Ever since the Beatles first gave folks the idea that a rock star is supposed to be able to sing, play, and write songs with equal skill, fans have expected musicians to be all-purpose point men (or women), but the sad truth is that not every talented person in rock & roll was cut out to be a bandleader. Nils Lofgren is a good example of this notion in action; Lofgren is a demon guitar player and he can knock out a good song every once in a while, but his singing is OK though not great and a long, hard look at his body of work confirms that he's always shone brighter backing up the likes of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen than he has by his lonesome. Favorites 1990-2005 is primarily drawn from Lofgren's two studio albums for Rykodisc, 1991's Silver Lining and 1992's Crooked Line, with some live tracks and unreleased demos…
This key title is being reissued at a special price as part of the celebration of Rostropovich - "Cellist of the Century". Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich was born in Baku, USSR on March 27, 1927. His first name means "avenged glory"; he is familiarly known by the root of the name, "Slava," which means "glory." His father, Leopold, was an excellent cellist, and after 1931, a teacher at the Gnesin Institute, Moscow after attending the Moscow Conservatory. Slava's mother was an accomplished pianist. The family moved to Moscow in 1931; Slava had already begun cello studies with his father and continued them there. His first public appearance was at eight years of age. In 1939, he entered the Central Music School, studying there until 1941.
In the early 1990s Daniel Barenboim recorded the three Da Ponte operas with the Berlin Philharmonic. The BPO had played "Figaro" and "Don Giovanni" many times, but this was the first time that the group had ever tackled "Cosi fan tutte." Perhaps that is why they sound so fresh and energized under the thoughtful baton of Barenboim. Mozart's operas are usually performed with a small chamber or opera house orchestra, but this time the score of "Cosi" (which has so many beautiful, subtle touches, and is almost a celebration of beauty itself) is given the full treatment of perhaps the greatest orchestra in the world. While the resulting sound is somewhat "bigger" and more "lush" than is usual, Barenboim does manage to keep things appropriately light and "classical," just as he has so successfully done in the piano concertos which he is recording with the BPO.
I can still remember the waves caused by Rodriguez’s “El Mariachi.” He was a part of a new school of DIY filmmakers in the ’90s who truly changed the movie scene. With other filmmakers like Richard Linklater (with “Slacker”) and Kevin Smith (with “Clerks”), Rodriguez made the idea that anyone could be the next notable director seem real. It was a wave that would eventually create household names like Quentin Tarantino and gave birth to a career in Rodriguez that has consistently produced for the last two decades…