This finely-focused and witty production of Jacques Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers with sets, costumes and lighting by the director Herbert Wernicke, is a visual and musical delight. The burlesque – conducted by Patrick Davin – is situated in a famous fin de siècle café and with a stupendous coup de théâtre the ensemble makes its entry into hell in a steam locomotive, which crashes through the ceiling. Elizabeth Vidal and Alexandru Badea in the main roles are supported energetically by the La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and Offenbach’s famous “can-can” is, as ever, an intoxicating highlight.

An important release which again demonstrates Steven Isserlis’s deep commitment to the music of John Tavener. The realization of the album is movingly detailed in a booklet note which provides an eloquent counterpoint and commentary to the performances.

Dass Johann Christian Bach weitaus mehr als nur ein galanter Unterhaltungskomponist war, hat die großangelegte cpo-Edition seiner Werke wohl schon zur Genüge bewiesen. Die Vielfalt und Kunstfertigkeit seiner Mittel wird aber nicht nur an seiner Orchestermusik deutlich, auch die Kammermusik wird - trotz ihrer Anmut und Gefälligkeit - höchsten kompositorischen Ansprüchen gerecht.

Haydn described Dussek as "the most honest, politest and most excellent man among all composers". Dussek worked as a composer and performer in London and wrote many works for the piano. He was a friend of the piano maker John Broadwood and persuaded him to add another octave to the instrument. Staier performs on such an instrument from 1806.

Queen II was a breakthrough in terms of power and ambition, but Queen's third album Sheer Heart Attack was where the band started to gel. It followed quickly on the heels of the second record – just by a matter of months; it was the second album they released in 1974 – but it feels like it had a longer incubation period, so great is the progress here. Which isn't quite to say that Sheer Heart Attack is flawless – it still has a tendency to meander, sometimes within a song itself, as when the killer opening "Brighton Rock" suddenly veers into long stretches of Brian May solo guitar – but all these detours do not distract from the overall album, they're in many ways the key to the record itself: it's the sound of Queen stretching their wings as they learn how to soar to the clouds.

A new Weather Report lineup makes its debut here, with Victor Bailey filling Jaco Pastorius' shoes, Omar Hakim on drums, Jose Rossy on percussion, and Joe Zawinul now thoroughly in charge. But contrary to the conventional wisdom which claims that WR went downhill after the departure of Pastorius/Erskine, the new lineup actually recharged WR's creative batteries; the material here is superior to that of the previous two albums at least. Bailey, while not Jaco's technical equal, is mobile enough to project through the texture, and Hakim has the versatility and swinging Third World rhythmic influences that must have appealed to Zawinul. "Procession" itself is a masterly Zawinul tone poem, with moody electronics and voices building to an emotional crescendo and ebbing away, a high point in WR's output.

One of the hottest fusion rock drummers strutting the planet these days is Virgil Donati. This release showcases his enormous talents. Amazingly enough, all the spectacular, percussive energy and sonic paintings on Just Add Water are spontaneous, unrehearsed jam sessions. I have seen video of Donati going absolutely genius-insane on drums with T.J. Helmerich and Brett Garsed. He held my rapt attention. I should admit I am not a drum-fanboy but Donati is heads and high hats above the rest of most fusion drummers.

Roger Waters - Dark Side Of The Moon World Tour, Live at Estadio Nacional, Santiago de Chile, March 14th, 2007. Pre FM Master!