Fierce Kate Bush fans who are expecting revelation in Aerial, her first new work since The Red Shoes in 1993, will no doubt scour lyrics, instrumental trills, and interludes until they find them. For everyone else, those who purchased much of Bush's earlier catalog because of its depth, quality, and vision, Aerial will sound exactly like what it is, a new Kate Bush record: full of her obsessions, lushly romantic paeans to things mundane and cosmic, and her ability to add dimension and transfer emotion though song. The set is spread over two discs. The first, A Sea of Honey, is a collection of songs, arranged for everything from full-on rock band to solo piano. The second, A Sky of Honey, is a conceptual suite. It was produced by Bush with engineering and mixing by longtime collaborator Del Palmer.A Sea of Honey is a deeply interior look at domesticity, with the exception of its opening track, "King of the Mountain," the first single and video. Bush does an acceptable impersonation of Elvis Presley in which she examines his past life on earth and present incarnation as spectral enigma. Juxtaposing the Elvis myth, Wagnerian mystery, and the image of Rosebud, the sled from Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, Bush's synthesizer, sequencer, and voice weigh in ethereally from the margins before a full-on rock band playing edgy and funky reggae enters on the second verse. Wind whispers and then howls across the cut's backdrop as she searches for the rainbow body of the disappeared one through his clothes and the tabloid tales of his apocryphal sightings, looking for a certain resurrection of his physical body. The rest of the disc focuses on more interior and domestic matters, but it's no less startling. A tune called "Pi" looks at a mathematician's poetic and romantic love of numbers. "Bertie" is a hymn to her son orchestrated by piano, Renaissance guitar, percussion, and viols. But disc one's strangest and most lovely moment is in "Mrs. Bartolozzi," scored for piano and voice. It revives Bush's obsessive eroticism through an ordinary woman's ecstatic experience of cleaning after a rainstorm, and placing the clothing of her beloved and her own into the washing machine and observing in rapt sexual attention. She sings "My blouse wrapping itself around your trousers/Oh the waves are going out/My skirt floating up around your waist...Washing machine/Washing machine." Then there's "How to Be Invisible," and the mysticism of domestic life as the interior reaches out into the universe and touches its magic: "Hem of anorak/Stem of a wall flower/Hair of doormat?/Is that autumn leaf falling?/Or is that you walking home?/Is that a storm in the swimming pool?"A Sky of Honey is 42 minutes in length. It's lushly romantic as it meditates on the passing of 24 hours. Its prelude is a short deeply atmospheric piece with the sounds of birds singing, and her son (who is "the Sun" according to the credits) intones, "Mummy...Daddy/The day is full of birds/Sounds like they're saying words." And "Prologue" begins with her piano, a chanted viol, and Bush crooning to romantic love, the joy of marriage and nature communing, and the deep romance of everyday life. There's drama, stillness, joy, and quiet as its goes on, but it's all held within, as in "An Architect's Dream," where the protagonist encounters a working street painter going about his work in changing light: "The flick of a wrist/Twisting down to the hips/So the lovers begin with a kiss...." Loops, Eberhard Weber's fretless bass, drifting keyboards, and a relaxed delivery create an erotic tension, in beauty and in casual voyeurism. "Sunset" has Bush approaching jazz, but it doesn't swing so much as it engages the form. Her voice digging into her piano alternates between lower-register enunciation and a near falsetto in the choruses. There is a sense of utter fascination with the world as it moves toward darkness, and the singer is enthralled as the sun climbs into bed, before it streams into "Sunset," a gorgeous flamenco guitar and percussion-driven call-and-response choral piece -- it's literally enthralling. It is followed by a piece of evening called "Somewhere Between," in which lovers take in the beginning of night. As "Nocturne" commences, shadows, stars, the beach, and the ocean accompany two lovers who dive down deep into one another and the surf. Rhythms assert themselves as the divers go deeper and the band kicks up: funky electric guitars pulse along with the layers of keyboards, journeying until just before sunup. But it is on the title track that Bush gives listeners her greatest surprise. Dawn is breaking and she greets the day with a vengeance. Manic, crunchy guitars play power chords as sequencers and synths make the dynamics shift and swirl. In her higher register, Bush shouts, croons, and trills against and above the band's force. Nothing much happens on Aerial except the passing of a day, as noted by the one who engages it in the process of being witnessed, yet it reveals much about the interior and natural worlds and expresses spiritual gratitude for everyday life. Musically, this is what listeners have come to expect from Bush at her best -- a finely constructed set of songs that engage without regard for anything else happening in the world of pop music. There's no pushing of the envelope because there doesn't need to be. Aerial is rooted in Kate Bush's oeuvre, with grace, flair, elegance, and an obsessive, stubborn attention to detail. What gets created for the listener is an ordinary world, full of magic; it lies inside one's dwelling in overlooked and inhabited spaces, and outside, from the backyard and out through the gate into wonder.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

