The King's Noyse are a terrific ensemble who have made a lot of very good discs indeed over the years. This is among them. It is billed as a disc from 1995 of dance music and song from Italy between about 1580 and 1650, which though strictly accurate, may be a little misleading. Lively dance rhythms are certainly there, but a good deal of the disc is contemplative and sometimes rather melancholy in feel. There are single works by both Monteverdi and Gesualdo but the other works are largely by much more obscure composers, and although I know a little of some like Rovetta and Castello, most were completely new to me. I always like to be introduced to new composers, and the music is very fine throughout the disc.

Somehow the grandfather of British blues still had the fire in his belly to record a strong album almost 40 years after he began his storied career. Buddy Whittington acquits himself well as the latest in a long line of hotshot guitarists for this multi-instrumentalist, who still does his best work on harmonica. He still admires long-dead bluesman J.B. Lenoir, including "Voodoo Music" here. A lot of credit for this strong outing goes to R.S. Field, lyricist and sometime producer for Webb Wilder. "Long Story Short" would pass for a Wilder tune were it not for Mayall's distinctive voice.

Following his critically acclaimed recording of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.2, Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado returns with Symphonies Nos.3 and 4, this time leading the Freiburger Barockorchester. Both works have origins in the composer’s 1829- 1831 tour of Europe. Symphony No.3, sometimes called the “Scottish” symphony, was inspired by a visit to the ruined Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh in 1829. It was not completed until 1842, making it, chronologically, the last of his five symphonies. Symphony No.4, called the “Italian” symphony, was born of the color and atmosphere of Italy, and was completed in Berlin in 1833.

Harmonica ace Charlie Musselwhite falls between the more obvious generations of blues players, younger than its elder statesmen but considerably senior to young hot-shots like Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. How, then, can he find a fresh hook to his music without resorting to attention-grabbing gimmicks? Except for two songs featuring producer/guitarist Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos, Charlie Musselwhite's 1997 album, Rough News, doesn't have any famous guests, but it stands out from the harmonica whiz's long and deep discography nonetheless. Musselwhite has pared down his sound so radically that every instrument has become a rhythm instrument. When these lean, groove-based arrangements are applied to tunes as simple and catchy as "Both Sides of Fence," "I Sat & Cried" and "Natural Born Lover," the results jump at the listener with the bare-basics excitement of early rock & roll.

The music on this recital was specifically written or arranged for duo violinists Angela and Jennifer Chun. It highlights the personal and professional connections between Philip Glass and Nico Muhly, a longtime colleague and admirer of Glass's work. Glass's miniaturist works, Mad Rush and In the Summer House, create a maximum effect when paired with Muhly's minimalist Four Studies and Honest Music.

By now, anyone who has heard one of Mark Lanegan's solo albums knows exactly what the others will sound like – Lanegan's weathered, smoky voice intones tales of quiet desperation over echoing electric guitar arpeggios, folky acoustic guitar work, and the occasional piano, organ, or violin embellishment. This approach has resulted in a compelling body of work, often possessed of remarkable depth, but it's also become something of a stylistic straitjacket over the course of several albums. And that's the only major knock against the otherwise brilliant I'll Take Care of You, Lanegan's fourth solo album, which marks the first time it hasn't taken him four years to deliver a follow-up. Perhaps that's because there's no original material here – I'll Take Care of You applies the drifting, elegiac qualities of its predecessors to a selection of well-chosen, mostly underexposed folk, country, and blues covers. It's a testament to Lanegan's interpretive skill that he's able to use his already well-established style so effectively yet again, as most of these versions range from stunning to merely excellent.

If only for his melodic genius, Handel would have been forever acknowledged as one of history's greatest composers. These delightful sonatas for recorder provide abundant evidence to support that claim, and Marion Verbruggen's warm, resonant recorder and brilliant flute prove the perfect partners for bringing these rarely heard pieces to life.

A world might seem to divide the unbridled Romanticism of Berlioz from the highly controlled Late Baroque art of Rameau. However, separated by less than a century, the same passion links these two works that prove more similar than their stylistic divergence might suggest. There is the same audacity in orchestration, combined with an innate sense of drama that springs repeated rhythmic and harmonic surprises. The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra shows its versatility under Daniel Harding, who posses a matchless gift for establishing a dialogue between these two pioneering geniuses.

