End Day (2005)

Joseph Eybler was one of the most promising young composers in Vienna when Mozart died in 1791, and it was to him that Constanze Mozart turned for a completion of the already-commissioned Requiem mass. Eybler, whom the often acerbic Mozart had praised in strong terms, had the wit to realize the difficulty of the task, resulting in the path-of-least-resistance completion by Süssmayr that has come down to the present day. The two symphonies on this disc date from the late 1780s. Their model is not so much Mozart but Haydn, with their slow introductions and their striving toward highly original minuets (the Symphony No. 2 has two of them).

Don Pasquale is among the last of Donizetti’s sixty-six completed operas. After the successful premiere of Linda di Chamounix in Vienna in May 1842. Donizetti made his way to Milan, hoping to get a new libretto for a comic opera for Paris. He actually started on a work called ‘Ne m’oubliez pas’ (do not forget me) before abandoning it when he got the commission to write a comic opera for the Théâtre Italien. Giovanni Ruffini, an Italian political exile living in Paris, wrote the libretto based on a previous opera by Pavesi. Donizetti was not happy with Ruffini’s verses and made changes of his own to the extent that his librettist refused to attach his name to the printed libretto.

One has to admit, the German psychedelic rock reissue label Garden of Delights puts a lot of care in its sampler albums. They are generous - occasionally to the detriment of an album - and packaged with informative and lavish 16-page booklets. For every tenth release of their catalogue they pick a track from each of the nine previous releases and compile them under a volume of this series. All catalogue numbers are an integer multiple of ten. The tracks chosen for these samplers comprise recordings from the field of progressive rock music in all its different shades, ranging from psychedelic to symphonic, fusion and blues-rock, provided that there are progressive elements in it.

Stereophonics Live at Cardiff Castle is best summed up by one of the punters interviewed before the start of the show: “They’re just a real band, aren’t they. There’s no rubbish going on, no nice haircuts or leather trousers. They’re a proper band.” More than that, they come across as indie’s answer to the classic power trio, assuming anyone remembers the question, belting out an amazing set to a 10,000 strong audience in the gorgeous grounds of Cardiff Castle on a glorious summer’s day in 1998. Fans will find all their favourites here, and the perfectly captured atmosphere in the crowd is effectively the band’s fourth member.