Nothing less than 'a meeting point of human imperfection and godly perfection' is how Mahan Esfahani memorably characterizes the Bach Toccatas—among the peaks of the eighteenth-century keyboard repertoire—and it's a judgement which will strike anyone listening to these mesmerizing, charismatic accounts as wholly apt. August's Record of the Month is another testament to this most remarkable of harpsichordists. The Jupiter Project – Mozart in the nineteenth-century drawing room presents a unique take on some favourite orchestral masterpieces. If these chamber versions by Hummel, Cramer and Clementi—how contemporary audiences might first have heard works we now take for granted—raise fascinating questions on the nature of authenticity, the compelling accounts from David Owen Norris and friends go some way to providing an answer.

In A Song of Agincourt & other works by Stanford, Howard Shelley conducts the Ulster Orchestra—with suitably elfin contributions from the young voices of Codetta—through a brilliant pageant of Edwardian pomp and majesty, civic solemnities for the memory of Verdun, and child-like, fairy-tale delight. And Stephen Layton, conducting Trinity College Choir Cambridge, offers a similarly rewarding experience in Choral works by Gerald Finzi, a wonderfully mixed programme including those two perennially popular contributions to the Anglican tradition God is gone up and Lo, the full, final sacrifice. Performances throughout are distinguished by the flawless execution only to be expected from this partnership.

Handel's Queens is a new double album from Signum Classics and London Early Opera. Under the direction of Bridget Cunningham, sopranos Lucy Crowe and Mary Bevan revel in the exquisite repertory which was the showground for Italian divas Faustina and Cuzzoni, the stars of Handel's Royal Academy and the talk of London society.

Mark van de Wiel has recorded Clarinet Concertos by Mozart & Joseph Phibbs—the latter a thrilling new work composed especially for him, the former one of the absolute treasures of the Classical period. Christopher Warren-Green conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Phibbs and the London Chamber Orchestra (Mozart) for this attractive new addition to the Signum catalogue.