on violin, Herre-Jan Stegenga on cello, Toon Durville on oboe, and Margreet Bongers on bassoon. The performances are bright and brisk, and the recording quality is top-notch.

Nowell, Nowel, Noel - on their new release, Sing thee Nowell, New York Polyphony sings of, and to, the birth of Christ in a typically sophisticated programme which fuses the ancient with the modern into a seamless whole. Seven centuries of Christmas passes before the listener with new works composed for these performers by Michael McGlynn, Andrew Smith and John Scott alongside traditional medieval and Renaissance carols and motets by Clemens 'non Papa', Philippe Verdelot and Tomás Luis de Victoria.

Under the direction of Graham Ross, the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge and The Dmitri Ensemble celebrate the legacy of European and English carols in this Christmas program. Listeners will enjoy settings by Praetorius and Bach alongside later examples by Mendelssohn, Schoenberg, Britten and Tavener.