One of the most important and magical song cycles in contemporary music, Ancient Voices of Children, is the setting of a series of haunting texts by the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca for mezzo-soprano, boy soprano, and chamber orchestra. The piece made a huge impression on audiences at its initial performances. Indeed, this recording became something of a cult phenomenon, much like the Górecki Third Symphony today; and if you weren't around for the initial discovery, now's your chance. Music for a Summer Evening uses essentially the same forces as Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, and creates an evocative, glittering nightscape. Great stuff.—David Hurwitz

Zanzibar, since 1964 officially a part of Tanzania, is actually a pair of islands in the Indian Ocean off the Tanzanian coast. Although best known for slave-trading sultans, exotic spices and beautiful tropical beaches, Zanzibar is becoming famous for the taarab orchestras that abound in the country. Based in the capital city of Stone Town, the Cultural Musical Club are the undoubted stars of this style of music - in which a musical orchestra is also a social club. The music provides the focus of their lives and means by which they all get together and as such is central to their very existence.