CD

Murray Perahia, Perahia Brahms (Sony Classical, out Nov. 16). An anthology of Brahms' finest works for solo piano--the Handel Variations, the B Minor and G Minor Rhapsodies, and the ten intermezzi and other short pieces of Opp. 118 and 119--all played in an understated, unexaggerated style that emphasizes their autumnal virtues. Not only is this the strongest single-disc collection of Brahms' piano music since Van Cliburn's My Favorite Brahms , originally released in 1975, but Perahia's chastely classical playing contrasts very nicely with Cliburn's expansive romanticism (TT).