Besides the astounding Mosolov's
Piano Concerto No. 1, this Holy Week has brought to me two rather mainstream works, which incredibly I never hadn't listened to before:

Messiah is a quite charming oratorio, and now I know why it's regarded as a masterpiece from the baroque era. It's endlessly lovely, thoroughly life-enhancing and with some very moving moments (especially the ones on the part II). I'm not a fan of historical instruments performances, I much prefer a warmer and brighter sound, so this recording completely fulfilled those requirements. It's a majesticly radiant rendition, bringing the work in all its glory. Despite its length (a bit more than two hours and a half), I didn't feel tired by it, I might listen to it many times.
Cavalleria Rusticana is one of those kind of operas that appeals to me enormously. Man, this is simply fantastic! This music melted my heart from the very beginning, what soaring melodies!! This represents, undoubtedly, a vivid Italian scenery from the 19th century, with the most possible endearing music. I read somewhere that Mascagni had discarded the
Intermezzo, but his wife made him change his mind and very fortunately he included it on the work. One can't get tired of such moving miniature. Yet another outstanding Italian opera, along with those by Puccini, my favorites so far.