This is a truly fascinating recording, and it is fascinating 23 times. Gloria Cheng has put together a series of 20th-century dance-linked piano miniatures which repeatedly surprises and delights. If you go in for playing "spot the tune" with your friends, this should keep you going for months, with everything from a Paul Hindemith shimmy to a Philip Glass waltz. It is an area of repertory that ...

Manufacturer: Telarc

Manufacturer: Virgin

Manufacturer: Virgin

Manufacturer: Virgin

Is it a two-CD set with a particularly thick booklet, or a 562-page book with a compilation album attached? Whichever, the unpretentious text by Keith Anderson offers a basic introduction to the lives and works of dozens of composers, together with recommended recordings from the Naxos and Marco Polo catalogues. Anderson also includes a useful 59-page glossary of musical terms and an extensive ...

Manufacturer: Naxos

Manufacturer: Sony Classical
Directed By: Ton Koopman, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

This latest compilation release from Deutsche Grammophon, hot on the heels of The Yellow Guide to Opera, consists of not only three CDs but also a 144-page booklet which provides biographies of 100 composers, a glossary explaining 100 musical terms and notes on each of the 42 tracks recorded on the discs. Aimed, clearly, at newcomers to classical music, the three discs cover almost five ...

Manufacturer: DG

Manufacturer: Warner Classics

Manufacturer: Telstar

Manufacturer: Col Legno