There are so many great performances of the Mahler 4th on record, that to be viable, a new disc should surely have something new to say or have a different way to say it?

Herreweghe's orchestra seems lighter and more brilliant sounding than most of what I have heard over the years. You should have one of Bruno Walter's or Otto Klemperer's for authenticity perhaps. If you must have only one, then I would suggest Abbado or maybe Tilson Thomas.

These "Airs de Cour" by Pierre Guédron, interspersed with other brief viol and lute instrumentals from the same period, make for a captivating concert of French music circa 1600. Three weeks ago, I have not heard of Pierre Guédron, Vincent Dumestre, or his ensemble Le Poème Harmonique. But my vocalist son invited us to a concert in which an ensemble he was singing was highlighting music of Guédron. Always eager to ramp up on music new to me, I found this disc and downloaded it a few days before the concert. I was rewarded with one perfect musical hour.

Guédron's music is rich and has sumptuous settings of texts mostly of love and loss. The performance by Le Poème Harmonique is truly compelling. Somehow they bring out both the dance and the depth in these wonderfully recorded songs. Guédron's music ranges from the heart-wrenching "Quel espoir de guarir", my favorite, to the comical "A Paris sur petit pont". This leads me to my one very minor complaint, that Le Poème could have lightened up a bit on "Je suis bon garcon", in keeping with its somewhat facetious lyrics.

I had listened to five and thirteen before this recording, so I was well prepared. I had never heard Norrkoping before, but had listened to Segerstam's Rautavaara symphonies before, and for me he is a superb director. I had no idea of the treat that I was in for. Most of Pettersson's symphonies are on one huge canvass. The eight is different - it is in two parts.

I would think that you would have to like modern orchestral music to get to grips with any of Pettersson's works, but if you think you could listen to say a modern style 'symphonie fantastique', and are a bit of a thinker on the quiet, then this is definitely for you.

The orchestration is bold, dark and uncompromising. You will find hints of Shostakovich and Janecek and many more, but there is no doubting the influence of Carl Neilsen.

I remember reading once that living in the modern world was dehumanising - I find that same sentiment in Pettersson's works - but Pettersson's frustration, rage and mental anguish are never far beneath the surface. He also uses a leitmotif in number eight as a kind of celestial question.

If you like bold orchestral tones, then you don't need to look further. Although Pettersson is something of an enigma, his character and humanity shine through these works in a breathtaking way. Whether he was depressed or suicidal isn't clear, but he was a deep thinker, and for me his genius shines through in this work.