Face Values

Of all the traditional Japanese metal bands out there, it must be Anthem who best represent what I love about that country's take on the genre. This is a band who have never flinched in the face of trends, never given a goddamn about the changing times and the onslaught of newer, more extreme strains of the art, and continued to produce good album after good album of old school, NWOBHM-derived riffing, powerful vocals and killer guitar solos…

We've had a "Summer of Love" Così with Ferrando sporting a Che Guevara t-shirt, and one set in "Despina's Diner" by the sea. This one, as staged at the Glyndebourne Festival during the summer of 2006, is comfortingly traditional. Comfortingly? A poor choice of words, because Così is never quite comforting (if you do it right!). Even if the sets and the costumes are strictly according to Hoyle, as they are here, Mozart's dramma giocosa should leave you feeling vaguely unsettled when the final curtain comes down. As conductor Iván Fischer reminds us during one of the bonus features here, almost everyone can be seduced…

Raymond Tuttle

Bellini - Norma (2007) [2DVD Set] {Deutsche Grammophon} [by Edita Gruberova, Friedrich Haider]
2xDVD -> 10.7 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 16:9 | Italiano (LinearPCM, 2 ch / DTS, 5 ch) | ~ 166m | ISO Images
Subs: Italiano, Deutsch, English, Francais, Espanol, Chinese
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 116 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2007 Deutsche Grammophon / Universal | 00440 073 4219
Classical / Opera

This new production of Bellini’s Norma by Jürgen Rose (sets, costumes, stage direction, and lighting) to honor Edita Gruberova’s first staged assumption of the title role was taped in January and February of 2006 in Munich. It does neither the opera nor the soprano any favors. In most ways, it’s a pretty gloomy affair.The sets are minimal angular wood constructions comprised of a step or two here and there and a not-very-high platform or two that the players can climb up and down. Everything is dark. The costumes are modern but only can be defined as such because they evoke no particular era; Norma’s rich blue outfit for the first scene, complete with scarf/hood that effectively covers everything but her apple-shaped face and hands, allows for little expressivity.

Emirati composer Ihab Darwish has played music since the age of ten, with a passion for musical composition and expression. His music is strongly embedded in Emirati values and traditions, infusing classical, Khaleeji and oriental tones. Each piece is centered around profound human experiences, such as nostalgia for the past, love, pride, and strong bond to his beloved homeland. In this performance, he is joined on the stage by the Arabian Philharmonic Orchestra - a collection of passionate, professional musicians who are known for changing the face of traditional orchestra by blending classical western orchestral symphonies with innovative and contemporary compositions that reflect their global culture.

“You have the sense when listening to Haydn that you’re in very good company; though he’s a great genius, he somehow seems like one of us”. The words of Philip Setzer. Beautifully recorded, exceptionally well played, the Emerson’s traversal of seven quartets of Haydn offers a wonderful musical journey – 1772 to 1799 in terms of chronology; in terms of musical values and growth, well, Haydn’s inventiveness and imagination are simply remarkable.