Until the End of the World is a definite contender for best motion picture soundtrack of the 1990s. With a lineup that includes Talking Heads, Lou Reed, R.E.M., Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Depeche Mode, U2, and others all providing original songs or new covers, it's an absolute joy. Interspersed with Graeme Revell's haunting ambient score, virtually every pop/rock track works perfectly as part of a cohesive whole. "Sax and Violins," recorded during the dying days of Talking Heads, might be the band's most confident moment, as a jazzy background shuffle and keyboards provide compelling momentum underneath David Byrne's sarcastic vocals. Crime & the City Solution could have made an entire career out of the emotional yet existential "The Adversary." R.E.M. and Depeche Mode both contribute touching ballads. "Fretless" is one of the most beautiful tracks to be found in R.E.M.'s discography, documenting a wounded relationship with subtle grace. "Death's Door" is one of those sad numbers Depeche Mode fans have grown to love, with Martin Gore handling the vocals.
After giving themselves room to roam with an acoustic album, a cover album, solo albums, and a slew of live albums, Erasure return to their comfort zone of distrust, disgust, and despair set mostly to a disco beat with the occasional ballad. Think fan favorite Wild! but with more maturity and depth and you're pretty close to painting a perfect picture of their 2007 effort, Light at the End of the World…
Thanks to the overwhelming success of his tenth opera L'italiana in Algeri (1813), the 21-year-old Gioachino Rossini definitively conquered the world stage as the greatest comic opera composer of his time. With this opera, which 'in the eyes of Stendhal' 'makes you forget all the miseries of the world', Rossini created a blueprint for his greatest successes. The style showcased in L'iitaliana is a consummation of eighteenth-century traditions as well as an inspiration for later, Romantic developments, and the humorous events in the story entertain us until this very day. With this live recording made at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in February 2022, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century once again shows its capacity for renewal while respecting its venerable past, which will always be linked to the late Frans Brggen.
Experience the power, drama, and magic of the music of David Helpling with this masterpiece of deep introspection punctuated with splashes of light and lengthening shadows.