Robert Stevens

THE FIRST OF THE TWELVE discs in this collection of Anna Moffo’s RCA recital recordings begins with a 1960 performance of the jewel song from Gounod’s Faust, and that selection, along with the others on this disc, sets out the singer’s basic assets and liabilities. It’s a fresh lyric sound—Moffo was twenty-eight that year—even throughout the range, accurate in pitch and coloratura, with a good try at a trill. She phrases with musicality but not much nuance or variety of color. These qualities serve her and the music well in the coloratura fireworks of the shadow song from Meyerbeer’s Dinorah; “Bel raggio,” from Rossini’s Semiramide; and the bell song from Delibes’s Lakmé, all of which she tosses off with ease. Micaela’s aria from Carmen, however, demands more emotional thrust, while her Mimì and Liù are bland and anonymous.

This box set is the ultimate pop collection, 43 albums featuring many of the biggest hits performed on the legendary pop music chart BBC TV programme Top of the Pops, which ran for a record shattering 42 years from January 1964 to July 2006! The show totalled an amazing 2205 episodes and at its peak attracted 15 million viewers per week! This complete set features a total of 875 tracks, including over 600 top ten hits and over 150 number one's!

This box set is the ultimate pop collection, 43 albums featuring many of the biggest hits performed on the legendary pop music chart BBC TV programme Top of the Pops, which ran for a record shattering 42 years from January 1964 to July 2006! The show totalled an amazing 2205 episodes and at its peak attracted 15 million viewers per week! This complete set features a total of 875 tracks, including over 600 top ten hits and over 150 number one's!

THE ANALOGUE YEARS presents a 50-Album overview across 54 CDs, in original jackets, of the celebrated international recordings that emerged from the London-based record label in that pre-digital era.

Peter Gabriel, Chris Martin, Youssou N'Dour, Cat Stevens, Paul Shaffer, Linda Rondstadt, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Glenn Frey, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, E Street Band, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Courtney Love, Wendy O'Connor, Joan Jett…

From the classic sounds of the jug band heyday to the earthy blues straight from the Mississippi Delta, Memphis was at the very epicentre of the 1920s country blues explosion. This Rough Guide charts the city’s huge influence with classic tracks by blues legends Memphis Minnie, Furry Lewis, Sleepy John Estes and many more.