Classical

Bach: Cantatas 215 & 208. Choir and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Gustav Leonhardt (Philips)

If you're old enough to remember the Bach cantata series at St Ann's, Dawson St, in the days of John Beckett's reign, then the lurchy swing that Gustav Leonhardt brings to the opening chorus of Cantata 215 may well make you long for those times, when Irish performances of Bach were heard at the Proms in London and at the early music festival in Bruges. The other work here is the famous Hunting Cantata, source of the popular Sheep May Safely Graze. The vitality of the performances is greatly enhanced by the go-for-it commitment of the always stimulating tenor John Elwes, and bass David Wilson-Johnson makes his presence strongly felt, too. I was less taken by sopranos Monika Frimmer and Lynne Dawson, but they don't seriously diminish the overall impression of music-making of fine buoyancy and spirit. Michael Dervan

Beethoven: String Trios. Leopold Trio (Hyperion, two separate discs)

There's no shortage of exposure for the genius of the young Beethoven as expressed in his early piano sonatas, string quartets and piano trios. That can be explained by the fact that there's no shortage of solo pianists, string quartets or piano trios to perform them. It's a sort of chicken and egg question whether the comparative rarity of the string trio as a professional ensemble is due to the limited supply of suitable repertoire, or whether the explanation should run the other way round. No matter, the Leopold Trio are at hand to plead the case for Beethoven's works in the medium with persuasive style. The first two works, the six-movement Trio in E flat, Op. 3, and the seven-movement Serenade in D, Op. 8, are lighter than the three published as Op. 9, the last of which, in tightly-argued C minor mode is the finest of the lot. Fresh-toned playing in a rather forward recording make for an attractive combination. Michael Dervan

Joan La Barbara: "Shamansong" (New World)

One-time member of both the Steve Reich and Philip Glass ensembles, Joan La Barbara is a composer for whom the voice is as important an anchor as the piano was to Chopin. A uniquely gifted exploratory vocalist - "singer" wouldn't adequately describe her talents - her early compositions tended to grow out of her work as a performer, titles like Voice Piece: One-Note Internal Resonance Investigation giving a flavour of the terrain. Her latest CD, of Shamansong, Rothko and Calligraphy II/Shadows is of "sound-paintings", timeless, evocative creations of the electronic studio (heavily Chinese-flavoured in the third piece) that sometimes reach towards the moody shorthand of film music, but are always marked by the distinction and range of that voice. Michael Dervan