The Itzhak Perlman/Gennady Rozhdesvetsky collaborations in the Prokofiev Violin Concertos are interpretations that truly scale the heights. Perlman's strong characterizations couple a taut rhythmic vitality with a sure sense of the music's lyric line, while the BBC Symphony Orchestra gets a rather lighter mood but maintains the composer's often gruff swagger. A delicate balancing act that succeeds on all levels (Angel DS-37800).

The contemporary music of Swiss-born Andreas Vollenweider forms an aural collage that's definitely more than the sum of its elemental ingredients. Playing a harp electronically altered to heighten its harmonic and rhythmic capabilities, he manages a variety of dazzling effects, alternately buoyant and meditative. What sounds like a bass player on Behind the Garden, Behind the Wall, Under the Tree (CBS FM-37793) is actually Vollenweider on the electric harp, sparingly augmented by synthesizer, percussion, and a touch of birdsong. A nice discovery.

Additional new music is found on a disc by flutist Ransom Wilson (Angel DS-37338). Minimalist composer Steve Reich's Vermont Counterpoint is a mesmerizing piece in which the soloist plays against prerecorded tracks of eleven other instruments. Philip Glass' Facades warms to Wilson's arrangement in which the flute replaces the soprano sax. And Frank Becker's Stonehenge, an attractive amalgam of musical effects for flute, synthesizer, and percussion, is atmospheric and gently persuasive.