Anthony Cohen

It is not easy for a classical recording to truly inspire these days. This one does. Seeking common ground between the music of Friedrich Haendel and Philip Glass, Anthony Roth Costanzo alternatively sings works by the two composers in his beautiful raw soprano voice. He is accompanied by the early music Essemble Les Violons du Roy. Costanzo has created a musical unity that carriers the listeners with ease between the acoustic emotions of the Baroque and the Modern. A magnificent and moving recording.

Songs from a Room is the second album by Canadian musician Leonard Cohen, released in 1969. It reached No. 63 on the US Billboard Top LPs and No. 2 on the UK charts. In 2007, Songs from a Room was given a remastered reissue by Sony/BMG as part of a revamping of Cohen's back catalog. The new edition includes two bonus tracks, early versions of "Bird on a Wire" and "You Know Who I Am," which were produced by David Crosby. While he might seem an unlikely studio partner for Cohen, the results are better suited to Cohen's talents than what Johnston brought to the songs, and one wonders how the album might have turned out with Crosby at the controls. The reissue has been given a handsome book-style package with plenty of archival photos, song lyrics and new liner notes from Anthony DeCurtis.