Der Aktionã¤r No 45 2011

How good to see Riccardo Chailly so radiant at the end of this great event.It's an exhilaration he earns through sheer hard work as well as injecting the adrenalin at most of the right moments.(Majority) of the singers are excellent,from two very different but keenly-projected lyric-dramatic sopranos,Erika Sunnegardh and Ricardo Merbeth,to Georg Zeppenfeld,whose bass is rock solid and expressive across a huge range.Chailly holds attention between movements and makes you realise how many soloists within the orchestra have to sing,too.His Leader,the superb Sebastian Breuninger,assists him between blazes in the most striking of chamber-musical moments.Breuninger shares the front desk of viloins in Claudio Abbado's Lucerne festival Orchestra,but this one Mahler symphony Abbado's forces have yet to tackle,and Chailly's rendering leads the field on DVD. (BBC Music Magzine)

Take the primal wail of American Blues and amplify them beyond the point with no limitations. Jay Gordon continues to shake planet earth with his onslaught of Electric Voodoo Blues. When you listen to this CD you will see how Jay has moved the blues forward to the 21st century, infusing the music with the fire and power of rock while carving out his own place in the music world. This CD features songs like, Dockery's Plantation (for Robert Johnson), World Blues, Slow Burn/Biker Mama, Red Hot Tempered Woman and more, even a bonus track in honor of the late great Phillip Walker.. Joining Jay on this CD is Bassist: Sharon Butcher, Drummer: Rich Gordon Lambert, Hammond B3 & Piano: Harlen Spector, Mississippi Saxophone: Mario Ramirez (Younger brother of the great Richie Valens) also on Hammond B3 & Piano: Rich Wenzel. For all Blues/Rock fans everywhere we created "Blues Venom - No Cure".

Walton’s Symphony No 1 and Belshazzar’s Feast, which were written consecutively, helped him consolidate his reputation as the most exciting British composer of his generation. Belshazzar’s Feast, a superbly crafted oratorio, vividly depicts the story of Babylon’s excesses and subsequent downfall, brilliantly coloured by the orchestral forces, including two brass bands. Similarly effervescent, volcanic sentiments simmer beneath the surface of the First Symphony, the music conveying the tensions of the 1930s, whilst remaining timeless in its appeal.

Maurizio Pollini's 2011 concert recording of Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor is an important document because it not only captures his return to playing with the esteemed Staatskapelle Dresden (his first performance with the group since 1986), and his first collaboration with conductor Christian Thielemann, but it presents the very work the pianist played at his Staatskapelle debut in 1976. All of this background is helpful to know, to understand the significance Deutsche Grammophon attaches to this release, even at the risk of offering a CD that runs just over 45 minutes, without any filler for added value.

Walton’s Symphony No 1 and Belshazzar’s Feast, which were written consecutively, helped him consolidate his reputation as the most exciting British composer of his generation. Belshazzar’s Feast, a superbly crafted oratorio, vividly depicts the story of Babylon’s excesses and subsequent downfall, brilliantly coloured by the orchestral forces, including two brass bands. Similarly effervescent, volcanic sentiments simmer beneath the surface of the First Symphony, the music conveying the tensions of the 1930s, whilst remaining timeless in its appeal.