Just in time for the coronation of King Charles III comes this release, featuring music written for the coronations of George II in 1727 and of George I before him. The Handel works, written for the 1727 event, are the pure public Handel, with imposing choral-orchestral chords interspersed with straightforward but not simple episodes of counterpoint. They are meant to be crowd-pleasers, and indeed, they are; they're hard to ruin. What is on offer here from the RIAS-Kammerchor Berlin and the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin under conductor Justin Doyle are elegant but undersized performances characteristic of the Continental historical performance movement. Reports from Handel's time indicated an orchestra of 160; here are but 20 players. The choir, at 36 singers, is closer to Handel's 40, and this veteran group delivers a rich, satisfying sound with a rounded tone from the smaller solo group (not indicated in the score but often performed as it is here). The anthem The Lord Is a Sun and Shield is not by Handel but by William Croft, and one will be struck by how close it is to Handel stylistically. The overture to Handel's Occasional Oratorio, HWV 62, serves as an overture to the whole program, and there is a typically odd Chaconne by John Blow as an interlude. These are less-splendid but highly enjoyable performances for reliving the coronation atmosphere.© James Manheim /TiVo

During the late '50s, Ella Fitzgerald continued her Song Book records with Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book, releasing a series of albums featuring 59 songs written by George and Ira Gershwin. Those songs, plus alternate takes, were combined on a four-disc box set, Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book, in 1998. These performances are easily among Fitzgerald's very best, and for any serious fan, this is the ideal place to acquire the recordings, since the sound and presentation are equally classy and impressive.© Leo Stanley /TiVo

Handel’s Messiah has been adored by the English since it premiered. It’s a masterpiece in the British repertoire and has never been eclipsed. It’s been sung in every possible style, in every possible size. “Bigger is better” seems to be the general rule of thumb and the number of musicians and singers has approached the thousands. Attending one of these huge performances, Haydn was inspired to write his own oratorio: Die Schöpfung (The Creation).Recorded in January 2020 in Berlin’s famous Jesus-Christus Church, where so many legendary performances have been recorded, this new version uses the ‘reasonable’ size of its 1742 Dublin premiere. The fabulous RIAS-Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin joined forces for the occasion with an amazing English vocal quartet consisting of Julia Doyle (soprano), Tim Mead (countertenor), Thomas Hobbs (tenor) and Roderick Williams (bass).After their three editions devoted to Handel's Concerti grossi, the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin continues to invest in the music of the most English of German composers. Just to give you a taste of what it’s all about, the RIAS-Kammerchor has been led by English choirmaster Justin Doyle since 2016. Here he gives an intimate reading of Messiah, conducting an incredible choir and orchestra that are among the best in the world at performing this music. Berlin was treated to this at the Philharmonie for the 2020 New Year Concert a few days before this recording. © François Hudry/Qobuz

The general revival of music by women has not done much for Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987), even though she was quite a familiar figure in her own time. She wrote two carols, The Boar's Head Carol and Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, that remain in common use, was a broadcaster on the BBC for some years, and edited several music collections for Penguin publishing that are still in print. This collection of sacred music from two choirs of St. Albans Cathedral and conductor Tom Winpenny adds a substantial chunk to the relative handful of Poston compositions that have been available up to now, and the album made classical best-seller lists in the autumn of 2023. Both of Poston's familiar carols are included, and those not familiar with Jesus Christ the Apple Tree would do well to sample it here; it has a truly mysterious simplicity. All of the music might be described as artfully simple; even the main attraction, the mini Christmas oratorio The Nativity, has an attractive minimal quality, with texts gathered from folk carols. The second half of the program is largely given over to little carols for children sung by the St. Albans Cathedral Girls Choir; there may be smoother choirs in the English cathedral sphere, but few would get into the spirit of The Dormouse's Carol as these young singers do. Essential for collections of music by women, this would also make a good offbeat holiday gift for 2023 and beyond.© James Manheim /TiVo

Little Simz's fourth album the biggest success of her career. Aptly dubbed Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (whose initials, SIMBI, are a reference to the rapper's first name), it is a superb exploration of intimacy. The Londoner mobilises big string arrangements, as on Standing Ovation or the long intro Introvert, while mixing the organic and the electronic with disconcerting skill. This album sketches different aspects of her personality, going back to her Nigerian origins with the tracks Point and Kill (featuring rising star Obongjayar) and Fear No Man, all the way to the decidedly English sounds on Rollin Stone, which verges on grime without diving fully into that sound. With an aesthetic that veers close to the American alternative rap of the late 1990s, she studs this record with welcome, relevant interludes, sonic breaks, dotted throughout the tracklist. In terms of her flow, the technique is the same. It is still all about playing with time, even when it gets more uniform on the excellent single Woman, or more full-frontal on Speed. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert stands out as one of the highlights of English rap in 2021, accomplished and enjoyable without denying its social message. A real success. © Brice Miclet/Qobuz

