The only aspect of this disc that could be bettered is the sparse booklet notes, which lack any information about the composers or works.

Given that Mr. Silvestrov himself, according to the booklet notes, talks of his material as "weak," these deficiencies must be deliberate.

Scarlatti thought of it as a summation, Mr. Jacobs suggests in booklet notes, a chance to fulfill his highest aims.

The booklet notes for the CD include an amusing story about that performance.

According to the booklet notes, this was the first work of Puccini's to be performed, when he was 18, at his music school in Lucca.

"You have to play with butterfly wings," Ms. Rockmore is quoted as saying in the booklet notes.

In the early 80's, the booklet notes, many people rented VCR's on trial before buying them.

The approach is unapologetically focused on big tunes, melody being, the brief booklet notes suggest, "the language of the soul."

An even greater achievement may be Mr. Johnson's booklet notes for Hyperion.

An inveterate writer, she also contributed booklet notes.