Scoping software.

Bax, Arnold: The Film Music of Arnold Bax. The BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Rumon Gamba. Recorded in 2002, at Studio 7, New Broadcasting House, Manchester, England. Engineer Stephen Rinker. 73+ minutes. Chandos 10126.

The title of this disc may be a bit misleading, because Bax did not write a lot of film music, and was not particularly interested in the genera to begin with. The most notable was for the 1948 release of Oliver Twist, based upon a piece of Dickens literature that he did not consider particularly notable to begin with. The only other thing he did was for a film short entitled Malta GC. The GC stood for George Cross, and the film was about the island's heroic resistance to Axis attacks during World War II. This disc contains both works.

Although the music was originally composed as a background, the material for Oliver Twist can actually stand on its own right. This particular recording combines several different drafts and versions and so what we have is what can be considered to be the full score, including parts that were not actually used in the original movie. Overall, the result is pleasant to listen to and from a musical perspective I can easily recommend it.

I can also recommend it in terms of technical excellence. Although this release was not engineered by one of the Cousins brothers, the Chandos trademark sound is still present: a wide soundstage, with substantial frontal depth, rich textures, and plenty of recorded ambiance. The imaging is also more precise than what one normally gets with large-ensemble material, and the result is a close-up sound that those who prefer the front rows will fully enjoy.

The wide staging worked very well with the Classical/Opera mode available from my main system's Yamaha RX-Z1 receiver. The center was better stabilized when listening from off axis, and yet the frontal spread was not compromised. The overall spaciousness was enhanced, with the sense of hall envelopment moved further out into the listening room where it belonged. Dolby Pro Logic II (music) decoding was also terrific, but I still preferred the Classical/Opera mode, which was superior to all the others, including the many concert-hall simulation modes.

Buxtehude, Dietrich: Complete Works For Organ, Volume 2. Bine Bryndorf, Organ. Recorded in 2003, in St. Mary's Church, Elsinore, Denmark. Engineer: Clemens Johansen. 51+ minutes. DaCapo 8.226008.

Buxtehude is not a name that rises to one's lips when organ (or other) music is being discussed by most mainstream audio buffs. Bach is the man for them (and nearly everyone else), and of course recordings by any romantic- or modern-era composer who wrote music for huge, deep-throated, and dynamic organs would also be high on any buff's list of potential demo releases.