Historically informed performance practice is no longer just an issue for Baroque or Classical music, but now a relevant matter in twentieth century music, as well, as this 2005 release from Supraphon demonstrates. Harpsichordist Monika Knoblochová has applied her considerable scholarship and meticulous keyboard skills in rendering Bohuslav Martinu's entertaining works for harpsichord and small instrumental groups in their original state, as found in the manuscripts, without compromises or later editorial changes. Martinu's "Back to Bach" pieces, along with the quirky Concerto (1923-1926) by Manuel de Falla, seem to benefit from this exacting period treatment, and the vivacious Concerto for harpsichord and chamber orchestra (1935) may be appreciated as one of the most satisfying neo-Baroque works since Stravinsky's celebrated "Dumbarton Oaks" Concerto.

The Piano Quintet, unusually scored for clarinet, horn, violin and cello, is a product of Fibich's maturity. The Largo is the heart of the work, one of the most richly Romantic slow movements in the Czech chamber repertoire. These excellently recorded performances are near-ideal. The performers provide idiomatic, affectionate readings that fully convey the originality and lyrical assurance of these works.

If you ever feel the overpowering urge to hear a disc with the best performances of the best music ever written for violin and piano by Czech composers, this is that disc. If you ever feel the overwhelming compulsion to hear a disc with sweetly lyrical, passionately expressive, and deeply soulful music played with unparalleled insight, unmatched understanding, and complete comprehension, this is that disc. The music is truly the best ever written for violin and piano by Czech composers. Smetana's Pieces (2) from The Homeland are charming. Dvorák's Sonatina and Romantic Pieces are heartfelt and instantly memorable. Suk's Ballade and Pieces (4) are works of stunning intensity and staggering expressivity. And Dvorák's transcription of his Slavonic Dance in E minor is a bravura display of nationalist fervor. The performances are the best ever recorded for the repertoire.

This disc most definitely has a recital feel about it. I say that not solely because it was recorded live at the Smetana Hall in Prague, where thankfully the audience was silent throughout until breaking into wild applause at the end of each item. The chief cause for the recital feel is structural – groups of arias interspersed by three intermezzi – two Italian, one French – thus providing a good framework for the whole. Having composers similarly grouped and arias given in sequence within each opera is also beneficial to the listener.

The cover may clue you in that you're not getting a conventional recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons here, but just in case that doesn't do the job, this is, in the words of violinist Roby Lakatos (who writes his own utterly distinctive notes), "Vivaldi alla Gypsy." This involves not only a cimbalom but, in some sections, wholesale rewriting of Vivaldi's score (the central movement of "Winter" brings the biggest departure). Lakatos says that he made the album because his label wanted him to record a classical repertory work, but the links between the gypsy tradition and the classics is centuries old, and Lakatos comes from a musical family that taught Franz Liszt back in the day. Lakatos is undoubtedly an exciting and dynamic player. One might object that the logic in when he sticks to the score and when he takes it merely as a stimulus to new music-making is not entirely clear.

The violin virtuoso Pavel Šporcl’s new CD captures his two unique concerts with the Slovak Gipsy cimbalom ensemble Romano Stilo. The events were truly extraordinary not only due to these superlative musicians combining their forces but also the repertoire (a startling departure for Šporcl) and the atmosphere on the stage and in the auditorium alike. Just as Pavel Šporcl steps out with zest from the domain of classical music into other genres so Romano Stilo cannot be considered an orthodox cimbalom band. Besides Gipsy, Hungarian and Romanian folk music, the visitors to the concerts heard compositions by Pablo Sarasate, Johannes Brahms and Aram Khachaturian inspired by this music, all spiced up with a soupcon of jazz.

This midline-priced compilation attempts to survey Barry White's recording career from 1973-1999, giving equal weight to different periods of that time as if they were equally successful. That's what can happen when the artist is involved in the selection of a compilation; White is credited as compilation producer along with Universal's Harry Weinger in what may be his final contemporary album credit (he died while the disc was in production).

