Va No. 1

Marguerite Long et les Pasquier dans le Quatuor op. 15 ? Trésor d'une discographie comparée, et centre d'un album résumant les années 1870 de Fauré. Nul de ses élèves, de ses contemporains et des lecteurs de son livre Au piano avec Gabriel Fauré ne devait l'ignorer : Marguerite Long (1874-1966) savait mieux que personne jouer la musique de son « ami », elle qui l'avait bue à la source. Si Fauré n'était pas pressé de distinguer un gardien du temple, elle s'installait à l'entrée avec autant de fierté batailleuse (mais pouvait-il en être autrement pour une musicienne dans le Paris des années 1900 ?), de petits arrangements avec le souvenir du compositeur (« ami » surtout de son mari le musicologue Joseph de Marliave, mort à la Grande Guerre) et de vanité (terribles interviews) que d'exigence perspicace, de fierté légitime et d'amour pour une musique qu'elle aura servie sans relâche. C'est d'ailleurs à quatre-vingts ans que la pianiste invite le Trio Pasquier à graver avec elle le Quatuor op. 15 !

Virgin UK compilation includes 42 #1 hits from the last 40 years in popular music. Tracks include, Queen-'Bohemian Rhapsody, Procol Harum-'A Whiter Shade Of Pale', Ben E. King-'Stand By Me', Marvin Gaye-'I Heard It Through The Grapevine', David Bowie-'Space Oddity', The Animals-'House Of The RisingSun', Abba-'Dancing Queen', Blondie-'Heart Of Glass', The Kinks-'You Really Got Me', Sinead O'Connor-'Nothing Compares2 U', The Verve-'The Drugs Don't Work', Robbie Williams-'Millenium', Oasis-'Don't Look Back In Anger', Manic Street Preachers-'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next', Fatboy Slim-'Praise You', The Clash-'Should I Stay Or Should IGo' and many more.

“NO MUSIC, NO LIFE. TOWER RECORDS 40th ANNIVERSARY” was compiled to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Tower Records. Here we select 40 gems that Tower Records buyers love over time and genres. The target age is not limited to the last 40 years, but since 1960 when Tower Records was founded in the United States. From Elvis Presley's “I can't help but like it” (1961) to Sam Smith's “Stay with me” (2013).

The labels that are now gathered under the Universal Classics umbrella have a pretty impressive scorecard in the area of classical compilations. We've seen The Greatest Opera Show on Earth, The Yellow Guide: Classical Music, Best of the Millennium, and now there's The No. 1 Opera Album. But that's no surprise, since Universal has some of the finest interpreters in its catalogue to draw from. This two-CD set (at the price of one), for example, brings together the likes of Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming, Luciano Pavarotti, Kiri Te Kanawa, Sir Georg Solti, Herbert von Karajan, and many more. Yet the other key to a successful compilation is canny anthologizing, and here again, you have a nice selection to give you a smattering of opera's heavyweights from the Italian, German, and French repertory (there's even a step outside the standard framework with an aria from Dvorák's lovely Rusalka). Ranging from 1959 to 1997, the choices from back catalogue will doubtless be the entry ticket for many into this grandest of the arts.