CLASSICAL NOTES.

BEST OF 2006 -- Louis Andriessen, "Writing to Vermeer" (Nonesuch)--The setting of the brilliantly eclectic Dutch composer's recent opera (with a libretto by Peter Greenaway) alternates between the quotidian serenity of the painter's household and the senseless violence of Holland's "Year of Disasters," 1672. Reinbert de Leeuw leads an incisive performance.

C. P. E. Bach, "Symphonies 1-4; Cello Concerto in A" (Harmonia Mundi)--The bewitchingly complex music of J. S. Bach's most talented son is more than just a connoisseur's indulgence. These renditions, by Andrew Manze's superb English Concert, are marked by a delicate balance of passion and poise.

Sebastian Currier, "Quartetset/Quiet Time" (New World)--Currier is a subtle yet potent artist whose impeccable craft never overshadows his gifts for lyricism and surprise. The Cassatt Quartet plays these unexpectedly moving works with all the nimbleness and warmth that they demand.

"Angelika Kirchschlager: Handel Arias" (Sony/BMG)--The glamorous Austrian mezzo-soprano, known for her mastery of lieder and for originating the title role in Nicholas Maw's opera "Sophie's Choice," turns her melting voice to a variety of dazzling works by the doyen of Baroque opera; Laurence Cummings and the Kammerorchester Basel provide excellent support.

Peter Lieberson, "Neruda Songs" (Nonesuch)--There will likely be no more fitting memorial to the astonishing talent of the mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson than this live recording of her husband's last, lovely work for her, recorded with James Levine conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

"George Perle: A ...