AUDIOBOOKS

What exactly are recitative and ralentado? How did the oratorio develop into opera, and chorale become concerto? Huge numbers of us like to hum along with Pavarotti and tap our feet to the "March of the Toreadors", but have a profound inferiority complex about our general knowledge of music. Listening to The History of Classical Music (Naxos, 5hrs+, pounds 9.99 tape; pounds 14.99 CD) is like witnessing the scattered pieces of a half-familiar jigsaw being fitted into an orderly historical frame extending from Hildegarde of Bingen to Benjamin Britten. Robert Powell, one of the very best readers of the spoken word, reads Richard Fawkes's fascinating text with interested intelligence. The four tapes are punctuated by dozens of examples of the music in question, with informative cover notes for those who want to hear more.

Christina Hardyment