Nova 11.1

Bossa Nova translated as the "new beat" or "the new style", grew out of Rio De Janeiro in 1958. The instigators were a handful of artists with a desire to break from tradition, developing the samba rhythms with the influence of cool American jazz to find a music with such a warm soul and natural rhythm that no-one can help but tap and sway to its beat. Bossa Nova is palm trees swaying, it is like melting sugar in hot coffee, it is the setting sun and warm sand underfoot. It is the sound and beat of Brazil, it is one of the world's coolest musical styles and it remains to this day one of the world's great musical treasures.

Ars Nova: This female keyboard trio started in the next line-up: Keiko Kumagai (keyboards), Kyoko Kanazawa (bass) and Akiko Takahashi (drums). In '92 ARS NOVA released their promising debut-album "Fear & Anxiety", a tribute to ELP with floods of powerful Hammond organ and flashing synthesizer solos, supported by a strong and adventurous rhythm-section. After several album and changes in the line-up, ARS NOVA is still going strong and end 2003 the trio released their new CD entitled "Biogenesis Project": it's loaded with spectacular instrumental prog rock in the vein of ELP, UK and TRACE. The current ARS NOVA includes Keiko Kumagai (keyboards), Akiko Takahashi (drums, voice) and Mika (vocal and chorus)…

Packaged in a special box set to celebrate Jobim's artistry as well as the 50th anniversary of the bossa nova, this set includes five original albums: Caymmi Visita Tom, Matita Perê (aka Jobim), Elis & Tom, Edu & Tom/Tom & Edu, Garota de Ipanema - Original Soundtrack …plus 3 new compilation albums entitled "Tom Feminino" (recordings by female singers) and "Tom Masculino" (recordings by male singers and musicians) - as well as "Tom Pra Dois" (duos).

Really appreciated both by listeners & critics, more than just a compilation, Break n' Bossa has been, during the years, the exact mirror of a music scene, rather, it was the project that literally invented a new music genre, giving a connotation & a point of reference to the growing up scene. Schema Records helped in its development with all its artists.

This anthology of Christmas carols from the European tradition is not as banal a collection as it may seem. Paul Hillier's intention here is to place himself in the context of history and musicology, his work being similar to that of Arthur Honegger, who at the end of his life composed A Christmas Cantata, which was based on various traditional songs, motets and folk songs.

Samuel Scheidt's Tabulatura Nova, published in three parts in the early seventeenth century, is one of those checkpoints that music history students have to learn. It was a collection of keyboard music with mostly instructional intent, making up a compendium of North German polyphonic techniques. The Tabulatura Nova was an early example of the exhaustiveness of musical thinking that became one of Bach's key characteristics, and it pointed to Bach as well in its density and overall conservatism. This double disc, covering the second of the Tabulatura Nova's three volumes, includes early fugues, fantasias, dances, an impressive toccata, and pieces intended for sacred use, including several based on chorales.

Richard Strauss - Orchestral Works
Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich / David Zinman
7xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 1,98 GB | Artwork: 142 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Arte Nova # 74321 98495 2 | Country/Year: Germany 2003
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Early 20th Century

"…Seven CDs is undoubtedly a major collection. There will inevitably be some frustrations that the enterprise was not more thorough in terms of repertoire, and as discussed, there are some howling omissions. Having made the point, let me conclude by acknowledging the high standards of performance and recording that lie at the heart of this set. While there may be a few regrets that it is not as comprehensive as it might (as it ought to?) have been, what we do have is undoubtedly well worth having." ~musicweb-international