The Smetana Quartet, a famous Czech group representing the latter half of the 20th century, visited Japan for the first time in 1958 as the first cultural envoy to restore diplomatic relations between Japan and Czechoslovakia. Having visited Japan, he was very familiar to us. During that time, more than 200 of their LP records have been released in Japan, including reissues, and they have won the Record Academy Award sponsored by Ongaku no Tomosha seven times. I was. In 1980 and 1985, "Ongaku no Tomo" magazine ranked the top 10 most popular string quartets by musicians such as Amadeus, Italia, Juilliard, LaSalle, and Alban Berg. It won first place both times, pushing aside its rivals. The two pillars of their repertoire were works from their native Czech Republic, such as Smetana, Dvořák and Janáček, and Beethoven in this set. This set was not recorded at once, but was recorded one song at a time. Known as a monumental masterpiece.
The reason why they like to play Beethoven is that it is ``a piece that is deeply connected with reason and emotion'' and ``a song that makes you think deeply about philosophy, aesthetics, and morals'', especially his late string quartet.

Hoff Ensemble consists of some of Norway's finest jazz and session musicians, fronted by trumpeter Mathias Eick, of ECM renown, who plays a leading role in several of the compositions. The ensemble's basic quartet features legendary veteran bassist Arild Andersen and arranger Jan Gunnar Hoff on piano. Hoff has performed with his own group since 1993, collaborating with such artists as Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Maria Joao and Alex Acuna. This time in this great Norwegian band he mixes flavours in a "cross-over" setting… The music is created by film composers Geir Bøhren and Bent Åserud and among the vocalists are some of Norway's top names in popular music: Helene Bøksle, Åsne Valland Nordli, Sondre Bratland, Unni Wilhelmsen, Tomine Harket, Bjørn Johan Muri, Cecilia Vennersten and Bjørn Eidsvåg.

Internationally acclaimed violinist Arabella Steinbacher presents a dazzling album which brings together two of the most challenging concertos of the 20th century: Britten's Violin Concerto, Op. 15 and Hindemith's Violin Concerto. Full of intense and emotive moments alongside vivid virtuosity, Steinbacher shines with the support of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and conductor Vladimir Jurowski.

The Afflatus Quartet/Quintet has been in the music scene since 1995. Afflatus Quartet derives from Afflatus Quintet, the winner of the International Music Competition of the ARD Munich 1997 which is one of the most prestigious competitions of chamber music in the world. With Radek Baborák, the world-famous horn player and Afflatus member, taking "vacation" from the ensemble, the four members, each the splendid musician active in Europe, especially in Czech Republic, make the best possible unity with the woodwind quartet ensemble. Their second album features classical repertoire by Beethoven and Mozart. All of them are arrangements, but the distinguished ensemble members of Afflatus create sound rich and full of variety of colors, like an organic instrument made of four musicians, with celestial, beautiful sound for "Classical".

Little known in the West and in the former USSR, the name of Weinberg, the third great Russian composer of the 20th century, after Prokofiev and Shostakovich, seems to be slowly emerging from the shadow of the latter, his protector and friend. Far from being an epigone, he is rather, by his temperament as a symphonist and the importance of his chamber music, the spiritual heir. This part of his vast catalogue, not written to put food on the table, includes 17 quartets, the most experimental body of his work along with his sonatas, those for cello, written with Rostropovich in mind, being henceforth consecrated.

This four-disc hybrid SACD set presents the complete works for piano and violin of Ludwig van Beethoven. The performers are the critically-acclaimed Dutch violinist Isabelle van Keuelen and the talented young compatriot, pianist Hannes Minnaar. This is very enjoyable performances and recording by two outstanding young artists.

Weber's piano music, once played by most pianists, has since suffered neglect and even the famous Invitation to the Dance is now more often heard in its orchestral form. Since he was a renowned pianist as well as a major composer, the neglect seems odd, particularly when other pianist composers such as Chopin and Liszt are at the centre of the concert repertory; but part of the trouble may lie in the difficulty of the music, reflecting his own huge hands and his tendency to write what the booklet-essay calls 'chords unplayable by others'. Jean-François Heisser, the French classical pianist, makes out a real case for this music, and his playing of the two sonatas is idiomatic and resourceful, even if one can't banish the feeling that Weber all too readily used the melodic and harmonic formulae of 18thcentury galanterie and simply dressed them up in 19th-century salon virtuosity.

