A strictly traditional flamenco record, Pepe Romero's 1987 recording Flamenco! features not only his own sterling guitar work, but also singer Chano Lobato's expressive vocals and, in an inspired touch that not enough flamenco artists have thought of, two genuine flamenco dancers, Maria Magdalena and Paco Romero. Flamenco, after all, is dance music, and as in some forms of English contra dancing, Appalachian clog dancing, and other forms of folk music, the percussive sound of the dancers' shoes (and the female dancer's traditional castanets) is intended as part of the music.
Green Linnet 20th Anniversary Collection is a double-disc collection featuring 38 tracks from the Celtic music insitution. Every one of the label's biggest artists – including Silly Wizard, Altan, Wolfstone, the Bothy Band, John Williams, Tannahill Weavers – is on the collection, giving a good representation of not only the label, but the state of Celtic music of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. It's an excellent retrospective.
This 35 disc set is jam packed with thrilling, beautiful - and superbly recorded - music.
Tchaikovsky's "Big Three" are very well represented here. Dutoit's lushly lyrical and dramatic "Swan Lake", Bonynge's affectionate and inspired "Sleeping Beauty" (listen out for grumpy Carabosse's distant thunder rumbling in the Act II Symphonic Entr'acte!) and a version of "The Nutcracker" - Bychkov and the Berlin Philharmonic, which is brilliant, full of character and sparkle.