On Land represented a significant move away from the strategies Brian Eno had employed in earlier ambient releases such as Discreet Music and Music for Airports. Instead of using a specific process to generate music with minimal interference from the composer, he here opts for a more gestural and intuitive approach, creating dreamy pictures of some specific geographical points or evocative memories of them. It's quite easy to imagine these works as soundtracks to mysterious footage of imprecisely glimpsed landscapes. On Land is an album that would become highly influential with the rising tide of new age composers, though few if any would capture the chilly beauty or latent romanticism that is part and parcel of Eno. The first piece, "Lizard Point," includes an early recorded performance of Bill Laswell on bass, and one imagines that his association with Eno was a crucial factor in the ambient directions his later work would sometimes take. On Land remains a landmark event in the genre, as well as one of its high-water marks, and sounds entirely up to date 20 years after its initial release. A superb effort.© Brian Olewnick /TiVo

Several albums have sought to capture the spirit of a music-historical juncture through the device of recording works from a single year, but this one by pianist Yaara Tal is exceptionally effective. Tal offers a sequence of 29 short pieces; they go by quickly, and they carry the flavor of a recital that might have occurred at the time, perhaps giving a sampling of the musical ideas that were in the air. There are a few well-known works, but Tal leans heavily toward pieces related to those but not necessarily known in themselves. Thus, there is Schoenberg's Fünf Klavierstücke, Op. 23, but also a string of pieces by the much less familiar Josef Matthias Hauer, who developed his own 12-tone system independently of Schoenberg. Pieces by the giants of the day, Leoš Janáček and Frederick Delius mix with up-and-comers like Federico Mompou, and insights into the relevance they had in their own day are abundant. There are spiritual pieces, like the mysteriously gorgeous Nirvana of Ernest Bloch, and futurism in the form of Die Maschine, Op. 1, of Fritz Heinrich Klein. The program would seem likely to fall apart, but Tal moves nimbly from style to style, capturing the ferment of the era vividly. The album would make an ideal basis for a university course centered on the era, and it offers plenty of food for thought to general listeners.© James Manheim /TiVo

Tal Wilkenfeld made her bones as a bass prodigy, impressing such heavy-hitters as Herbie Hancock, Lee Ritenour, and Jeff Beck when she was in her early twenties. Wilkenfeld gained their attention through the dexterous chops she displayed on her 2007 debut Transformation. An audacious if slightly old-fashioned exercise in jazz fusion, Transformation has little to do with Love Remains, the sophomore set Wilkenfeld delivered 12 long years later. Wilkenfeld spent those years working as a sidewoman -- her main gig was in Jeff Beck's band, but she also worked with Toto, Ryan Adams, Todd Rundgren, and Jackson Browne -- while also redefining her solo music, moving firmly into the realm of '90s alternative rock. With its cascades of roiling guitars and dark, churning rhythms -- heavy textures tempered by a clutch of songs anchored on insistent acoustic guitars -- Love Remains seems to belong to another time: one that existed just after grunge and ceased to be after the rise of Total Request Live. What gives Love Remains a bit of a spark is Wilkenfeld's evident passion. Given her background, a high level of craft should be expected -- Wilkenfeld and her supporting musicians do not flaunt their skills, but rather hit their marks with precision -- but what's surprising is how Wilkenfeld pours herself into these retro-'90s anthems, and that level of emotional engagement prevents Love Remains from an exercise in throwback alternative rock.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Studio recordings of full operas are not so common anymore, but among the few positive side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was that it did spawn several. This one sounds a bit buttoned-up, perhaps because of the restrictions of the time; the album was made in the summer of 2021, and the contributions of the Transylvania State Choir were downloaded from afar (actually, this would be hard to tell by listening), but there is a lot that is distinctive about the performance of this Verdi opera, whose tragicomic quality has made it a special favorite in modern times. Verdi moved the action from Sweden to Boston to circumvent a censorship restriction; nowadays, the Swedish setting is generally preferred, but the curious American colonial setting somehow seems to fit the mixture of elements in the opera, loading political intrigue onto the old comic trope of the masked ball. The biggest news is the presence of tenor Freddie De Tommaso in the lead role of Riccardo. He has been bubbling under the surface of the opera scene, and with this recording, he takes a major step into the spotlight. Consider one of his big numbers, like "Forse la soglia attinse" in Act III, for an idea of why his performance is bringing to mind some of the greats who have recorded this opera. He is ably backed by a strong cast, including the rougher but powerfully dramatic Lester Lynch as Renato, making a compelling contrast with De Tommaso and Saioa Hernández as Amelia. This vocally strong Un ballo in maschera is well worth the attention of Verdi lovers.© James Manheim /TiVo

The potential buyer or listener to Puccini's Tosca, one of the most performed operas in the repertory since its premiere in 1900, has many recordings to choose from, including those by the greats of the 20th century. Yet this 2023 studio release, a product of a promising collaboration between the San Francisco Classical Recording Company, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and Deutschlandfunk Kulture, can hold its own with others on the market. Part of the draw is the presence of two singers who are not quite household names but are hitting their creative peaks, soprano Melody Moore as Floria Tosca and baritone Lester Lynch as the villainous Scarpia, with tenor Stefan Pop as the sensitive artist Cavaradossi not far behind. The famous tunes all sound great, with Moore's "Vissi d'arte" in Act II a standout. She is a Puccini specialist who has total confidence in the role and the ability to put it across dramatically. Perhaps the most important creative force here is the conductor, Carlo Montanaro, leading the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. He is an Italian opera veteran who has not recorded much, but this release makes one want to hear him on recordings more often; he keeps the action moving, catching the economical, action-packed quality that has made this opera perennially popular despite its highbrow detractors. However, he knows when to slow down and let the singers bloom. The PentaTone label's sound is another draw; it is rare enough to hear a full-scale studio opera recording these days, and the singers are both clear and close-up, never overwhelming. A fine choice for operatic listening during the winter of 2023-2024 or at any other time.© James Manheim /TiVo

