This two-fer from the Australian Raven label is a part of a series of Delbert McClinton reissues. All of them come with new liner notes, session photos, and bonus tracks. These two albums, from 1980 and 1981, respectively, represent a renaissance for McClinton of sorts. While he never had a fallow period creatively, The Jealous Kind allowed him a renewed commercial viability even if it was short-lived. Both records were issued by the Muscle Shoals Sound imprint of Capitol Records and were produced by Barry Beckett with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section and horns. While the first disc is centered around diversity in its song choices – by everyone from Larry Henley to Bobby Charles to Van Morrison to Al Green to Jerry Williams – and took radical approaches to reinterpreting the material through soul, blues, funk, rock, and country, the latter chose hard-driving Southern-fried funk and R&B and a relatively close-to-the-vest approach in terms of material – most notably covers of "In the Midnight Hour" and Naomi Neville's "Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)".

Andrew Manze's interpretations of Vaughan Williams' Symphonies have been met with acclaim from audiences and critics alike. This third album in the series contains two masterpieces. The 5th Symphony of 1943 displaying a 'greatness of soul' as one commentator at the time wrote, draws on material for 'The Pilgrims Progress' from 1906. The 6th Symphony of 1944-7 stunned the audience at it's premiere - some tried to explain the works last movement as depicting a nuclear wasteland.

Cellist Wilhelmina Smiths second album release on Ondine continues exploring contemporary Nordic repertoire for solo cello. In her new album Smith has focus on Danish contemporary composers, Per Nørgård (b. 1932) and Poul Ruders (b. 1949). Both Nørgård and Ruders are known for their large-scale orchestral works. Nørgård, in particular, is known for his eight symphonies and has been hailed by many as one of the greatest living symphonists. It is therefore intriguing to look closer to his two very early lyrical solo cello sonatas, early masterpieces written just before completing his 1st Symphony.

During the early nineteenth century the new 1804 Viennese version of La Clemenza di Tito, was Mozart's most popular opera in Europe. However, in keeping with the practice during that period, it was performed in versions adapted to the times and the taste of the opera public and this is precisely the starting point for our recording's conductor Alessandro De Marchi. He would like to present Tito in the form in which it was staged and acclaimed in great houses from the Vienna Court Opera to the Milan Scala and from Dresden and Hamburg to Paris during the early years of the nineteenth century. Our recording is based on the acclaimed production at the Innsbruck Festival Weeks 2013 with the Academia Montis Regalis performing on historical instruments.

FIRE & ICE, Sarah Chang's eleventh recital album, is a throwback of sorts: an old-fashioned star turn packed with virtuosic showpieces that would test the mettle of any violinist. But the precociously talented Chang is not just any violinist and she certainly proves it here. As usual, she rises to the occasion and offers a dazzling, bravura performance of a crowd-pleasing program, guaranteed to make even the most jaded listeners sit up and take notice.

Guiomar Novaes was one of the greatest Brazilian pianists but I didn't know that when I bought this two-disc set. What originally attracted me to this collection was the conductor, not the soloist, leading the three Piano Concertos, Otto Klemperer. Indeed, the Beethoven 4th, Chopin 2nd and Schumann are performed well with the Vienna Symphony, in good sound from the 1950s, but it is the various solo pieces that are the true highlight of this set, and showcase the real magic of Novaes' playing.

Part of the ongoing PLAYLIST series of budget-priced single artist anthologies in minimal eco-friendly packaging, PLAYLIST: THE VERY BEST OF MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER is a solid overview of the country-folk singer-songwriter's career. All of Carpenter's best known songs are here in these 14 tracks, from the Cajun stomp of "Down at the Twist and Shout" to the jangly pop-rockers "I Take My Chances" and "He Thinks He'll Keep Her." The package also includes a CD-ROM data track that contains complete liner notes and photos.

With nine Top 20 albums and several classical Brit Awards under his belt, tenor Russell Watson has been an instrumental figure in the success of the classical crossover genre, with his collaborations with Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder and Steps' Faye Tozer – and operatic renditions of contemporary pop songs – undoubtedly paving the way for the likes of G4, Katherine Jenkins, and Il Divo. The Platinum Collection, released to coincide with his seventh studio album, La Voce, is his second best-of following 2006's The Voice, and once again shows why the Salford-born singer is described as the "People's Tenor".

Kathy Mattea is one of the most respected female country stars of her era, a commercially successful hitmaker who was able to bring elements of folk, bluegrass, gospel, and singer/songwriter intimacy to her music. She offers the same commitment to country pop as she does to mining songs, honky tonk, and Celtic ballads as displayed buy her stellar Willow in the Wind from 1989. As her repertoire expanded in the '90s, so did her grasp on the country charts. Single after single and album after album landed inside the Top 20. Her 1993 album Walking Away a Winner became her most successful of the decade.