Composed in 1771 to a libretto by Metastasio tracing the well-known biblical story of Judith and Holofernes, La Betulia liberata was Mozart’s first oratorio. Often described as a stroke of genius, this recording by Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, with Sandrine Piau, Amanda Forsythe and Teresa Iervolino, shows the dramatic intensity of which he was already capable at the age of just fifteen and the influence of his early experiences with opera.

Reinhard Keiser’s Der blutige und sterbende Jesus is not only the very first German Passion oratorio but also a highly suspenseful contribution to the Passion season. Lost for many years, it is now available for listening on CD in the revised version of 1729. The dramatic and musical design of Keiser’s work is astonishing. As in the Italian oratorio type that gained currency after 1700, there is no Evangelist or other narrator, which means that the work has a purely dramatic structure. Even though Keiser’s librettist Christian Friedrich Hunold, whose pseudonym was »Menantes,« did not cite any one of the four Evangelists word for word in his adaptation of the Passion narrative, it is quite evident that the poetic elaboration is (primarily) modelled on Luther’s translation of the Gospel of Matthew.

For the French soprano Élisabeth Duparc, known as ‘La Francesina’, Handel composed no fewer than twelve principal roles in major works - operas and oratorios - written towards the end of his life. She took the title role in Semele, for instance, and the parts of Michal in Saul and Nitocris in Belshazzar. Sophie Junker and the Concert de l’Hostel Dieu pay tribute to her here, through some of her most successful roles as the composer’s muse.

Perhaps the greatest Quincy Jones album of the 60s - a hard-swinging batch of big band bossa tunes - and one of the greatest American takes on the bossa sound ever! Quincy really brings a lot of soul to the set - syncopating the bottom end of the tunes to really bring out the rhythms, and working with a jazzy flourish of horns that creates all these quick and clever little turns in the tunes! The sound's been heard most famously on the incredible track "Soul Bossa Nova" - an original by Quincy for the set, which has gone onto much greater fame through its use in the film Austin Powers, and a bazillion TV commercials!

In another successful "recycling" project, Vidna Obmana reconstructs original compositions which willem tanke previously had rendered on classical European organs. These variations for organ, keyboard and processors respectfully merge two musical worlds from across time, simultaneously exploring mystical/physical revelations by way of thoughtful sonic alterations. The opening five tracks encompass six canons which form The Tao of Physics; having composed the original pieces as reflections upon Fritjof Capra's East/West metaphysical writing, Willem Tanke performed them on an historic Netherlandic church organ. After careful studying, avid recycler Vidna Obmana proceeded to dismantle and reprocess the oringal acoustic recordings, reassembling them in accordance with the Canon-method, and of course, his own fine-tuned sense of sonic art…

For Lullaby, Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick draws on the quartet formation in a programme that includes some of his most exploratory and improvisatory qualities, with a cast of ECM familiars Kristjan Randalu and Ole Morten Vågan on piano and bass, and new arrival Hans Hulbækmo on drums. There’s a sense of abandon within these melodic songs, as the musicians flow smoothly between harmonies, collectively building momentum from within the forms. Eick’s immediately recognizable and soothing tone is often confronted by Randalu’s in turns lyrical and energetic keyboard-flights, soaring above a propulsive, always engaging rhythm section. The album was recorded at Rainbow Studio in Oslo.

Out May 3, ‘Funeral For Justice’ is the new album by Mdou Moctar. Recorded at the close of two years spent touring the globe following the release of 2021 breakout ‘Afrique Victime,’ it captures the Nigerien quartet in ferocious form. The music is louder, faster, and more wild. The guitar solos are feedback-scorched and the lyrics are passionately political. Nothing is held back or toned down.

Taking Turns, recorded in New York’s Avatar Studio a decade ago, finds Danish guitarist Jakob Bro joined by a multi-generational cast of improvisers, highly distinctive players all. Lee Konitz, Andrew Cyrille, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran and Thomas Morgan lend their energies to a session that bypasses conventions of the “all-star” band and puts the emphasis on teamwork. Bro’s space-conscious music encourages fresh responses: an atmospheric hint, or a fragment of gentle melody, opening up new trails to explore. “My compositions are about catching a glimpse of a feeling, sketching it down and then unfolding it as we record”, said Jakob Bro at the time.