GYORGY LIGETI (5 STARS -- SEE MY REVIEW) Ligeti, a late 20th century great, died in June at age 83. Here are all his recordings for the DG label.

ELLIOTT CARTER (5 STARS -- SEE MY REVIEW) This superb set featuring the "Oboe Concerto" with Heinz Holliger, with Pierre Boulez & the Ensemble Intercontemporain, came out in 1990, was reissued in 2001 in the U.K., and has only appeared in the U.S. in 2006 as a WEA/Apex import

BRIAN FERNEYHOUGH (4 STARS -- SEE MY REVIEW) major new work from Brian Ferneyhough, a "thought opera" in Seven Tableaux, based on the life, death & ideas of Walter Benjamin

BARRY GUY (5 STARS -- SEE MY REVIEW) Barry Guy, Renaissance Man, with an extended composition for bass, 2 violins, and a chamber string orchestra

WOLFGANG RIHM (5 STARS -- SEE MY REVIEW) a 2-disc live set of chamber music, Stefan Asbury conducting MusikFabrik -- propulsive, convulsive and relentless

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (5 STARS -- SEE MY REVIEW) the young Leila Josefowicz & the CIty of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with the Violin Concerto, plus the Violin Sonata, an all DSCH set

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (4 STARS -- SEE MY REVIEW) live 1984 recording of 5th from Mravinsky and the Leningrad Phil, available once more! (WEA/Elatus reissue import)

GUSTAV MAHLER (5 STARS -- SEE MY REVIEW) the latest Mahler from Boulez and the Vienna Philharmonic

GUSTAV MAHLER (5 STARS -- SEE MY REVIEW) last year Hanssler released a box with Gielen's Symphonies 1-9, and now here's the unfinished No. 10 -- superb!

ARDITTI QUARTET (5 STARS) pieces by young avant Mexican composers

HANS WERNER HENZE (5 STARS) new recordings of Henze's Violin Concertos 1 & 3 on Naxos, featuring Peter Sheppard Skaerved on violin, in Henze's 80th birthday year

HELMUT LACHENMANN (5 STARS) three early-1970s recordings of orchestral works with Michael Gielen conducting

WOLFGANG RIHM (4 STARS) This is the final installment in the Minguet Quartett's presentation of all of Rihm's quartets on Col Legno. This one seems to taper off -- I'd recommend Vol. 2 as the best (Quartets 5 & 6), and then Vol. 3 next (Quartets 7, 8 & 9).

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (5 STARS) Shlomo Mintz's acclaimed recordings of the Violin and Viola Sonatas, until now available only in the U.K. (WEA/Elatus reissue import)

KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN (5 STARS) Karlheinz has been notable by his absence from recordings for lo these many years, choosing to record mainly on his own label, so this excellent disc's appearance is a surprise. Stockhausen died since its release.

ALEXANDER von ZEMLINSKY (5 STARS) a beatiful recording of one of Zemlinsky's most acclaimed works, with Christine Schafer singing soprano and Matthias Goerne singing baritone, with Christoph Eschenbach leading the Orchestre de Paris

OSVALDO GOLIJOV) Grammy-winner for best composition from the popular Argentinian composer

GUSTAV MAHLER) Grammy-winner for best orchestral recording from Michael Tilson Thomas conducting his San Francisco Symphony, the latest in the complete cycle from MTT/SFS

ARVO PART) Grammy-winner for best choral recording from the Estonian "holy minimalist"

ERNST TOCH) Toch was a leading composer in Germany before the Nazi rise to power. Once in exile in the U.S., he was largely forgotten. These symphonies are from that late American period, presented by the German CPO label as part of its "Lost Symphony Cycles" series (well, that's what I call it).