The fourth release in Tom Waits' series of skid row travelogues, Small Change proves to be the archetypal album of his '70s work. A jazz trio comprising tenor sax player Lew Tabackin, bassist Jim Hughart, and drummer Shelly Manne, plus an occasional string section, back Waits and his piano on songs steeped in whiskey and atmosphere in which he alternately sings in his broken-beaned drunk's voice (now deeper and overtly influenced by Louis Armstrong) and recites jazzy poetry. It's as if Waits were determined to combine the Humphrey Bogart and Dooley Wilson characters from Casablanca with a dash of On the Road's Dean Moriarty to illuminate a dark world of bars and all-night diners. Of course, he'd been in that world before, but in songs like "The Piano Has Been Drinking" and "Bad Liver and a Broken Heart," Waits gives it its clearest expression. Small Change isn't his best album. Like most of the albums Waits made in the '70s, it's uneven, probably because he was putting out one a year and didn't have time to come up with enough first-rate material. But it is the most obvious and characteristic of his albums for Asylum Records. If you like it, you also will like the ones before and after; otherwise, you're not Tom Waits' kind of listener.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

Filming a concert is no mean feat, though Roger Waters has nailed it. Mostly thanks to Sean Evans, the director behind the images used for The Wall tour in 2014. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Waters paired up with Evans again for his latest tour Us + Them in 2019. In order to select the best performances while maintaining a visual (and sonic) cohesion, the recording took place over four days, during performances at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam in June 2018. Each new studio album is basically an excuse to go on another tour and bring as much of the Pink Floyd repertoire to the stage – something that’s also true for his brother-in-arms David Gilmour. Of course, there are a few tracks from his record Is This the Life We Really Want? released in 2017 (Déjà Vu, The Last Refugee, Picture That), but what the fans really want are the older tracks. Waters knows that of course, performing Wish You Were Here, Another Brick in The Wall, Dogs and Money. It’s a shame that Comfortably Numb is missing, even in the video version, especially since the classic was performed on stage over the four evenings. While the film strives to be even more politically engaged than those in the past (featuring an anti-Trump speech and touching on the Palestine crisis...), the live album only transcribes the musical magic. Most importantly, it spotlights the talented artists surrounding the bassist, with guitarist and singer Jonathan Wilson in the front row, whose physical (and vocal) resemblance to David Gilmour has wowed us all. Prepare to be surprised. © Chief Brody/Qobuz

Try as companies might, a perfect anthology framing the famous family of funk still manages to elude even the most fickle of aficionados. While 2003's Ultimate Collection is an expansive look at the group's career, it most certainly isn't as thorough as 1999's outstanding Rhino box set, which is simply too rich to satisfy the curious or casual listener. Quite simply, it's nearly impossible to include the group's greatest moments on one disc, and most two-disc sets have a tendency to become ripe with filler. While The Essential Isley Brothers is no exception to the rule, it certainly is the most accessible when measured against the aforementioned anthologies. The track sequencing is erratic but covers many of the group's anthems right away on disc one, the most jarring contrast being between the opening pre-fuzzed good times of "Twist and Shout" and the fuzz-guitar orgy that became "That Lady." Disc two covers every single permutation of the group's later years: from the '80s quiet storm of Isley/Jasper/Isley's "Caravan of Love" to Mr. Biggs' collaborative work with R. Kelly in the early part of the 2000s. To include these later projects serves to give the listener a comprehensive survey of the Isley family evolution over the past five decades, but not much else would warrant the inclusion of "Down Low," especially in contrast with so many of their ultimate anthems. Overlooking that fact, you'll find yourself subconsciously (or intentionally) head-bobbing or toe-tapping along with these discs through and through, and rightfully so, as this is a first-class compilation that casual listeners and loyal devotees will be more than satisfied with.© Rob Theakston /TiVo