Although he has played trumpet, trombone, clarinet, tenor and piano, it is as an alto saxophonist that Benny Carter has achieved his enviable reputation as an instrumentalist. The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner has acted as an inspiration to generations of young musicians, all of whom have been fascinated by the seemingly effortless way in which that flawless tone was produced. The broad, sweeping phrases of his improvisations have the structural stability of compositions in their own right. This 1980 session, recorded for the Danish Storyville label, finds Carter backed by a fine quintet including pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Jesper Lundgard, drummer Ed Thigpen and Richard Boone, who sings on "All That Jazz".

From the moment Arthur Fiedler lifted his baton in 1964 to lead the Boston Pops in a wild, surprisingly effective arrangement of "I Want To Hold Your Hand," symphony orchestras have tried to include Beatles music in their "pops" song bags. The trouble is, the Beatles' brilliant original recordings are so indelibly embedded in our collective mental hard drives that they are a tough act to follow – despite the high quality of the songs on their own merits, despite the good intentions of those who pay them homage. So it is with Erich Kunzel, the Cincinnati Pops and the British early music/classical/pop vocal sextet The King's Singers – an undoubtedly sincere labor that gets it all wrong. From this album, a visitor from Saturn would get the idea that the Beatles' music was all about pretty tunes and satin-smooth harmonies.

Popular Japanese pianist Nakamichi Ikuyo represent the Chopin's waltz collection. Needless to say, Waltzes is the most popular work among Chopin piano works. The most famous 14 waltzs centered on the published works in his lifetime, added three waltzs were published after his death. The essence waltz of Chopin, the Nakamichi considered to have been hidden in the shadow of the brilliant melody "composer of his own soul confession", a little bit different waltz image of Chopin as ever shown sympathy to the depth of the shadow we raised draw. In addition, first disc played on the 1842 made Pleyel, for the second disc she's using the Steinway modern piano, which was playing the waltz of the same 17 songs.

Joe Henderson is the essence of jazz. He embodies all the elements that came together in his generation: the virtuosity of hard bop and the avantgarde. He can be harmonically abstract and yet keep to the roots. On 1980's "Mirror, Mirror", Henderson has gathered a truly all-star group. This album isn't about a soloist and his sidemen: all the musicians are on an equal footing, everyone has their space to play.

"The Best Of Sam Cooke" album was the beacon that kept Cooke's most popular songs in the public eye. Between 1957 and his death seven years later, Cooke recorded an average of one Top Ten single every four months! For a couple of generations this was the first - and often only - Sam Cooke album they owned. Although there are more ambitious collections that show Cooke's remarkable range and diversity, this is still the best starting place. These are Sam Cooke's biggest commercial hits. This is the message in a bottle that brought his gifts to millions of people.

Credited for inspiring the bossa nova craze of the early 1960s, this recording by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd was the first in a long series of South American-influenced American music. The album features two tracks by Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, works by other Brazilian composers, and compositions by famed guitarist Charlie Byrd. Jazz Samba won the 1963 Grammy for Best Jazz Performance.

Here is the box containing Beethoven’s five Piano Concertos performed by Hannes Minnaar and The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jan Willem de Vriend. So far two single volumes had been issued: while the one including Concertos nos. 4 & 5 was acclaimed by Gramophone as: "beginning a Beethoven cycle with the Fourth and Fifth Concertos is a bold move but one that pays off in all sorts of ways", the same magazine welcomed the disc with Concertos nos. 1 & 2 for “its pleasing mix of finesse and drive”. Now the box also offers the so far unissued Concerto #3. Despite the very large number of recordings already made of this musical corpus, Minnaar and de Vriend have proved that they have something new and totally their own to say about this collection of masterpieces. And it is indeed the peculiar blend of sheer energy and esprit de finesse that can be identified as the distinctive brand or these recordings.

This live album from 1984 featuring drummer Eddie Graham and his trio was recorded at Mario's Restaurant in Palm Desert, California. Renowned for its superb sound quality, typical of all Wilson Audiophile releases, the collection of swinging standards has been hard to find for several years.