BEETHOVEN'S WIG 2 samples Suppe to Mendelssohn, with Verdi, Grieg, Paganini and more masters in between. Richard Perlmutter gathers forces with an impressive array of orchestral recordings, ensemble musicians, and opera singers in a lyrical frolic through revered classics. Music without lyrics is included in the second half of the CD. From the get-go with Stuck in the Saddle Again (Light Cavalry Overture, Suppe), it's a light-hearted romp with serious overtones. Perlmutter asks and answers musical questions. "How do you please the crowd? Sing Verdi very loud. Do what the divas do. Shatter a glass or two." (Rigoletto, Verdi)

The learning quotient soars with the entertainment value. A rendition of Greig's In the Hall of the Mountain King, "a piece that's quite perverse, it's the same every verse," notes how the bassoon, cello, and bass "ceaselessly keep the pace." When Musical B's ends (Hungarian Dance #5, Brahms), no listener could forget to include that other masterful B with Beethoven and Bach. Dvorak the Czechoslovak tells the composer's tale of travels in the U.S. and returning home to write Humoresque.

Shubert's Trout (Trout Quintet) delights with a singing fish--"There is music in the river, there is music in the sea, listen you can hear it, sing along with me." When the singer in My Mother Was a Fan (Prelude 7, Op. 28, Chopin) complains "A prelude by Chopin, it ended far too soon? the listener tends to agree. Will there be a Beethoven's Wig 3"