M. Ullrich, Maggie Cummings & Kris Bryant

Sound Ray is an album by pianist Ray Bryant recorded and released by Cadet Records in 1969.
Although he could always play bop, Ray Bryant's playing combined together older elements (including blues, boogie-woogie, gospel, and even stride) into a distinctive, soulful, and swinging style; no one played "After Hours" quite like him. The younger brother of bassist Tommy Bryant and the uncle of Kevin and Robin Eubanks (his sister is their mother), Bryant started his career playing with Tiny Grimes in the late '40s. He became the house pianist at The Blue Note in Philadelphia in 1953, where he backed classic jazz greats (including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Lester Young) and made important contacts…

Laurence Cummings leads the FestspielOrchester Gottingen and a cast of superb soloists in a performance of Handel's opera Faramondo. The work was first performed in London in 1738. There were only eight performances and it was never revived during the composer's lifetime. The first modern production was in Halle in 1976, and several recordings have been made. Its convoluted plot is a story of revenge, intrigues, love and jealousy, backed by some of Handel's most sublime music.

One of the most spectacular heroes of the Old Testament is Joshua, the successor to Moses, who caused the walls of Jericho to tumble down with that city's famous trombones. The Israelites' army conquered the promised land of Canaan under his leadership. This biblical story supplies the background to Handel's oratorio 'Joshua', premiered in 1748; it was supplemented by a love story involving the young captain, Othniel and Achsah, the daughter of an elder, by the presumed librettist, Thomas Morell. Thus the composer was able to include the entire spectrum of his musical expressivity: the magnificence of tympani and trumpets, joyful and jubilant choruses, virtuoso arias and moving love duets.

The oratorio is based on the Biblical stories of Joshua, who led the Israelites as they took possession of the ‘promised land’ of Canaan and attacked Jericho. Interwoven in the story of military conquest is the love story between the young Israelite captain Othniel and Calab’s daughter Achsah. In the final scene, the Israelites triumph and praise Joshua, and Othniel is proclaimed worthy of marrying Achsah.