Gary Brooker wrote music and lyrics for all the songs on his second album and acted as his own producer, resulting in perhaps his most personal statement as an artist. Unlike No More Fear Of Flying, on which he sometimes just seemed to be the singer on his own record, here Brooker delivered his songs with feeling, enabling him to overcome the star power of his backup musicians, who included Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Phil Collins. This was partly because Brooker no longer felt the need to separate himself from The Procol Harum sound that was so much a part of his natural musical identity. Brooker's lyrics weren't as philosophical as longtime writing partner Keith Reid's, but they could be just as intriguingly oblique.

Meeting with the G-Man+ is the RCA CD reissue of a live 1993 date in which the late Irish blues-rocker Rory Gallagher, late in his life, tore down the house in front of a large, completely unhinged, and adoring crowd. The beauty of this date is simply that Gallagher was still writing and recording new material and showcasing it on tour; he refused to be complacent and go the route of many of the guitar heroes of his generation by simply doing live shows comprised of hits. Therefore, much of the material here was new at the time, though a few classics are tossed in as well: killer versions of "Messin' with the Kid," "Ghost Blues," and "Mean Disposition." The 2003 CD reissue includes a complete remastering job, and includes no less than six previously unreleased acoustic performances placed in the center of the album – the order they took in the set list – almost doubling its length. While the recording itself is raw and immediate, it is never less than full-on in spectrum, making for an unusually high-quality, raucous gig that captured the guitarist at full power. Highly recommended.

Nearly unrecognizable as the work of the one-time punk rock outfit, Night Drive is effectively Chromatics' third debut album in a row, following a wholesale transformation in sound and style and yet another lineup change: Adam Miller is again the sole constant member; vocalist Ruth Radelet is a new addition even since the 2006 teaser Nite, replacing Lena Okazaki, while Glass Candy's Johnny Jewel, who produced that single, is now a full-fledged member. Actually, this seems to be Jewel's record more than anyone's – in the silver-screen conceit of the liner notes he's listed as director to Miller's screenwriter, though he also has a writing credit on all the record's originals, only four of which (the vocal songs) Miller co-wrote – indeed, Jewel is emerging as the primary musical force behind much of the Italians Do It Better label. Among that camp of synthesizer-disco revivalists, Chromatics stand out as the most lush and cinematic, drawing on the more languorous, atmospheric aspects of '80s electronica to fashion a hazy imaginary soundtrack to a stylish, decadent noir film (as the album's visual presentation suggests) or just a lonely late-night drive (as per the opening "Telephone Call").

This live performance has a novel premise: it pairs The Rite of Spring with some pieces that led up to it. The big news is the Chant funèbre of 1908, lost (Stravinsky said he remembered it as one of his strongest early pieces and hoped someone would uncover it), rediscovered at the Moscow Conservatory, and given frequent performances in 2016 and 2017. This is the first recording.

Susanna comes late in the sequence of Handel’s oratorios but in some ways the composer looks back in it to his experience of Italian opera. It largely comprises a sequence of arias (many in the repeated, da capo form of opera seria) as it relates the story from the Biblical Apocrypha of Susanna who is falsely accused of adultery and eventually vindicated through the clever judicial manoeuvrings of the young prophet Daniel.

Skip Sempé, distinguished for many years as a master interpreter of the French classical harpsichord repertoire, has recently been hailed as the quintessential ambassador of French Baroque music. With his ensemble Capriccio Stravagante, Sempé presents a fascinating collection of orchestral repertoire from the seventeenth century. La Belle Danse revives the tradition of the 24 Violons of Versailles the most celebrated orchestra of seventeenth century Europe. The album transports the listener to Versailles at the time of Louis XIII and Louis XIV with a dazzling tour of ouvertures and suites by Lully, Marais and Muffat. A selection of rare repertoire that influenced the first generation musicians of the 24 Violons is also included, with dance and theatre music by Michael Praetorius, William Brade and Luigi Rossi.

Sophie Yates finds the right manner far all these works, the small and unassuming, the intricate and emotionally charged. Her sense of rhythmic flexibility is subtle. Her articulation of simultaneous musical strands - no mean feat even in the simplest of works performed on the virginal - is a delight.

Renata Scotto (born 24 February 1934) is an Italian soprano and opera director.
Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi repertoires.
Since retiring from the stage as a singer in 2002, she has turned successfully to directing opera as well as teaching in Italy and America, along with academic posts at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Juilliard School in New York.

Although there were once some 200 Chaminade Clubs in the U.S. alone, the music of Cécile Chaminade, France's foremost female composer of the late Romantic era, has not been well served on recordings. Her piano music is beginning to reappear, but the works for piano trio and the duo pieces on this disc from Germany's MDG label are very rare finds. Chaminade's larger works, such as the two piano trios heard here, tend to follow Germanic rather than French models.

This isn't an oratorio in the Handelian sense, but a series of cantatas for various days from Christmas to Epiphany. Bach's music is loaded with treats: an echo aria for soprano and oboe; a "pastoral" sinfonia; bravura arias for tenor with flute and bass with trumpet; a giddy soprano-bass duet; a transporting lullaby for alto.

Tomaso Albinoni was a composer who was different from most of his colleagues in presenting himself as a dilettante. That didn't prevent him from being highly appreciated, not only in Italy but also abroad. His music has been found in many locations across Europe. There are various pirated editions of his works and collections with sonatas claimed to be from his pen. Their authenticity is highly questionable but their quantity bears further witness to his status.