Great Voices: Willie Nelson, Rufus Waingwright, Magdalena Kožená

GREAT VOICES
Willie Nelson, COUNTRY MUSIC (Rounder, $17.98) – A recharged Willie Nelson teams up with producer T Bone Burnett (and his superb sense of song choices and backup musicians) to go back to his roots.

Rufus Wainwright, ALL DAYS ARE NIGHTS (Decca, $17.98) – Rufus Wainwright’s swoony, mesmerizing voice is up front in spare voice and piano arrangements of all new songs. There’s a song from Rufus’s opera Prima Donna, settings of some Shakespeare sonnets, and meditations on his late mother, Kate McGarrigle.

Magdalena Kozená, VIVALDI (Archiv, $18.98) – The last few years have seen a surge in recordings of Vivaldi’s vocal music, centered on the manuscripts in Turin’s Library. It’s also a time of great mezzos doing Baroque repertoire, and Ms Kožená is one of the best. Following her Handel recording, she once again teams up with the superb Venice Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Andrea Marcon. Selections from Juditha Triumphns, Orlando Furioso, Griselda, and other operas.