Fans of the British crown’s splendour will certainly marvel at this double album that reproduces the coronation anthems of the four monarchs of the 20th century: Edward VII in 1902, George V in 1911, George VI in 1937, and current Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Very few of today’s ceremonies can reach such levels of grandeur.At the crossroads of tradition and innovation, these coronation ceremonies are characterised by the evocation of past heritage works, and the addition of numerous pieces commissioned specifically for the occasion to the best composers in the kingdom. For such events, Westminster Abbey is closed for several months to allow an army of craftsmen to build monumental galleries capable of hosting up to eight thousand guests. Then come the rehearsals with 400-singer choirs, half of them children, an immense orchestra, and the indispensable great organ.This recording is a selection of the best moments of these ceremonies, presented as a single liturgical structure. This ample reconstitution led by Paul McCreesh follows for the most part the 1937 ceremony, dropping however the era’s typical style when interpreting Handel. The musical approach has changed so much that it is presented here in the “baroque” style characteristic of our early 21st century. Some difficult choices were made, particularly regarding the Te Deum, the centrepiece and climax of the ceremony. A Cornelian choice between the ones from Stanford (1902), Parry (1911), Vaughan Williams (1937) and William Walton (1953). The latter was finally chosen, for its radiance and theatrical impetus. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Performance dynamo and chameleonic entertainment personality Robbie Williams made a rapid transformation -- from English football hooligan to dapper saloon singer -- for his fourth LP, Swing When You're Winning. Still, Williams' tribute to the great American songbook is a surprisingly natural fit with its intended target: '50s trad-pop patriarchs like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. And just like those two loveable rogues, Williams has brawled and boozed in the past, but isn't afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve; in fact, he's one of the few modern pop stars to fully embrace affecting balladry and nuanced singing. Williams and longtime producer Guy Chambers are also extremely careful with their product, so it shouldn't be surprising that Swing When You're Winning has innumerable extra-musical touches to carry it over: the cover features Williams relaxing in the studio in a period suit; his contract with EMI enabled the addition of the treasured Capitol logo at the top of the sleeve, and several tracks were even recorded at the famed Capitol tower in Hollywood.Fortunately, Williams is no less careful with his performances. Since he lacks the authoritative air of master crooners like Sinatra and Bing Crosby (along with the rest of humanity), he instead plays up his closer connections to the world of Broadway. His readings are dynamic and emotional -- sometimes a consequence of trying to put a new spin on these classics (six of the covers are Sinatra standards, three are Bobby Darin's). He also invited, with nearly universal success, a series of duet partners: Nicole Kidman for the sublime "Somethin' Stupid," Jon Lovitz for the irresistibly catty "Well, Did You Evah," Rupert Everett for "They Can't Take That Away From Me," longtime Sinatra accompanist Bill Miller on "One for My Baby," even Sinatra himself for a version of "It Was a Very Good Year" on which Williams takes the first two verses (over the 1965 arrangement), then bows out as Sinatra's original counsels him concerning the later stages of life. Though it may be an overly close tribute to a familiar original (like many of the songs here), Williams' considerable skills with expression and interpretation largely overwhelm any close criticism. He's definitely much better on the comedy songs, especially the hilarious "Well, Did You Evah" (originally a duet for Crosby and Sinatra in the 1956 film High Society). Lovitz's rounded tones and faux-affected airs are a spot-on interpretation of Brother Cros, while Williams' emulation of a boorish lug ("That's a nice dress -- think I could talk her out of it?") is nearly perfect as well. Though arranger Steve Sidwell hasn't done many charts (and those for the movies Moulin Rouge, Bridget Jones' Diary, and Romeo + Juliet), he also acquits himself nicely aping classic scores for "One for My Baby" and "Beyond the Sea." The lone Robbie Williams original is "I Will Talk and Hollywood Will Listen," a sweeping pipe-dream fantasy of true American superstardom for Britain's biggest pop star. It could happen, too; Pierce Brosnan surely isn't growing any younger.© John Bush /TiVo

Admirers of Harry Christophers and his exemplary choral ensemble The Sixteen will no doubt have the highest expectations for this 2008 Coro release of George Frederick Handel's Messiah, especially because the group is almost ideal in size, sonority, and technical mastery to render this work in the best period performance style. Even the most demanding listeners will not be disappointed in this recording because Christophers' scholarship is impeccable, and he leads the performance with sharp Baroque rhythms, brisk tempos, vivid interpretations, and a great flexibility in instrumental combinations, which gives the music greater richness through doublings of the stings with woodwinds and supplies a pleasantly varied basso continuo. The four vocalists -- soprano Carolyn Sampson, alto Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Mark Padmore, and bass Christopher Purves -- are all seasoned Handelians, and their arias are eloquent in expression and beautifully delivered with a tasteful modicum of ornamentation, but no more than that. The most thrilling highpoints are the glorious choruses in which The Sixteen sounds utterly seraphic in its pure tone and pristine in its transparent lines. As if this extraordinary performance of Messiah was not enough to compel purchase, the special edition set includes a bonus CD that offers attractive excerpts from Coro's numerous Handel titles. This set is highly recommended for aficionados of recordings of Messiah and newcomers alike.© TiVo

This is the second in a series of Byrd recordings by the vocal ensemble Alamire and the instrumental group Fretwork under the direction of David Skinner. The two recordings, Byrd 1588 and Byrd 1589, cover two books of music published by Byrd in their entireties. Normally this kind of recording can be a bit tedious for the general listener, inasmuch as the music wasn't intended to be performed sequentially in this way; it was issued so that home musicians could pick and choose what they wanted. In this case, however, there is a lot to learn. Byrd's 1589 volume Songs of sundrie natures lives up to its name, with secular madrigals and sacred pieces mixed together. The sacred works may be more familiar in choral settings, but Skinner argues that they weren't intended for church performance but for small gatherings, much like the secular pieces. This puts a new perspective on the music, showing how madrigalistic ideas showed up in the sacred music. Sample the gathering momentum of Christ rising again, the six-part final work on the album. The sacred works are performed a cappella, while the secular ones are accompanied by various instruments; this seems logical enough, but not all performers do it this way. The performances themselves are very strong, with the solo voices conveying deep expression without breaking out of the necessary homogeneous texture. Many of the works here have not been performed often, Byrd being a composer who is too often represented by a few hits. This album is recommended for anyone interested in delving more deeply into Byrd; it landed on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023.© James Manheim /TiVo