During the later years of the seventeenth century in Italy the form of the solo cantata with basso continuo became popular. Extra voices with obbligato instruments were often added to the basic formula, but the alternating pattern of recitative and aria remained more or less constant. the majority of Handel's cantatas date from the first decade of the eighteenth century and, more specifically, to his period in Italy between 1706 and 1710. Three of those in the new issue belong to that period whilst the fourth, Mi palpita il cor, suggests Anthony Hicks—in its version for soprano, oboe and continuo—dates from Handel's first years in England. Only recently have two complete copies of Alpestre monte turned up and this performance is, I believe, the first commercially recorded one.

Kate Bush's strongest album to date also marked her breakthrough into the American charts, and yielded a set of dazzling videos as well as an enviable body of hits, spearheaded by "Running Up That Hill," her biggest single since "Wuthering Heights." Strangely enough, Hounds of Love was no less complicated in its structure, imagery, and extra-musical references (even lifting a line of dialogue from Jacques Tourneur's Curse of the Demon for the intro of the title song) than The Dreaming, which had been roundly criticized for being too ambitious and complex.

Comme l’ont dit nombre de musicologues, la musique de Satie se caractérise par un ésotérisme subtil teinté d’une pointe d’humour et de mysticisme. C’est une musique par ailleurs absolument novatrice et audacieuse, sans emphase, à la sensibilité discrète, naïve et raffinée. Une musique étrange et sans effets de virtuosité, venue d’ailleurs et suspendue au temps comme dans le Gymnopédies et les Gnossiennes. Satie, suivant son humilité naturelle, possède l’art de simplifier le trait mélodique. L’interprétation de J.N.Barbier est en tout point remarquable et fait de ce CD un petit joyau.

Chip-Meditation is one of the better efforts from the Software "team" of Peter Mergener and Michael Weisser. The inspiration for the set comes from contemporary philosophers. Their statements regarding rapid change, technological advancement, and the unpredictable stretching of boundaries and human imagination sent Weisser and Mergener to the studio to examine new limits. They have found several questions to ask. The examination of these issues manifests itself in Software's Berlin-school electronica and metallic textures. This is a fairly strong CD. It will appeal to fans of Klaus Schulze, Dweller at the Threshold, and Ashra.

16 Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Steppenwolf, released in 1973. It features some of their most famous songs, including "Born to Be Wild", "The Pusher", and "Magic Carpet Ride", and "Hey Lawdy Mama." The album consisted of the 11 tracks from the previous Gold: Their Great Hits album, in the same order as on the two sides of that earlier album, with the addition of the final two tracks on side 1, and the final three tracks on side 2. This album was originally issued as Dunhill 50135, and later as ABC/Dunhill with the same number, on LP, 8-track cartridge, and cassette.

In every way these perceptive and well-detailed readings stand in competition with the finest.

Modern Times is the first album by the British band Latin Quarter. It reached the top 20 in Germany and Sweden and spent two weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at Number 91. It includes the songs "Radio Africa" which reached Number 19 in the UK Singles Chart. and "America for Beginners" which was covered by Toyah on her album Minx.

Thea King's excellent performances transfer well to the new medium. She plays Weber's concerto elegantly and with a nice rhythmic kick to the finale, though taking it a little more slowly than other players has its risks. The usual coupling with Weber's other clarinet concerto is here rejected in favour of a very attractive work hardly known outside the ranks of clarinettists but deserving wider currency. A very agreeable record.

Harold Mabern, a superior hard bop pianist, had a rare opportunity to perform a set of unaccompanied solos for this Sackville release. Recorded live from Toronto's Café des Copains and originally broadcast on the radio, Mabern performs six jazz standards (including "Joy Spring," "Pent Up House" and Wayne Shorter's "House of Jade") and a pair of bluesy originals. Although Mabern sounds most comfortable in a trio, he has always been enough of a two-handed player to play solo; he readily acknowledges the influences of Phineas Newborn and Ahmad Jamal.