Classical/Opera

Ode for St Cecilia's Day (ASV Gaudeamus)

There's one work which justifiably dominates consideration of musical life in the Dublin of the mid-18th century: Handel's Messiah. The Ode for St Cecilia's Day by William Boyce (1711-1779) was introduced to Dublin audiences in December 1740, some 14 months before Messiah, in a version significantly revised from the work's London premiere of 1739. It's a substantial piece, nearly 70 minutes in this recording by the Choir of New College, Oxford and the Hanover Band under Graham Lea-Cox. The text by John Lockman may not be of the first rank, but it certainly inspired the 28-year-old Boyce to an imaginative response, however widely it strayed from its Cecilian theme. With a generally strong team of soloists, and skilful handling of his period forces by Lea-Cox, this fascinating sidelight on Dublin's musical past can be heartily recommended.

- Michael Dervan

Catoire: Piano Music. MarcAndre Hamelin (Hyperion). Kapustin: Piano Music: Steven Osborne (Hyperion)

The names of Georgy Catoire (1861-1926) and Nikolai Kapustin (born 1937), are unlikely to be known to many people outside of Russia. Catoire, a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov and Liadov (and teacher of Kabalevsky), is represented in MarcAndre Hamelin's new collection by nearly 30 miniatures in late-romantic mould, sounding like the work of a Scriabin-influenced but independent-minded conservative. Kapustin, an active jazz performer and (like Catoire) a prolific composer for piano, writes music that is as much jazz as it is classical. In truth, the two sonatas and selection of preludes in Steven Osborne's collection are both and neither. They are simply themselves, intriguingly fluid pieces bound to send anyone trying to categorise them into a fit of head-scratching.

- Michael Dervan

Well-Tempered Clavier I. Ralph Kirkpatrick (clavichord) (Archiv Produktion Originals, 2 CDs)

Yes, you've read correctly. Ralph Kirkpatrick's 1959 recording of the first book of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier was made on the clavichord, "this limited and fiendishly difficult little instrument" (Kirkpatrick's own words). The clavichord is the quietest, most flexible and intimate of keyboard instruments. It is also the least known. Although it allows coloration of dynamics and pitch (including vibrato) and, unlike the piano or harpsichord, leaves its player at all times literally in contact with the sound, it's too quiet for even the smallest concert hall. So the mid-price reissue of Kirkpatrick's pioneering effort, variable as it is, serves to remind the world of an extraordinary instrument whose slender, silvery voice, in its time, thrived in places and circumstances where no harpsichord could be found.

- Michael Dervan

Maria Bayo: Exsultate, Jubilate (Auvidis)

Mozart seems to have fallen out of favour with the recording powers-that-be, so this collection of arias - intended to showcase the diversity of his vocal writing, from concert aria to opera aria - is particularly welcome. Maria Bayo is a Spanish soprano whose star has been on the rise recently, and it's easy to see why as she moves unhurriedly through a tasteful programme which takes her from the musings of the eponymous operatic heroine Zaide through the birdlike outburst of Zerlina's Batti, Batti from Don Giovanni to the rococo exuberance of the title track. An aristocratic singer of unforced tone and beguiling coloratura, this is a soprano to watch - and an album to enjoy.

- Arminta Wallace