The final installment in Paul Lewis's Beethoven sonata set drew raves around the world and made almost every "best of 2008" list. Here is playing of intelligence, grandeur and understatement. A magnificent set.

William Stromberg's full score to Herrmann's "Mysterious Island" can hold a candle to the composer's shorter collection. It is the best film score I heard this year, is one of the best CDs, and is the best complete film score I've purchased since I found Rozsa's full score to "The Green Berets" a couple years ago. This CD has a remarkable 61 tracks and includes music cut from the film.

Murray Perhaia's Bach made almost as many "best of 2008" lists as Paul Lewis's Beethoven for similar reasons -- playing of patrician elegance mixed with passion and an understanding of the intellect, heart and soul of J.S. Bach.

This delightful d'Indy coupling was one of the best CDs I bought last year. The "Italian" symphony had never before been put on disk. A second Italian symphony; who knew? What a surprise!

This beautifully-recorded re-release from Lyrita helped send me on a Bax boomlet in 2008. They say Handley's set from five years ago made Bax in America but the Lyrita recordings are better, in my opinion, with fuller sound, more romantic playing, and greater passion.

I bought this as a practice aid when I performed the "Coronation" mass at Easter and it stuck with me. It's not as good as my favorite Mozart released in 2007 but is still a dandy. By virtue of making this list, it's the best new choral CD I purchased in 2008. (There was a better one from Vivaldi but it was released in 1994.)

This 1969 version of Anna Magdalena's Notebook was a pleasant suprise. The best thing is it's the complete book, sung exceptionally well by a baritone. The playing is a little old fashioned but that's part of its charm. Sorry there's no illustration; the art on the packaging isn't much to look at anyway.