What I’ve been listening to: three CDs of note

I haven't recommended many CDs in the last few years, because I haven't come across many extraordinary ones.  But in the last two weeks, three in particular have caught my attention:

1. Haydn, The Complete String Quartets, the Buchberger Quartet.  To my ears, these are definitive and much better than Emerson, Kodaly, Lindsay, and other versions.  Some single disc excerpts are available as well.

2. Jean Guillou, Bach Organ Works, six CDs.  I thought I would be happy with Christopher Herrick and Peter Hurford forever; I was wrong.  It's even better than Guillou's 1999 Bach recordings.

3. The Kankobela of the Batonga, thumb piano music of Zambia and Zimbabwe, on Amazon UK only.  Worth the shipping costs, this is my favorite world music CD since Geoffrey Gurrumul.  Here is one short review.  Here is a related YouTube video, a quick view is recommended if only to see the performer's wife.

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