There is no question that Kennedy believes Bach is the greatest of composers. He has said so when giving his inimitable introductions to encore items at concerts, and his commitment to Bach's cause is the foundation upon which these recorded performances is based.

With the performers on this disc, you would expect first-rate performances of Dvorák's Violin Concerto and his Piano Quintet. Unfortunately, no matter what you think of the performances, the sound quality of the recording will leave you disappointed. In both the concerto and the quintet, the sound from everyone is rather thin and flat. The depth of the vibratos, the reverberation of the strings, and the orchestra in general are all very shallow.

Four CD set. An anthology of George Martin's sound productions before the advent of the Beatles; before the collaboration that would change popular music forever. He re-defined the role of producer; pioneering the recording itself as an art form. This edition is testament to a elegant, fearless musical innovator. The surrealistic, sometimes free-form recordings he created with comic geniuses Sellers, Milligan, Cribbins and Ustinov involved sound effects and collage. These madcap sonic adventures, allied to his understanding of the workings of an orchestra, his contacts within the classical fraternity, his love of the romantic and impressionist composers, and his fascination with studio experimentation made George Martin uniquely able to provide a particular objectivity and realise what the ever-curious Beatles, or any artist, would ask of him. As head of Parlophone, determined to explode the label onto the scene, he sought artists of character; taking mobile recording units out to capture Flanders And Swann's two-man show and the irreverent satirical revue, Beyond The Fringe. The Top Five was breached in 1960 both by Matt Monro and by Peter Sellers And Sophia Loren. George Martin's first UK Number One single, and an exemplar, was 'You're Driving Me Crazy' by The Temperance Seven who combined a revival of popular music from the 20s with styles from the Edwardian era.

With six Grammy Awards and 40 chart-topping singles over a career that s spanned more than four decades, Ronnie Milsap has established himself as one of country music s undisputed legends. To celebrate his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2014, RCA Records/Legacy Recordings will release The RCA Albums Collection, a comprehensive box set featuring all of Milsap s original albums for RCA Records, many appearing on CD for the first time. In spite of Milsap s incredible success, virtually none of these albums have seen a CD release, and the ability to appreciate his catalog at large has been overlooked as a result. The RCA Albums Collection fixes this, bringing all of Milsap s albums for the label together in one attractive box set, featuring CD-sized recreations of the original album artwork and a booklet featuring photos from Milsap s career, detailed discographical information and new remarks from Milsap himself on each album.

Falling somewhere between the pop sensibilities of Ten Summoner's Tales and the searching ambition of The Soul Cages, Mercury Falling is one of Sting's tighter records, even if it fails to compel as much as his previous solo albums. Though he doesn't flaunt his jazz aspirations as he did in the mid-'80s, Mercury Falling feels more serious than The Dream of the Blue Turtles, primarily because of its reserved, high-class production and execution. Building from surprisingly simple, memorable melodies, Sting creates multi-layered, vaguely soul-influenced arrangements that carry all of the hallmarks of someone who has studied music, not lived it.

There's the Rub is the fifth studio album by rock band Wishbone Ash. It is the first album to feature guitarist/vocalist Laurie Wisefield, who would be a major part of the band's creative direction for the next 11 years. The album is considered by many to be a highpoint of the band's recording career. The title is taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet; "To sleep—perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub." The track "F.U.B.B." caused controversy because of the acronym's meaning ("Fucked Up Beyond Belief") upon the album's release. Moreover, the haunting ballad "Persephone" would go on to become one of the band's most popular live songs. The lyrics of "Lady Jay" are based on the Dartmoor folk legend about Kitty Jay.

Secret Messages is the tenth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in 1983 on Jet Records. It was the last ELO album with bass guitarist Kelly Groucutt, conductor Louis Clark and real stringed instruments, and the last ELO album to be released on the Jet label. It was also the final ELO studio album to become a worldwide top 40 hit upon release. Secret Messages, as its title suggests, is littered with hidden messages in the form of backmasking, some obvious and others less so. This was Jeff Lynne's second tongue-in-cheek response to allegations of hidden Satanic messages in earlier Electric Light Orchestra LPs by Christian fundamentalists, which led up to American congressional hearings in the early 1980s (a similar response had been made by Lynne on the Face the Music album, during the intro to the "Fire on High" track).

Recorded at the Hit Factory & The Record Plant New York August to October, 1980.

Caro Emerald came out of nowhere in 2009 with the summertime hit "Back It Up," a catchy jazz-pop song with a dance beat. The follow-up single, "A Night Like This," was an even bigger hit, topping the Dutch charts. By the time Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor came around, Emerald was well established as one of the most exciting new artists to emerge from the Netherlands in some time, and her full-length album debut was eagerly awaited. It includes the smash hit singles "Back It Up" and "A Night Like This," both written by Vincent de Giorgio, David Schreurs, and Jan van Wieringen.

A terrific idea that almost but not quite comes off, this disc called Chaconne takes as its basis Bach's Chaconne from his D minor Partita for solo violin and adds transcriptions of the work for piano by Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, and Rudolf Lutz, the last named the teacher of pianist Edna Stern. It nearly succeeds. Stern's playing in the transcriptions is far more than professional, but not quite up to the level of the music.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich’s death, the Asasello Quartet completes its full recording of the most significant string quartet cycle of the twentieth century for GENUIN. The great Russian composer left behind fifteen quartets – works by a complex, despairing, tender, distant, and enigmatic figure whose music continues to move and compel with its timeless power, even half a century after his passing. This is especially the case in these masterful interpretations by the Asasello Quartet, which are technically flawless and infused with the shared experience of 25 years, as well as with an extraordinarily profound engagement with the composer’s life and oeuvre.

Sparkling performances of Mozart's piano concertos No.18 and No.19 by keyboard virtuoso Melvyn Tan, "that princeling among fortepianists" (San Francisco Examiner). "Nimble, thoughtful musicianship… a sweet, crystalline tone" - San Francisco Chronicle "Two of the most seductive Mozart performances available" - Chicago Tribune

Dieterich Buxtehude was a Danish-German organist and composer of the Baroque period. His organ works represent a central part of the standard organ repertoire and are frequently performed at recitals and in church services. He composed in a wide variety of vocal and instrumental idioms, and his style strongly influenced many composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach. Today, Buxtehude is considered one of the most important composers in Germany of the mid-Baroque.

Light & Heavy: The Best of Iron Butterfly is a greatest hits compilation released by Iron Butterfly in 1993. It contains most of their studio recordings from 1967-1970, including 21 of their 33 studio album tracks from that period.

Etta James followed her two deeply jazzy mid-'90s albums of torch songs with Love's Been Rough on Me, a flirtation with Nashville writers. On Life, Love & the Blues, she returns to her blues and soul repertoire, enlivening even the hoariest of tunes ("Spoonful," a gender-flopped "Hoochie Coochie Gal") with her growl. The tinges of funk underpinning "Born Under a Bad Sign" are given full room to stretch on a cover of Sly Stone's "If You Want Me to Stay," and James nearly swipes "The Love You Save May Be Your Own," one of Joe Tex's great preaching ballads, from the master.