Reale Reale Accademia Di Musica

At a time when Le Orme and Banco were just hitting their stride, "Reale Accademia di Musica" produced a self titled album that openly competed with the more household names of the Italian scene, but it was sadly ignored at the time. Today's fans have discovered this fine work that blends the raucous and the romantic as only this genre can. Especially recommended to enthusiasts of Rock Progressivo Italiano, this should nonetheless appeal to most who enjoy good symphonic prog of any stripe. After a few listens you will be thanking the academy.

Villa Pamphili is a double CD set with a selection of 32 tracks by Italian prog bands! In addition to major band tracks, this sampler includes also several rare tracks from vintage 7" singles by less known groups: Fholks, Fiori di Campo and even Krel (an early PFM line-up from 1970). Pay attention: while Villa Pamphili was a live 1970's concert, this double CD is not a live album from that concert.

Il Cerchio d'Oro were one of the many symphonic-oriented groups to come out of the initial boom of Italian productivity. They were formed in 1974 by the Terribile brothers (Gino and Guiseppe on drums and bass/guitars, respectively) and Franco Piccolini on keys. They were active on the gigging circuit around Savona but never managed to secure a recording deal, and so the only recordings initially available were a handful of singles from the late '70s following lineup changes (they're not particularly interesting from a progressive rock standpoint, either).
25 years after the band formed, Mellow records came along and dusted off some old recordings, releasing them as the self-titled "Cerchio d'Oro"…

''Il Gabbiano Jonathan'' is the title of the Italian translation of Richard Bach’s 1970 novel ''Jonathan Livingston the Seagull''. Rodolfo Maltese, the guitarist of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, recorded this concept album in 1987, prior to forming Indaco…

This 55-CD set chronicles the remarkable Archiv label, begun in 1947. Devoted mainly to early and Baroque music, the recordings presented here, in facsimiles of their original sleeves (a nice touch), cover the period from Gregorian chant to Beethoven’s Fifth and Sixth symphonies, played on period instruments. There are stops in between for a great deal of Bach, music of the Gothic era, the French Baroque (Mouret, Delalande, Rameau, etc), Gibbons, Handel (Alcina, La Resurrezione, Messiah, Italian cantatas), Telemann, Zelenka, Gabrieli, Desprez, Haydn, LeJeune, and plenty of the usual, as well as unusual, suspects. There’s also a final CD with selections of new releases (more Handel, Cavalli, Gesualdo, Vivaldi).