John Foster

Let's start with the overview: 17 CDs covering his recordings on EMI. They cover the major mainstream piano works: Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Bartok, and Shostakovich. They add in random collections of pieces from Bach, Liszt, Franck, Faure, and so on. And they add in some lesser-known pieces such as Hoddinott, Johnson, Stevenson and others.

After releasing the much-delayed The Apprentice, Martyn was once again on a roll, and, while not quite as strong as The Apprentice, Cooltide was a solid outing. His jazziest release yet, it's marred slightly by a gravelly hoarseness in his voice, which makes him sound like he's just recovered from laryngitis. "Jack the Lad" was the single released, and, along with "Annie Says" and the aching "Call Me," they show him entering the 1990s in fine form. The title song had a long gestation, originally recorded for 1979's Grace and Danger under the title "Running up the Harbour." While a bit long, it's a great hypnotic, groove-oriented track that's smooth and cool, with Martyn venturing a little further afield than he had in quite a while.

John Eliot Gardiner has returned to the form reminiscent of his earliest days with the Monteverdi Choir, when performances were bright and fresh and taut and, well, really good. Of course, he’s working with some really fine music, his soloists are all top-notch, and he’s recording in a familiar place (London’s St. John’s Smith Square) with several of the industry’s most seasoned recording wizards at the controls (especially the two Mikes, balance engineers Mike Hatch and Mike Clements). The music, four of Bach’s Whitsun (or Pentecost) cantatas, shows the composer at his most creative in terms of text setting and structural formulations.