No fewer than four composers vie for attention in volume 78 of the Romantic Piano Concerto. There’s only one official piano concerto here, but it’s a remarkable work from a composer in her mid-teens.

Fritz Wunderlich is in absolutely stunning voice in this classic recording of Mozart's "Turkish" opera brilliantly led by Eugen Jochum. Kurt Bohme is a lively, rich voiced Osmin, while Erika Koth and Lotte Schadle are a vivacious pair of female leads. Friedrich Lenz makes for an expert, lyrical second tenor! "The Rough Guide To Opera" says that "this is a justifiably famous performance, . . . not least for its being the first of the opera to present the score uncut. It is also celebrated for being one of Fritz Wunderlich's last and finest studio recordings.

Johann Friedrich Fasch was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, and that has seriously hampered the interest in his music. It was the German musicologist Hugo Riemann, who at the beginning of the 20th century made an attempt to restore his reputation.

The world premiere recording on period instruments of Jean-Louis Duport's Six Sonatas for cello and bass, and Three Duos for two cellos performed by Claudio Ronco and Emanuela Vozza.
This album is a tribute to the composer who contributed to the evolution of music for the cello, which took place during the slow but grandiose development between the Baroque and Romantic periods. A slight interest has dedicated to the art of Duport as a composer, despite the attention on to the didactic practice of his studies, ignoring the treasure represented by his most important compositions. A serious fault from the discographic point of view, despite the well-known fact that we inherited the cello basic technique right from Jean-Louis Duport, and we have used it successfully for two centuries.

Even high-budget Hollywood movies generally get by with one A-list composer, but the renewed Batman series that kicked off with Batman Begins under the direction of Christopher Nolan in 2005 used two, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, both of whom return for the second installment, The Dark Knight. Although Zimmer and Howard are co-credited with each of the cues (with Lorne Balfe given a credit for unspecified "additional music"), their styles are sufficiently distinct that their individual contributions don't seem hard to delineate. The highly percussive synthesized music, much of it seemingly already mixed in with sound effects, sounds like Zimmer; the more conventional orchestral passages, sometimes giving way to solo piano, sound like Howard (who is, in fact, credited with playing piano on the soundtrack)…

Extended Versions is a brief BMG special products release that features ten live tracks drawn from the Monkees' 35th anniversary tour in 2001. Michael Nesmith did not take part in these shows, which were well-produced, horn-driven affairs that saw Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork performing their hits backed by a professional band. The sound is good, the horn section adds some punch to the arrangements, but in the end, it all seems a little tired. For some reason the final track here, Peter Tork's "Long Title," is called "No Time" on the back tray's set list. Tork left the trio at the tour's end due to creative differences. Diehard devotees of the Monkees will probably love this release, but it is unlikely to convert anyone not already a fan.