エスプレッソな午後 Monica

The pieces recorded here have a common characteristic: they are all inspired by lines of poets who were born in Romagna or attracted by this enchanted land. On the one hand Pascoli and Moretti, on the other Panzini, who was practically a citizen of Rimini, and Carducci, who was an enthusiastic visitor in the countryside of Cesena. Romagna is the place where their respective memorial buildings stand, ranging from those in San Mauro Pascoli and Cesenatico to the Casa Rossa in Bellaria and Villa Silvia in Lizzano, above Renato Serra’s Cesena. These four houses actually have been united by a strong project, whose goal was to give rise to a musical competition under the aegis of the four illustrious men of letters. This was the origin of the “Primo Concorso internazionale di composizione lirica da camera su testi di poeti e scrittori di Romagna”, organised by n.o.t.a. Music, a cultural association that is quite zealous and innovative in the sphere of didactic and productive activities.

For all the charges of unacceptable schematicism levelled at Vivaldi and his kind, Monica Huggett, as supremely imaginative as well as technically and stylistically accomplished an exponent of the baroque violin as any, demonstrates clearly that this music benefits from the guiding hand of a charismatic interpreter: her delivery of Vivaldi’s exuberant, even manic, inspiration is never less than involving and, in the slow movements, never less than touching.

Sista Monica Parker releases a tribute to the mothers of her blues, Katie Webster, Koko Taylor and Ruth Brown. An award-winning female blues and soul singer. She captivates the listener with her passionate phrasing and heart-felt lyrical content. ''I dedicate this Soul Blues & Ballads CD to the life of the great blues women that have influenced my writing and singing - Koko Taylor, Katie Webster, and Ruth Brown. I have always been inspired by their strong, sassy, often tortured, storytelling blues. These women paved the way for me to open up and write about my heartaches and expose my wounds.''

While today it is easy to listen to almost any piece at any time and in almost any place, before the invention of the record it was quite complicated: you had to go to a concert or to the opera or you played yourself… In the emerging bourgeoisie, arrangements of the most popular works in instrumentations suitable for chamber music were popular and, of course, Mozart's famous operas were at the top of the popularity scale. In many places, publishers set about transcribing Mozart's works for small and very small ensembles. The two violinists Florian Deuter and Mónica Waisman have found a whole series of such contemporary arrangements of Mozart's operas and piano sonatas in "pocket format" for violin duo, which bring the well-known melodies into the new form with much wit and finesse. In the process, the listener can grin and observe the reduction of the full sound and delve into delightful details of house music around 1800.

Sista Monica Parker is an award winning soul, blues and gospel singer, songwriter, speaker, recording artist and producer. She is known as the "blues lioness" at major festivals internationally. She is a force of nature with a deep, rich contralto vocal range, dynamic and showstopping stage performances. She connects with her audiences and pulls them in to her emotional space. Now residing on the west coast, Monica was born in Gary, Indiana. Her musical influences growing up in the mid west between Chicago and Detroit were artists such as Mavis Staples, Sam Cooke, Aretha, James Brown and Buddy Guy. At the age of seven, she like so many others, started her singing career in the Baptist and C.O.G.I.C Churchs.

An Ode to Stevie Wonder. A sensitive journey between soul and jazz. A rediscovery of Stevie Wonder. By revisiting the genius of Stevie Wonder and his most sensitive (and often least known) titles, Monica Shaka offers an album of absolute finesse, where the subtle breath of Amina Mezaache's flute meets the aerial touch of Richard Razafindrakoto and the all-Ravelian bass of Sava Medan.

There are four surviving church cantatas by Bach for solo alto voice. One, Wiederstehe doch der Sünde BWV54 was probably composed in 1714. The other three were all written in 1726, after Bach had taken up his appointment at St. Thomas’s, Leipzig, and so it is a sensible idea to group them on one CD.