Although there isn't one particular release that stands out in my mind,
the following few discs look quite tempting:

Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas Nos. 1/6/7 performed by Freddy Kempf - the young
Mr. Kempff keeps churning out the great piano masterpieces (BIS 1260)

Shostakovich's Piano Sonata No. 1 and Opus 34 Preludes performed by
Kostantin Scherbakov - Already having a few recordings under his belt
including the compelling Shostakovich Opus 87 Preludes and Fugues,
Scherbakov dives further into Shostakovich's solo piano works (Naxos
8.555781).  I've already listened a little to the disc, and the performances
are quite vivid and assertive.  Whether they are excessively assertive
remains to be seen.

Frank Bridge's String Quartets Nos.  1 & 3 performed by the Maggini
Quartet - Two quartets a world apart from one another from perhaps the
leading ensemble for British chamber music (Naxos 8.557133).

Franz Schreker's Opera "Das Spielwerk und die Prinzessin" performed by
the Kiel Philharmonic.  This is a world premire recording, and Schreker
considered the work his best opera of all (CPO 999958).

Dvorak and Glazunov Violin Concertos performed by Nathan Milstein with
Dorati in the Dvorak and Steinberg in the Glazunov.  These are circa
1950 recordings (Naxos 8.110975)

Chopin Ballades, Mazurkas, and Polonaises performed by Piotr Anderszewski.
Perhaps the best young pianist in the world, I'm very interested in
hearing how Anderszewski handles the Chopin idiom.  From my perspective,
Anderszewski already has the best modern-era recording of Beethoven's
Diabelli Variations on the market.  The Chopin disc is from Virgin
Classics (#45620)

Rachmaninov Piano Concertos Nos.  3 and 4 peformed by Emil Gilels and
conducted by Kondrashin.  Gilels already has on the market another No.3
on Testament conducted by Andre Cluytens.  The new disc is courtesy of
Doremi (#7815).

Myaskovsky's Symphonies Nos.  14 and 22 conducted by Evgeni Svetlanov.
This is the most recent issue of the Svetlanov cycle of Myaskovsky's
Symphonies (Olympia 740).

Bach's English Suites performed by Angela Hewitt (Hyperion 67451) and
Blandine Rannou on Zig Zag Territoires 30401.  Hewitt on piano and Rannou
on harpsichord - I can never resist new Bach solo keyboard recordings
unless by Perahia, Goode, and a few other artists who tend to play every
composer in the same manner.

Bach Cantatas Vol.  13 from Ton Koopman - There were many stunned fans
when they learned that Erato was divorcing itself from Ton Koopman after
his Volume 12 was released.  But Koopman worked hard and eventually found
another avenue by which he could continue the cycle of Bach's Cantatas.
Just enjoy the fruits of his efforts (Challenge Classics 0072213/3cds).

The above releases are just the tip of the iceberg, and the new SACD
format will certainly result in an upswing of acquisitions throughout
the world.  I initially thought that I'd have to replace my cd player
and receiver and purchase additional speakers, but that's not necessary.
The only replacement required is an SACD player for the cd player.  Also,
regular cds do work with SACD players.  I know this isn't the surround
sound that some have been gushing about, but simply having the SACD
player and an SACD makes for a significantly improved sound.  I'll do
the replacing when my 8 year old Sony cd player bites the dust which
should be fairly soon since I sometimes have to punch it to stop the
skipping.  What are your plans, and what benefits do you expect to reap?

Don Satz
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