When the young Archduchess of Austria, Marie-Antoinette, arrived at the French court in 1770, amongst her luggage was a harp. Contrary to the instrument’s heralded decline, the harp was about to enjoy an unprecedented popularity and to inspire a rich and prolific repertoire, quite distinct from the concertos being composed for the keyboard. Xavier de Maistre and Les Arts Florissants take us on a voyage of discovery through these magnificent compositions, from the lesser known Concerto for harp & orchestra by Jean-Baptiste Krumpholz to Haydn’s “La Reine” Symphony, bringing them to life using period instruments in a programme that is as accomplished as it is captivating.
Italian pop singer Antonella Ruggiero used to sing at parties as a child, her first step to becoming a local star years later. After attending the Fine Arts Academy, she started working as a designer for an advertising company. In 1975, Ruggiero joined Matia Bazar, a popular vocal group founded by Aldo Stilita, which achieved international recognition in the late '70s. In October 1989, she decided to leave the band. After an inspiring length of time in India, Ruggiero began her solo career with the release of an album called Libera in 1996. That was followed by 1997's Registrazioni Moderne, produced by Roberto Colombo. It included the song "Per Un'Ora d'Amore," which climbed the most important Italian charts. In 1998, she came in second place at the San Remo Festival for singing "Amore Lontanissimo."
Even though they started out on Musea, EGOBAND is another Mellow Records Italian obscurity. What does that mean? It means it's hard to find band information. But there is enough to paint a picture. The first album's lineup consisted of Alessandro Accordino on vocals and keyboards, Fabio Cioni on drums, Massimo Fava on guitars, and Alfonso Capasso on bass. However, only Accordino and Capasso would be consistent with the group over its four-album career. This, along with the fact that there were no live efforts, leads to speculation that EGOBAND may have been more of a project than a band (a la Steely Dan). They went through interesting changes over their career. Starting out purely Neo, with heavy AOR tendencies, and ending up almost in Canterbury territory by the time they got to "Earth"…