As the historic festival marks its 40-year anniversary, Rhino presents Woodstock 40, six-CD boxed set that features the most comprehensive collection ever available of artists that performed at the original festival, sequenced in chronological order of performance, featuring 38 previously unreleased recordings, including the Grateful Dead, The Who, Tim Hardin, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe & The Fish, and others. Also box includes 80-page book with extensive liner notes, photos and the complete and accurate set lists.

The string quartets of Béla Bartók punctuate the evolution of his style and the turning points of his existence. From the Second Quartet (1915-17) reflecting the period of World War One and his troubled personal life, through the Fourth whose exploration of rhythm, tonality and timbre produces magnificent and unprecedented sonorities in its ‘night music’, to the unbearable anguish of the Sixth (1939), as his dream of fraternity was shattered against the rise of nationalism and fascism, the Jerusa lem Quartet’s programme brings us the essence of Bartók's genius. Expect reviews in Classical music press for these hm artists with an extensive, acclaimed back catalogue for the label.

Solomon's Seal was an album recorded in 1972 by folk-rock band Pentangle. It was the last album recorded by the original line-up, before the band split in 1973. Jacqui McShee has stated that it is her favourite Pentangle album. The album title refers to the Seal of Solomon - a mythical signet ring with magical powers, sometimes associated with the pentagram symbol adopted by Pentangle.

On his fourth recording for harmonia mundi, GRAMMY-nominated conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya leads the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in an all-orchestral program featuring Witold Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra and Arnold Schoenberg's orchestration of Brahms's Piano Quartet No.1. With its use of folk melodies to generate tremendous momentum and dramatic impact, the Concerto for Orchestra established Lutoslawski as Poland's leading contemporary composer. Harth-Bedoya couples this powerful and complex score with Schoenberg's rich and colorful arrangement of one of Brahms's most popular chamber works.

On his second album for the Concord Jazz label, guitarist Robben Ford stays pretty much to the formula of Blue Moon from 2001. He concentrates on playing, singing, and covering great songs (and even writes a few) with interesting arrangements, inspired solos, and crisp, clean production that lets the song shine through the players. Much has been made of Ford's eclecticism and that is reflected in his choice of material here, though he never strays from the blues or R&B into jazz or fusion. Ford's selection of session players reflects his divergent interests as well: Edgar Winter appears on saxophone, while John Mayall and Ivan Neville guest along with horn bosses Bob Malach and Dan Fornero and Ford's road band. Opening the set with the title track, written by soul man Jackie Edwards, Ford lays out his formula immediately: a tight horn chart for tenor and baritone saxes, as well as trumpet; a crystal clear, expressive vocal delivery; and Ford's signature stinging guitar in the solo break lifts proceedings off on the up tip.

Apparently a staple in Russia, the music of Taneyev exists on the fringes of the repertoire in the West, something that should be rectified–and will be if this superb CD made by a starry cast of performers gets the attention it deserves. He’s a Romantic composer, but hardly of the heart-on-sleeve variety, since he was a master of counterpoint and firmly encased his Romantic impulses in a well-fitted classical jacket. Sometimes he makes you think of a more modern, pungent Brahms with a Russian accent.

One listen to Lisa Gerrard's The Silver Tree (originally available only digitally, then as an Australia-only import, and finally, as a U.S. release) is enough to convince anybody – who isn't already convinced – that there's a very specific reason she has been courted by directors to compose soundtracks. There are 13 tracks here full of wispy ambient soundscapes, on top of which the former Dead Can Dance vocalist places her almost otherworldly gift of a voice. Sung nearly as prayers or meditative mantras, Gerrard employs monosyllabic glimpses of other languages – and occasionally English – to create her own tapestry of dreams. Some may be tempted to call this "new age" music, but it's so much more melancholy than much of what passes for that trash, and it's nearly sacred in its approach to articulation, creating the feeling in places ("Come Tenderness," "The Sea Whisperer," and "Abwoon," to name a few) that she is actually singing inside a cathedral. In other places, such as "Wandering Star" and "Serenity," her voice offers a drone approach that is as subtle – yet powerful – as her instrumentation.