The Art of Renée Fleming is essentially an album of the soprano's most popular hits, probably not targeted at listeners who are already big fans (who are likely to already have the albums from which these selections were culled), but at more general audiences interested in expanding their operatic horizons. With a few very familiar exceptions, the songs and arias are from the Romantic and post-Romantic eras, and showcase the luxurious creaminess of Fleming's voice and her ability to spin out melodic lines with seamless, soaring lyricism.

An invitation to experience music played in the court of Versailles – for Louis XIV and his successors. An imaginary story gives it its framework: A young provincial beauty comes to the court, is presented to the King and becomes his favourite, falls into disgrace through the intrigues of her rivals, but finally retrieves her honour.

When one speaks of a man full of fire, genius and life, one has to think of Monsieur Guillemain, Musician to the King; he is perhaps the most extraordinary and adroit violinist one can hear play. There are no difficulties that can stump him and he can compose learned pieces which sometimes embarrass his rivals. Among the great Masters, this celebrated artist is one of the most productive. His works are full of touching beauty.

Since Bonnie Raitt didn't score any big hits during her nine-album tenure at Warner Bros., compiling a best-of from those records is largely a matter of taste, and after Raitt's commercial breakthrough on Capitol with Nick of Time in 1989, Warners decided to trust her own taste in choosing songs for this compilation. The artist's input is usually considered a good thing, but in this case it has resulted in an idiosyncratic selection that fails to be representative or to cull the real highlights from Raitt's Warners catalog. Basically, that catalog breaks down into three sections - the first three solid albums, the second three good but uneven albums, and the last three mediocre, compromised albums. Raitt has opted to try to find at least a couple of tracks from each album, which means she necessarily slights her best work in favor of her weakest…

Heron's self-titled debut LP was mild, drummerless British folk-rock with the rural/pastoral feel common to many early-'70s records in the style. That pastoral feel, in this particular case, might have been in part deliberate; the record was actually recorded in a field by the River Thames, and though the sound quality is very good, you can occasionally hear some birds and faint ambient outdoor noises. The music is very friendly, acoustic guitar-based stuff that, as improbable as such a blend may seem, is a little like a combination of Simon & Garfunkel with the Incredible String Band, though there aren't many of the weirder elements of the latter. You might also cite the most acoustic and folky Paul McCartney ballads of the late '60s and early '70s (à la "Blackbird") and the harmonies of Crosby, Stills and Nash as less prominent influences. Some organ, piano, and accordion add a little depth to what's essentially an acoustic folk base.

For connoisseurs of modern jazz guitar, “Conversation” will be a revelation. The interplay between the two guitarists Pat Martino and Michael Sagmeister is marked by profound mutual understanding - which is no small wonder, considering Michael Sagmeister has long been interested in Martino’s music. In the meantime, these two world-class musicians are connected by a personal friendship, and they now communicate as two equals. Joining them are Michael Sagmeister’s long-standing rhythm group, Michael Küttner on drums, Thomas Heidepriem on bass. The powerful and flowing grooves of the two musicians form the basis for the unfolding of well-set lines and improvisations by Martino and Sagmeister. The tradition of modern jazz guitar can be followed in exemplary form on “Conversation”, and at the same time, one can hear how a guitar duo should sound in our time.

This fabulous five disc set is replete with some of those old Stokowski warhorses all recorded in absolutely mind boggling Phase 4 sound, overblown perhaps but astounding for its time. Decca's remastering is absolutely magnificent and the discs are jam packed with almost six hours of music. This is another fine memorial to a great conductor who remained astonishingly vital until the very end of his life.

Songwriter and pianist Anne Clark has been a cult figure since the early '80s and has amassed a rather sizable catalog despite her small but rabid following. She writes nearly-Gothic love songs full of obsession and pathos, and pretty orchestral settings with clever instrumental figures and stinging piano runs and minor-key epiphanies. She's a consummate artist, playing to her strengths while trying to subtly, but surely, extend her reach, and always following her own muse, even when it takes her into dissonant territory. Most of her albums are out of print even on CD, and sell for collector's prices when they can be found. This is too bad, because Clark has assembled a solid, if quirky, and passionately honest body of work. This best-of issued by Beehive is truly that. It features 24 tracks and clocks in at over 75 minutes. Many of these are Clark's most lovely songs, such as "The Sitting Room," "All Night Party" (with Vini Reilly of Durutti Column), the "12" remix" of "Our Darkness," and "The Last Emotion," as well as instrumental themes such as "Swimming" and "An Ordinary Life".

Firestarter is an action-packed thriller with dark and sinister references. That description applies to the film and to Tangerine Dream's soundtrack. As a body of work, their film music is inconsistent and uneven. There are some outstanding scores and some real clunkers. This CD is a good one. The music has strong character and integrity and the classic TD sound with dark atmospheres.

Sodom returns with "The Arsonist", their first full-length album since 2020. It’s not only the complex production process that testifies to the band’s exceptional creative spirit, but also their diverse songwriting, which saw all four Sodom musicians - Tom Angelripper (vocals, bass), Frank Blackfire (guitar), York Segatz (guitar) and Toni Merkel (drums) - involved in the development of the material on "The Arsonist". The mastering was done by the famous sound engineer Eroc and the cover artwork with its martial design was penned by the exceptional Polish artist Zbigniew M. Bielak (Ghost, Mayhem, among others).