The 200th anniversary of Haydn's death arrived in 2009, and this mammoth box boasts one CD for every year that's passed! Well, not quite, but only a composer as prolific as this Viennese-classical master could even come close: 150 CDs of symphonies, concertos, operas, chamber music, oratorios and more beautiful music that have challenged performers and inspired composers for centuries. You'll hear the symphonies performed by the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra; the piano and violin concertos played by L'Arte dell'Arco; the trumpet, horn and cello concertos played by the Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields; the string quartets performed by the Buchberger Quartet; the lieder performed by Elly Ameling and Joerg Demus, and much, much more!
This is an enjoyable reissue from the RCA Chet Atkins catalog, combining two adjoining albums – The Guitar Genius and Chet Atkins and His Guitar – from the mid-'60s onto one very clean if spare CD, with no annotation or session information. Guitar instrumental fans will probably find more to like in the 12 songs off of Chet Atkins and His Guitar than the ten from The Guitar Genius – which are weighted down with vocals a bit too frequently – but it's all a serious sonic pleasure, very clean and bright, if at times a bit too languid for rock & roll, though the version of "Heartbreak Hotel" here will even impress fans on the latter level.
Although generally classified as an atmospheric gothic metal band, On Thorns I Lay has become known for its change from early, brutal death-metal (under their previous names Paralysis and Phlebotomy) to softer, atmospheric rock. Crystal Tears is no exception to this evolution. However, this specific album can be regarded as an important turning point in their career as this is a drastic change in their aesthetic orientation. Despite previous stylistic changes, the band was accustomed to navigating the waters of extreme metal until this album. Crystal Tears radically turns toward a softer and more atmospheric direction.
The triumphant release of Mission in autumn 2012 drew rave reviews and was followed up in September 2013 with Steffani’s Stabat Mater, alongside his greatest sacred works for chorus, orchestra and soloists, and a further disc of dances and overtures with the celebrated I Barrochisti conducted by Diego Fasolis. On the Stabat Mater, Bartoli leads an array of internationally celebrated singers including countertenor Franco Fagioli, the bass Salvo Vitale and the two young German tenors Daniel Behle and Julian Prégardien. The final album of the collection is Danze & Ouvertures’, contains 43 great tracks of enchanting early-baroque music.
For several decades beginning in the 1950's I Musici was the leading ensemble specializing in Italian Baroque music, and their performances were standard-setting in their time. Their recordings still hold up exceptionally well even though approaches to early music, driven by the period instrument revolution, have changed somewhat since then.