Veteran Chicago drummer Sam Lay is a famous behind-the-scenes blues and rock character - he played with the great Howlin' Wolf in the '60s, backed Bob Dylan when he "went electric" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and was an early member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He isn't famous for singing, however, and that's the main problem with the latest of his many collaborations with guitarist Fred James. The band's rhythm section is as strong as you'd expect, with Lay and acoustic bassist Bob Kommersmith locking into confident, slightly laid-back grooves on "Baby How Long" and the closing instrumental "Midnight Drag." But despite Lay's deep, funny charisma on "I Like Women" and "I Got Two Women," he was better at backing the Wolf than he is replacing him.

The Hanseatic wealth of North Germany in the 17th century is reflected in its magnificent cathedrals, and the enormous grandeur of its church music was composed to fill the rich acoustics of these spaces. This programme presents a wide range of Easter music that displays the wealth of inventiveness in this period, enhancing the texts and finding different colours and surprising effects through improvisation and adaptation of the manuscripts. This early music is brought vividly to life by the acclaimed Margaretha Consort.

In contrast to the grand scale and public profile of his orchestral and choral works, Johannes Brahms saw the organ as an instrument ‘for home use’, and one in which he confided his most intimate feelings. The earlier pieces were exercises in counterpoint inspired by Brahms’ friendship with Clara Schumann and, despite their academic titles, they are infused with distinctive musical ideas and lyrical expressiveness. The later Chorale Preludes with their themes of suffering and death can be seen as autobiographical, the elder Brahms seeking spiritual strength in the ‘pure style’ of the Protestant tradition.

Schuch: “Indeed, it’s quite exciting to look at what was going on exactly 100 years ago – perhaps because 1923 doesn’t seem all that distant to us. Certain events and circumstances seem to mirror one another a century apart. From a musical point of view, Erwin Schulhoff’s piano concerto is a truly interesting work that has not attained the recognition it deserves…“

Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve, based on a short story by Gogol, centres on the love of the blacksmith Vakula for the rich farmer’s daughter Oksana, who mockingly requires him to obtain for her the Tsarina’s shoes in order to win her hand in marriage. However, evil spirits are on the rampage imperilling their love – a witch on her broomstick gathers the stars and the devil steals the moon. Rimsky-Korsakov blends Christian and pagan elements, Ukrainian folk songs and carols, and atmospheric orchestral interludes in this vivacious and fantastical village romance. This is the disc version of the audiovisual release on 2.110738 and NBD0154V: ‘Sebastian Weigle leads the excellent Frankfurt orchestra and chorus in a spellbinding account of Rimsky-Korsakov’s score’, wrote MusicWeb International. It also won the German Record Critics Award for Quarterly Critics Choice and was a Musicweb International ‘Recommended’ release.

1883 was a fruitful year for cello composition as Christoph Croise's new recording reveals. That year marked Edvard Grieg's return to composition after a period of conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Sonata in A minor, his only work for cello and piano. Also that year, Richard Strauss was writing for the same combination at the age of just 19, producing his Sonata in F. Gabriel Faure embarked on a cello sonata in 1880; only the slow movement transpired and was published and premiered as the stand-alone piece Elegie in 1883. Christoph's regular performing partner, Oxana Shevchenko, joins him in this beautifully balanced recording of works for cello and piano.

With his distinctive blend of incisive drama and lyrical expressiveness, Sir William Walton was one of the greatest English composers of the 20th century. He and his wife Susana made their home on the Italian island of Ischia where he composed the Cello Concerto – a work he considered to be the best of his three concertos for string instruments – heard here for the first time in a stunning transcription for viola by Anna Serova. The Italian composer Roberto Molinelli pays homage to Susana’s Argentine roots and the beautiful garden she created, La Mortella, with his concerto Lady Walton’s Garden, displaying a colourful use of South American and Neapolitan instruments. William’s Rock and The Missing E are also dedicated to La Mortella. This fascinating project marks the 40th anniversary of Sir William Walton’s death, and it presents four world premiere recordings, all composed on and celebrating the island of Ischia and the Walton’s famous Giardini La Mortella, still regarded today as one of the most captivating gardens in the world.

Franco Alfano was a major musician and teacher who enjoyed considerable success with his operas during his lifetime, but who has been overlooked for decades. Generally regarded as the regenerator of the Italian art song, the works featured in this album offer a generous overview of Alfano’s vocal output, from his Opus 1 Cinq mélodies, written in 1896 when he was a twenty-one-year-old student at Leipzig, to Due liriche per canto, violoncello e pianoforte from 1949, five years before his death.

A well-packed disc, for those who love a good long play. But, more to the point, the singing and recording are outstanding. And what music is here enshrined! … readers may be a little weary of praises for The Tallis Scholars. There is no other course. This is surely one of the supreme choirs of the world. Peter Phillips, whose notes are revelatory reading, has reached the heart of this sublime music.

Per Nørgård has been hailed as the leading Danish contemporary composer and has often been described as eclectic. With this recording, the reasons for that will likely be evident both to listeners who are familiar with this celebrated composer and those who are new to his stylings. Nørgård has written in many genres – chamber music, concertos, operas, and orchestral music, including eight symphonies – and has drawn inspiration from a myriad of sources, such as the symphonies of Sibelius and Vagn Holmboe, jazz, artist Adolf Wölfli, and serialism, even taking the latter to a new level with his "infinity row," which, in turn, inspired numerous composers that followed.