A performance like this makes me wonder why it isn’t (the Mass) performed more often… this mass is a treasury of beautiful sounds… I can’t imagine better readings than the ones here.

These concertos demonstrate the emerging inventiveness of CPE's musical personality within the trend towards public concerts in the mid-18th century. In fits and starts there are those sparsely etched landscapes which at their best can captivate us. If decorum is sometimes overworked, Bach's originality is even more remarkable given that the ritornello structure inherited from his father's generation, with its alternating solo and string sections, is less easy to sustain in a relatively uncontrapuntal style. Contrast is therefore a key element, and Bach needs a soloist who can discern how the relationship between the harpsichord and the orchestra can be manipulated to good effect.

This series of the complete harpsichord concerti of C.P.E. Bach is one of the most important and monumental recording projects of the century so far… it is a whole planet of delights and amazing discoveries.

Everyone seems to agree that this mono Brahms cycle is one of the great ones, and the only question that really matters is a personal one: can you put up with decent mono sound, or must you have stereo (or to go a step further, digital?). The matter is further complicated by the fact that Eugen Jochum rerecorded this music in fine stereo for EMI, and those performances are also available on two twofers. It's your call, but by all means do sample this marvelous conductor's inspired way with Brahms.

Pianist Joe Sample's Warner Bros. session mostly features relaxed acoustic music. Sample emphasizes his original melodies during his improvisations and is backed quite ably by bassist Jay Anderson, drummer Ralph Penland and an occasional percussionist. Most notable is that tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd guests on three tracks, playing in his usual mellow version of John Coltrane.

"Strange Hobby" is a cover album (Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Status Quo, The Who, Kaleidoscope, The Kinks, Bob Dylan, The Hollies, The Move…) by Arjen Anthony Lucassen (Ayreon), released in 1996.
In the mid 1990s Arjen Anthony Lucassen wanted a break from composing epic prog operas for his long-running Ayreon project and decided to record a bunch of his favourite tunes from the 60s. Strange Hobby was originally released anonymously and, after being out of print for a decade, here it comes again, beefed up with four bonus cuts.
Lucassen plays and sings everything himself and gives everything a heavy glam rock sheen, although the decision to put so much compression and to layer effects on the vocals renders everything a little inhuman.

Complete Sessions 1971-72 gathers together all of Fraternity's recordings, most of which feature Bon Scott, who would later gain fame as the lead singer of AC/DC. Fans of that hard-rocking group will be disappointed if looking to find kindred spirits here though, as Fraternity was a hippie band inspired by rock of the prog, country, and boogie variety. And while Scott's vocal is unmistakable, there is a vibrato present that was ultimately shaved off for the stripped-down AC/DC. Oftentimes Fraternity sounds like a group unable to decide if they wanted to be the next Procol Harum or Australia's version of the Band, resulting in an unusual hybrid of prog rock and country-rock. They would also delve into the blues on occasion, which is when the closest comparisons to AC/DC can be made…

This disc received the 1998 Cannes Classical Music award for "Best 17th/18th Century Orchestral Disc."

On this focused and passionate record, Alan Pasqua is joined by bassist Dave Holland and drummer Paul Motian – two players with stellar reputations who don't appear together often. Motian's post-'70s playing tends to be free and fragmented, but he approaches Pasqua's material with a straight-ahead sense of swing. The leader, for his part, became known as a synth player following his work with the Tony Williams Lifetime in the late '70s, but here his playing and writing are closer to acoustic post-boppers like Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Barron.

Alexander Mosolov (1900-1973), too, uses his own distinctive scheme of tonal organisation, different from Roslavets, and different from the Vienna School as well. His sonatas are technically very complex and difficult, and symphonically oriented, exploiting the full resources of the modern instrument. Herbert Henck puts this difficult material across in a beautiful, spirited performance and finds a lot of lyricism behind an often forbidding surface. The recording and production are up to the highest possible standards, as with all of ECM's releases, which are unsurpassed.

With one reservation, this 1995 recording by Theodore Kuchar conducting the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine of the early orchestral music of Prokofiev is among the best ever made. Their performances of the late Romantic Dreams, Op. 6, and almost impressionist Autumn Sketch, Op. 8, are lush, warm, and radiantly colorful, but Kuchar keeps control of the balances and tempos so that they don't get soft and sentimental.

This isn't James Galway's most virtuosic CD, but it is still absolutely beautiful and magic…about .1% percent of the time it's a little dull, but the other 99.9% is truly beautiful. I think my favorite thing about this CD is its utter peacefulness and the fluttery, angelic sound of the flute. The Irish classics on this CD don't just have flute accompaniment; there are many other instruments that combine to really make this an "Irish" album. In particular, I really enjoyed the drums, the pipes (can't get enough of them!!!) and the alto flute (slightly more mellow-sounding than the usual flute).

Marais (1656-1728) was once among the least-known French baroque composers, a specialist in the viole (or viola da gamba), an instrument that was already obsolescent in his lifetime but one that he raised to unprecedented heights of technical finesse and expressive power. Now, since the film "Tous les Matins du Monde," in which his role was taken by Gerard Depardieu, his discography has risen to a full, well-deserved column in the Schwann-Opus catalogue. This beautifully styled recording of three suites and a caprice by the Charivari Agreable trio is a fine addition to his discography.

Gardiner here follows up his previous Philips Berlioz recordings with the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique – the Symphonie fantastique (6/93) and the rediscovered Messe solennelle (4/94) – with a searingly dramatic account of the later programme symphony, Harold in Italy. If anything this performance is even more biting in its impact, with textures transparent yet with plenty of weight, not least in the heavy brass. In a commentary on Berlioz and the conductor – shown recently on television – Gardiner puts as the first two of the conductor’s functions “to set the emotional temperature of the piece” and “to indicate the kaleidoscopic changes of mood that so characterize the music of Berlioz”.