Initiation of The Two Sword Style (1943) Daisuke Itô, Jun Fujikawa, Sannosuke Fujikawa, Kensaku Hara

The Masses in C, K317 and 337, which date from 1779 and 1780 respectively, are the last of Mozart's 15 Salzburg Masses, ten of which are in this key. Both are short (26 minutes and 23 minutes, respectively), in compliance with the Archbishop of Salzburg's rule that no Mass, including the Epistle Sonata and the Offertory or Motet, should last longer than three quarters of an hour. The earlier of the two, K317, is well known (perhaps because it has a convenient nickname, probably referring to its use at an annual service held since 1751 in commemoration of the miraculous crowning of an image of the Virgin in the pilgrimage church of Maria-Plain near Salzburg) and has been recorded many times, whereas K337 is virtually unknown, though musically no less interesting.

Though it remains the only Rolling Stones outtakes collection album ever to be officially released, Metamorphosis is one of those albums that has been slighted by almost everyone who has touched it, a problem that lies in its genesis. While both the Stones and former manager Allen Klein agreed that some form of archive release was necessary, if only to stem the then-ongoing flow of bootlegs, they could not agree how to present it…

This first of the two sets contains four indisputable masterpieces. In the stormy D minor Concerto K. 466, Brendel springs a mild surprise by playing his own cadenzas rather than Beethoven's, the ones most often used. I must confess to preferring Beethoven's unstylish but dramatic and imaginative cadenza to the first movement, but otherwise the performance is beyond reproach. Brendel adds some discreet and entirely appropriate ornamentation to the many repetitions of the second movement's main theme. The Olympian C major K. 467, with its incomparably beautiful slow movement, also receives some much-needed decoration: here the cadenzas are by Radu Lupu and are a bit quirkier than necessary.

Show featured mostly hit singles; Paris features the songs that built their cult, including "Close to Me" and "Letter to Elise." Consequently, most fans will find this the more interesting of the two live albums, and, out of the two records, it is the more consistent and satisfying. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Beach Boys' third and fifth albums make a good pairing on one CD, different as they are in content and origins. Surfer Girl was the album on which the group's and Brian Wilson's sound blossomed, and it did so on several levels. The title track was the first song that Brian ever wrote, and it's lucky that he saved it for this stage in their history, for it features surprising elegant and lush harmonies. The usual assumption is that, because of Wilson's hearing loss in one ear, the group's records work best in mono, but on this, their second album in stereo, the mixing makes inventive use of the two-channel separation, even on "Surfer Girl" (which, as a single in those days, would have been conceived in mono from the get-go).