As Barbra Streisand's first studio album of mainstream pop material in nine years, Higher Ground is something of an oddity. Instead of devoting herself to Broadway standards or a set of radio-oriented pop tunes, Streisand has crafted a record that she intended as a tribute to the power of music as prayer. It's an ambitious project, but for the most part it works, achieving a surprising grace. Higher Ground comprises both traditional religious songs and new material (even "Tell Him," an overblown duet with Celine Dion, vaguely touches on that theme), with grandiose arrangements by Marvin Hamlisch.

For his first recording on the Alpha label, Sergei Kasprov, a young Russian artist trained at the Moscow Conservatory, defies the laws of time. He has in fact chosen to create a dialogue between great Baroque geniuses and Russian Romantics: Rameau, Lully, Loeillet, Bach and Scarlatti revised by Tausig, Godowsky and Rachmaninov.

Kei Koito may not be a household name among the amateurs of organ music but in my view, this outstanding recital of music by composers before Bach is going to change this situation and may comfort her position as a great organist in the same league as the likes of Marie- Claire Alain, E Power Biggs or Helmut Walcha. Admittedly, her discography may not be as extensive even though she is no stranger to recording venues. She has already given us a remarkable account of Buxtehude organ works and she is currently recording the complete works of JS Bach, with the aim of making one cd per year.

This is a somewhat odd mixture of late baroque works, but the title and the booklet blurb offer a certain logic to it. The most substantial work in the programme is Francesco Geminiani's 'The Enchanted Forest', a lively and colourful orchestral suite composed in 1754 for the Paris stage for a pantomime illustrating a section from Torquato Tasso's 'La Gerusalemme Liberata'.

Of Beethoven and his worlds in music, some will remember more the herald of pure music or of programme music, the Dionysian bearer of joy, or the man suffering from suicidal impulses, the builder or the destroyer. In any event, the creator stopped writing piano sonatas in 1822, the year of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s death. All the transgressions that are propounded by Beethoven’s Promethean output would be unable to conceal his faithfulness to the ideals of Aufklärung, his classic desire to lead, beyond the asperities, to a resolution and, beyond darkness, to light.’says Brigitte François Sappey, a famous musicologist.

Anne Paceo appears as one of the more brilliant young French drummers in France. Her subtile touch on drums and cymbals is very personal. She met pianist Leonardo Montana and bassist Joan Eche-Puig at the CNSM in Paris (National music school) as they were students. Triphase is the name of the album and the name of the trio. It that stands apart from the rest of today’s productions’s, the themes and melodies remains in your mind as soon you hear them. Much more than just another Trio, this is a brilliant mix of 3 souls and 3 characters offering a taste of Catalonia, Brazil and Africa. Both three young artists are simple, spontaneous, full of energy and humor, found of encounters and exchange. Triphase is now touring with success all over the world.

With this new recording, Bruno Cocset’s Les Basses Réunies propose a journey back to 17th-century England, centring on the work of Tobias Hume, an emblematic musician of the viola da gamba and, more precisely, the lyra violl. This exploration in terms of music as much as of sound, presents three instruments that have just come from the hands of instrument-maker Charles Riché (seconded by Friederike Dangel). A distinguished guest, the talented Italian gambist Guido Balestracci, plays a selection of solo pieces by the famous soldier composer.

The early 20th century is a period that fascinates me. The prevalent musical aesthetic was disrupted by a new generation of composers who maintained their roots in tradition, but felt a great desire to expand music’s horizons: they formed a multitude of currents and embarked on a number of different paths, all driven by the idea of transfiguring everything they had previously known.

This new recording pays tribute to an ill-known, mysterious figure of 18th-century Naples: Prince Raimondo di Sangro. A soldier, scientist, poet, alchemist and freemason, he bequeathed us a palace and a magnificent chapel, the site of a tragedy that was at the origin of the murder committed by the great composer Gesualdo.

Colorful, modern, sunny music, that bewitches and hooks. Brilliant musicians, a beautiful and tightly knit sound, complicity, made up of what is natural and pleasurable.' Anne Paceo explores new horizons with the cream of the crop of French Jazz. Benjamin is from Daniel Yvinec’s National Orchestra of Jazz, Antonin-Tri Hoang’s personality alone sets him apart, as his grace and incredible musicality shine through his clarinet and alto saxophone. While Pierre Perchaud, easily swinging from electric guitar to acoustic, has the ability to escape the instrument in order to get the most out of it. Moreover, it is with strength and impeccable precision that Stephane Kerecki supports the balance of this young ensemble. Finally, Leonardo Montana, intricate part of the inner circle, the most loyal amongst the devoted, finds himself is led by his complicity with, and the rhythm of Anne Paceo’ sticks.

After two first recordings released by Zig-Zag Territoires and devoted to Ravel, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, Emmanuel Krivine and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra devote this CD to two emblematic works from the end of Bartók’s life: the Violin Concerto No.2, first performed in 1939, and the Concerto for Orchestra, premiered in 1944. These are absolutely major works both in Bartók’s catalogue and from this period in the history of music, and are, moreover, close to the universe of Emmanuel Krivine. For the Violin Concerto, it is Tedi Papavrami who was invited by both the Orchestra and by Zig-Zag Territoires. Let us recall the astonishing recording that Tedi Papavrami recently made of Eugène Ysaÿe’s complete violin sonatas for this label.

Mike Oldfield was asked in 1984 to score Roland Joffe’s film about two journalists’ experiences in the ‘killing fields’ of Kampuchea. Although Oldfield’s music is synonymous with film, it is his first and only score to date, The film was highly acclaimed winning two Academy awards and Oldfield’s score was an integral part of it, earning him a BAFTA and Golden Globe nomination. Newly remastered for 2016, The Killing Fields is a well-regarded entry in Mike Oldfield’s illustrious discography. As with all of Oldfield’s critically acclaimed re-release programme, the notes include a new interview with Mike.

LA Divine, Cold War Kids most expansive and ambitious effort so far, pays tribute to Los Angeles in all its strange glory, embodying the Long Beach-bred band s endless fascination with their adopted hometown. In many ways, LA is the least divine city, the most hedonistic and irreverent and disconnected from history, says Willett. LA’s so massive, I feel like I’m always finding something new in it, adds bassist Matt Maust. It s an incredibly weird place, and I’m happy to have made an album that totally honors that weirdness.

The word ‘epic’ has been somewhat devalued, but Septicflesh are here to reclaim it. Again. Since their comeback record, Communion, in 2008, the Greeks have sprawled atop the throne of symphonic DM; they stumbled with 2014’s Titan, but Codex Omega steadies them. Septicflesh have never sounded so massive. Jens Bogren’s production makes them crisper than winter on Hoth, and new drummer Kerim Lechner earns his stripes at the front of the mix. The record is arguably their most unsettling to date – the heinously catchy hooks dragged from Seth Siro Anton’s warped larynx are nasty as hell, yet it’s the orchestration that makes Codex Omega such a terrifying spectacle.

On her new album of love songs – Red – Diana Panton has further expanded and perfected her range of musical expression. The album showcases an impressive variety of sophisticated love songs. Once again she is backed by the exceptional guitarist Reg Schwager, Don Thompson on the piano and vibes with his colleagues Phil Dwyer on saxophone and Jim Vivian on bass. Thompson's' arrangements for a string quartet and harp give the jazz quartet a particularly powerful and elegant complexion.