Rita Lee, a former member of the seminal rock band Os Mutantes, always had lots to say about Brazilian rock, but she spent most of her post-Mutantes career on innocuous dance grooves. On this CD reissue of the album recorded in 1975, she is a truthful rock artist. Backed by the strong grip of her rock band Tutti Frutti, she delivers some of her biggest hits here: "Agora Só Falta Você," "Esse Tal de Roque Enrow" (composed with mega-selling esoteric writer Paulo Coelho, when he was an alternative rock composer [he was the main partner of the late rocker Raul Seixas]), and the eternal "Ovelha Negra," the anthem of the rebellious youngsters in Brazil. Lee can be a singer as competent in wild rock as in softer ballads when she acquires a girlish, tender quality. The album is a document of a time when she could be truthful about her ideals.© Alvaro Neder /TiVo

Carefully-curated exploration of Donizetti's greatest tenor arias. Tenor Javier Camarena makes his Pentatone debut with this programme, together with Gli Originali under the baton of Italian opera specialist Riccardo Frizza, presenting a carefully-curated exploration of Donizetti’s greatest tenor arias. Besides famous excerpts from L’elisir d’amore, Don Pasquale and Roberto Devereux, this project focuses on hidden gems from rarely-recorded works such as Betly, Maria de Rudenz and Il giovedì grasso. Camarena and Frizza’s exceptional sense of style is enhanced by the period instrument playing of Gli Originali. The recording took place at the Teatro Donizetti in the composer’s hometown Bergamo, as part of the yearly Donizetti Festival, of which Frizza is the musical director. © Pentatone

The Austrian bass Günther Groissböck enchants on the opera and concert stages around the world with the unique noble sound of his voice and virtually breathtaking verve of performance. Together with Malcolm Martineau, who is recognized worldwide as one of the leading piano accompanists of his generation, Groissböck presents on the album here incomparable interpretations of late Romantic songs and ballads by Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and Hans Rott. The duo pays homage to passion in Strauss songs such as Zueignung, Allerseelen or Breit' über mein Haupt, or leaves the audience rather thoughtful with Der Einsame, Das Thal or Befreit. Hans Rott, who died at a young age, can be heard in Wanderer's Nachtlied, Geistesgruß and Der Sänger. Groissböck also brings the tragic characters in Mahler's songs Revelge, Zu Straßburg auf der Schanz', Tamboursg'sell or Nicht wiedersehen! to life in an incomparable way, before this great recording promises a transcendental end with Urlicht. © Gramola Records

Because Dino Saluzzi is an Argentine who plays the bandoneon, it is inevitable to compare him to Astor Piazolla. This comparison is unfair, however, because if Saluzzi is playing tango, it is so abstracted and transformed that we may as well just call it jazz. If a better comparison is sought it would be to another international jazz musician like Renaud Garcia-Fons. On Rios, Saluzzi plays with American bassist Anthony Cox and American vibist and arranger David Friedman, a musician who's run the gamut from Yoko Ono to Disney soundtracks. Together they play an assortment of tunes by members of the group, about half of them Saluzzi's, plus the one cover "My One and Only Love." The numbers are thoughtful but not flashy. Friedman's "Penta y Uno" is largely a deconstruction of bossa nova and tango, featuring percussion as well as vibes. Cox's "Jad" uses weird effects from the instruments and the occasional Arabic motif to build up to a subdued bop frenzy. Other tracks are more straight-ahead combinations of the primary instruments. This is music for the patient and thoughtful listener. Competent but not destined to be a classic.© Kurt Keefner /TiVo

Philippe Verdelot played a very important role in the development of the madrigal during the Italian Renaissance. Born in France, he probably moved to Italy at a young age. From 1522 onwards, he held the most important positions in church music in Florence – first he was maestro di capella at the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral, and a year later also at the Cathedral itself. After 1530, with the riots surrounding the expulsion of the Medici family and the siege of the city, all biographical traces are lost, and no works created after these events seem to have survived. In the years before, however, Verdelot had initiated important musical developments with his madrigals, which at that time were the most published in Italy. The Ensemble Profeti della Quinta presents a selection of four-part madrigals from an anthology published posthumously (1540, 1565). A special feature of their performance is that each singer reads from the originally notated single voice – unlike in a modern score with parts notated one above the other. The musicians must therefore listen to each other much more closely and be able to react spontaneously. This spontaneity can be felt throughout the recording, and takes the listener to the beginnings of the Italian madrigal in a very intense way. © Pan Classics