These four cycles make an excellent and generous coupling, with Dagmar Pecková, brilliantly supported by Irwin Gage, a most persuasive advocate. Hers is an ideal voice, unmistakably Slavonic in timbre, yet firm and pure as well as rich. She retains a freshness specially apt for the songs inviting a girlish manner, including Dvorák's most famous song, the fourth of the seven Gypsy Melodies, 'Songs my mother taught me', sounding fresh and new.

Looking at the selection of pieces on Playful Clarinet, one expects to hear a lot of lighthearted music played with a sense of whimsy, some indulgence, and fun. Clarinetist Ludmila Peterková doesn't quite manage to deliver, however. She's a very skillful player, with excellent intonation, but she's not yet in the same league with the likes of Sabine Meyer or Richard Stoltzman. In the quieter, softer moments of pieces like the Bach Air on the G String and La fille aux chevaux de lin, she has a wonderfully lyrical, warm tone. In other places, especially loud, high notes, her tone isn't nearly as likeable.

Haydn’s three authentic violin concertos fit ideally on a single disc and are an integral part of every aspiring fiddler’s arsenal. It’s easy to see why: even if they don’t display the virtuosity or depth of feeling of Mozart’s five, they nevertheless have challenges of their own, framed in music of effortless charm and Haydn’s own brand of earthy melodiousness. Lisa Jacobs fields a band of no more than 14 string players, with a very present harpsichord accompaniment. Ensemble and phrasing are ideal, and Jacobs’s own cadenzas are in keeping with their surroundings. Her tone is clear and consistent.

The best Summer anthology from a dance perspective. This gives the full view of Summer's best tunes the way they were played in the clubs; all the added loops, orchestrations, and extra production, plus her voice mixed to its fullest and even boosted. It covers 73 minutes, which is more than anyone except the disco junkies would ever need, and even has an extra cut on the cassette, rather than on the CD.

With a little delay following the issue of a complete set of violin works, Supraphon came with the sequel to that title in the "hommage a Zdenek Fibich" series, presenting a new recording of the complete quartet output of this Czech neo- Romantic composer who has so far failed to get all the interest he would rightfully deserve. The considerable creative challenge involved in this project was taken up here by the experienced Panocha Quartet, which was once again, after its account of Dvofak's early quartets, offered a golden opportunity to place its high artistic repute in the service of asserting music which may lie on the margins of the mainstream repertoire, yet whose values are thoroughly unmistakeable.

If you like your Shostakovich quartets big, brawny, and a bit brutal, you'll like the Emerson Quartet's Shostakovich quartets. The Allegros are muscular, with sharp attacks, strong sforzandos, and relentless rhythms. The Passacaglias are powerful, with massive sonorities, monumental structures, and inexorable tempos. And the Allegrettos are aggressive, with ironic accents, sarcastic tones, and mordent tempos.

Alison Krauss & Union Station continue their winning streak on the aptly titled Lonely Runs Both Ways. While they have in some part grown away from their earthy, rollicking bluegrass roots, they've been able to craft a really polished and honest-sounding brand of mid-American adult contemporary that never dips into the schlockiness of mainstream AC or the formula-driven sound of young country. Instead, Krauss, co-songwriter Dan Tyminski, and the Station dig deep into the classic themes of rural American music, polishing them with terrific production, the finest instrumentation, and two of the best voices around.

MCA Special Products' Sings Songs of Love contains ten highlights from Patty Loveless' popular late-'80s recordings for MCA. There are enough hits here to qualify the disc as a quasi-greatest-hits collection – "Timber, I'm Falling in Love," "After All," "Lonely Days, Lonely Nights," "Blue Side of Town," "Wicked Ways," "I Did," "You Saved Me," "Can't Stop Myself from Loving You," and "The Lonely Side of Love" all charted – but the disc falls short of being definitive. Nevertheless, it's a very effective, very entertaining sampler that's more than worth its budget price.