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Here's a list of some of the multichannel discs I regularly use to assess equipment. Each one demonstrates some aspect of surround sound, but each is also a wonderful musical treat.

CLASSICAL

Atrium Musicae de Madrid: La Folia de la Spagna. SACD, Harmonia Mundi HMC801050.
J.S. Bach: Four Great Toccatas and Fugues. E. Power Biggs. SACD, Sony SS 87983.
J.S. Bach: Motets. Matthias Jung, Sächsisches Vocalensemble. DVD-A, Tacet 0108-3.
Barainsky, van Steen, Winterthur: Music of the Viennese School. SACD, MDG 901 1425-6.
Biber:…

Kevin Zarow, Marantz’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, said: “As a longtime supporter and proponent of both classical and rock music, our sponsorship of David Garrett is a perfect fit. Just as Marantz creates products that…

We can hear the entire session, including a 4-song acoustic performance, this Friday, February 4th, at 7pm on The Whole Wide World with Rita Houston. For now, we can enjoy a small bit of the…

One of the first classical LPs I bought as a teenager was of the 1959 modern-instruments performances, by Sir Yehudi Menuhin and the Bath Festival Orchestra, of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. I literally wore that HMV album out; it left me with a love for what have been termed the greatest of all chamber-music works. As my tastes matured, I…

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto 2 is one of my favorite piano works, and the Rubenstein-Reiner-Chicago reading is the one I'd grab if the house were burning down. Truth be told, I marginally prefer Vladimir Ashkenazy's performance with the Moscow Philharmonic (Decca…

A codependent couple heads down to north Florida to bottom out on drugs and tear each other apart—and then things really get ugly. Somewhere between an episode of Cops and a Tennessee Williams play, the lyrical narrative running through the brisk folk-pop songs of Tallahassee turns us all into voyeurs, witnessing a once-romantic relationship descend into Southern-gothic madness. John Darnielle can sometimes be an overly wordy…

Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard works have inspired illustrious disciples. Rosalyn Tureck spent most of her 88 years exploring their contrapuntal intricacies, and in 1955 Glenn Gould all but set fire to Columbia's 30th Street studio while blazing through the Goldberg Variations, for which he was lionized. Now we have Angela Hewitt, who, in 11 years ending in 2005,…

It really is the greatest thing: Listening to this record on the hi-fi immediately takes me back to that strange, magical night at Bamboo Beach in the sandy town of Isabela, Puerto Rico, the perfect setting for a Vivian Girls performance. With a smile that illuminates the entire island, Kickball Katy is just inches away, playing these tugging, lassoing riffs on her little Hofner bass; Cassie Ramone is off to the right, kneeling on the floor with her…

Weinstein brothers Heth and Jed (www.hethandjed.com) write catchy pop love songs with infectious melodies and subtly sophisticated harmonic structures that allude to an intellectual depth that grabs the mind and soul equally. The pair's greatest strength is their ability to formulate and elaborate electronically manipulated electroacoustic arrangements that echo early Brian Eno as much as the folk singer-…