Though some musicians rerecord the same repertoire, refining the same concept over time, Alfred Brendel's Beethoven concertos change significantly with every go-around. One of the defining influences in this latest go-around is conductor Simon Rattle. He's one of the stronger minded and truly collaborative conductors that Brendel has ever had, and his bent toward historically informed performance inspires the pianist to a radical reevaluation, resulting in interpretations that achieve a new level of cogency over his previous take.

Wilhelm Furtwangler left six recordings of Brahms' three concertos. This CD contains two remarkable recordings. Violin Concerto (with Yehudi Menuhin and Orchester der Luzerner Festspiele(Luzern Festival Orchestra)) is very important document. Menuhin plays very confidently unlike later recordings(Especially first movement's cadenza by Kreisler and intro of last movement). And Furtwangler made huge scale in orchestral parts very naturally.

After a long period off of records (at least as a leader), pianist Kenny Drew emerged in 1973 for a duo session with bassist Niels Pederson. For their rematch in 1974, Drew and Pederson performed one original apiece, five standards (including "A Child Is Born" and "My Shining Hour") and jazz interpretations of a couple of Scandinavian folk songs. The pianist's style was largely unchanged from the 1950s except that he had grown a bit as a player and was open to some more modern chord voicings. The music on this encounter with the virtuosic bassist Niels Pederson should easily appeal to Kenny Drew's fans.

The soundtrack to Werner Herzog's 2002 art film features a score by Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer and the talented German composer Klaus Badelt. The music is a blend of classically themed orchestral pieces and classic German jazz.

This compilation of Bach's Violin Concertos has been in the CBS (now Sony) catalog since 1983. The recordings themselves are older. The "Double Concerto," from a live concert conducted by Zubin Mehta, attains considerable eloquence in the slow movement and has plenty of energy, although the orchestra is oversized for its task and isn't transparent enough. In the First Violin Concerto, Isaac Stern unwisely divides his attention between playing and conducting.