Am Anda Brookfield

Much as you'd like to tout the new as the best, there are some older recordings where a very special chemistry spells 'definitive', and that pose an almost impossible challenge to subsequent rivals. Such is this 1959 recording of Bartók's Second Piano Concerto, a tough, playful, pianistically aristocratic performance where dialogue is consistently keen and spontaneity is captured on the wing (even throughout numerous sessions). The first movement is relentless but never tires the ear; the second displays two very different levels of tension, one slow and mysterious, the other hectic but controlled; and although others might have thrown off the finale's octaves with even greater abandon, Anda's performance is the most successful in suggesting savage aggression barely held in check.

This 10 CD set offers 11 live recitals given by 10 famous pianists in Switzerland from 1953 to 1993. Each pianist is credited by a single CD. Only Backhaus CD contains fragments from two different programs (1953 and 1960), all the other pianists are represented by a single program.

Géza Anda set down his cycle of Mozart piano concertos, in which he also directed the Camerata Academica of the Salzburg Mozarteum, in the years 1961 and 1969. That his survey seldom has been out of the catalog in the intervening years attests eloquently enough to its qualities, and DG's decision to reissue the performances as part of its mid-priced Collectors Edition series will be warmly welcomed.

Dreaming Under the Moonlight is a selection of lullabies from northern Europe, particularly Latvia and the Baltics—a region with an incredibly vast tradition of songs, many of them having as a theme the forest, fairies, ancient trees and the moonlight.

The past decade has seen the birth and evolution of so many progressive rock bands that it can be more than a little challenging to keep track of them all. And let’s face it, at this stage in the game it isn’t easy to come up with a band name that hasn’t been taken already. But occasionally a name is able to strike a blend of originality and absurdity such that it also sticks in one’s head and stands out from the rest…