World premiere recordings of the Magnificat as well as the festive music Die Himmel erzahlen die Ehre Gottes by C. P. E. Bach. A rousing and convincing interpretation by the Basel Madrigalists, L'arpa festante and renowned soloists under the direction of Fritz Naf. Throughout his life, C. P. E. Bach esteemed his Magnificat as one of his most important works. Here it is presented in the rarely heard early Leipzig version from 1749, with which the son wanted to recommend himself as a potential successor to his father in the office of Kantor at St. Thomas's Church. It fulfils all the criteria that the aesthetics of the time demanded of a large-scale sacred composition: grandeur, dignity, polyphonic and concertante choral movements, sensitive and pathetic arias, and a grand concluding double fugue.

After a widely acclaimed St John Passion in 2020 (Gramophone Editor's Choice, BBC Music Magazine Choice, Trophée Radio Classique), Philippe Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale Gent continue their in-depth exploration of the works of the composer who has earned them worldwide fame. Of the two cantatas recorded here, Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist BWV 45, written in 1726, is built around a very virtuosic, almost operatic bass solo setting scriptural words of Christ. Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl, BWV 198, which dates from the following year, was composed for the funeral of Christiane Eberhardine, Electress of Saxony and titular Queen of Poland, the daughter of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and an ardent Lutheran, whose death had deeply affected the people of Leipzig.

Jonas Kaufmann returns to the Italian verismo tradition to sing arias that define opera's most passionate and vulnerable leading men. Kaufmann's international reputation is soaring as, going from strength to strength, he delivers consistently thrilling performances. The onyx-dark beauty of his tone and the refinement and unexpected insights of his delivery mark Jonas Kaufmann a poet of tenors. Timed to coincide with his role debut as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur at Covent Garden opposite Angela Gheorghiu, this disc includes excerpts from the Cilea work that helped put Caruso on the map. This album also entices with rarities from Zandonai's dramatic Giulietta e Romeo and Puccini's Le Villi. Supporting Jonas Kaufmann is Italy's leading symphonic orchestra, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, under its dynamic music director Antonio Pappano. Both maestro and orchestra are utterly at home in this repertoire.