Fanfare (1958)

Billie Holiday - The Complete Billie Holiday On Verve 1945-1959 (1992) {10CD Set Verve–PolyGram 517 658-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.63 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.66 Gb
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© 1945-59, 1992 Verve / PolyGram | 517 658-2
Jazz / Vocal Jazz / Swing / Classic Female Blues / Traditional Pop

This is a rather incredible collection: ten CDs enclosed in a tight black box that includes every one of the recordings Verve owns of Billie Holiday, not only the many studio recordings of 1952-57 (which feature Lady Day joined by such jazz all-stars as trumpeters Charlie Shavers and Harry "Sweets" Edison, altoist Benny Carter, and the tenors of Flip Phillips, Paul Quinichette and Ben Webster). Also included are prime performances at Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts in 1945-1947, an enjoyable European gig from 1954, her "comeback" Carnegie Hall concert of 1956, Holiday's rather sad final studio album from 1959, and even lengthy tapes from two informal rehearsals. It's a perfect purchase for the true Billie Holiday fanatic.

This disc of orchestral works marks the centenary in 2012 of the birth of the Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge. It is released as part of our Spanish music series, conducted by Juanjo Mena, a fellow Catalan national and Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic. Montsalvatge was one on the most influential musical figures in Catalan music during the latter half of the twentieth century. He explored virtually every musical form, but many of his most significant works, including Cinco Canciones Negras (Five Negro Songs), were written after his discovery of the art of the Antilles.

In the last 20 years of his life, Bach focused on publishing works for posterity. This period brings us the Mass in B Minor, the Great Eighteen and the Schubler chorales, the Musical Offering, and the Art of Fugue. Bach also published four sets called Clavier-Ubung, or "keyboard interpretation," including the 6 partitas (Part I), Italian Concerto and French Overture (Part II), and Goldberg Variations (Part IV). Part III of the Clavier-Ubung, recorded here, comprises 21 chorale preludes based on the Lutheran mass and catechism (BWV 669-689) and 4 duets (BWV 802-805). These are flanked by the "St. Anne" prelude and fugue in E-flat major (BWV 552a & b), making 27 pieces in all.

This Alba release includes Symphony No. 2 & Ekho for soprano and orchestra by Aarre Merikanto, one of the greatest ever Finnish composers, finely performed by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and soprano Anu Komsi. Symphony No. 2 is a World Premiere Recording! Ekho is a setting of a poem by the Finnish poet V.A. Koskenniemi for soprano and large orchestra. On this new release the work is performed by the internationally praised Finnish soprano Anu Komsi with her dynamic coloratura voice.