Roth

Paris, early Twentieth Century: in the space of three ballets, a previously unknown Russian composer revolutionised the music of his time. With The Firebird and Petrushka, respectively fairytale and folktale, and of course The Rite of Spring, a telluric invocation with its insanely innovative harmonies and rhythms, Stravinsky dynamised the Late Romantic orchestra, taking it to literally unheard-of places.

Rhino released a new David Lee Roth box-set, The Warner Recordings 1985-1994, which features newly remastered versions of the former Van Halen lead singer’s first five solo releases. Roth released his debut EP, Crazy From The Heat while still a member of Van Halen. Consisting of cover versions, it was a hit, reaching number 15 on the Billboard 200. Following on from this success, David Lee Roth departed Van Halen in the summer of 1985 and his first solo album, Eat ‘Em and Smile, would follow in the July of 1986. More straightforwardly ‘rock’ than his EP, it still retained some of the wide-ranging tastes explored previously, including a cover of Frank Sinatra’s ‘That’s Life’. 1987’s Skyscraper, included the hit ‘Just Like Paradise’ and 1991’s A Little Ain’t Enough continued Roth’s run of success, with another top 20 placement on the Billboard 200. 1994’s Your Filthy Little Mouth was produced by Nile Rogers although the shifting musical landscapes, especially the emergence of grunge, meant Your Filthy Little Mouth would not match the success of Roth’s previous albums, in America. The new box set features the debut EP and the following four albums as a 5CD set in a clamshell box.

Rhino released a new David Lee Roth box-set, The Warner Recordings 1985-1994, which features newly remastered versions of the former Van Halen lead singer’s first five solo releases. Roth released his debut EP, Crazy From The Heat while still a member of Van Halen. Consisting of cover versions, it was a hit, reaching number 15 on the Billboard 200. Following on from this success, David Lee Roth departed Van Halen in the summer of 1985 and his first solo album, Eat ‘Em and Smile, would follow in the July of 1986. More straightforwardly ‘rock’ than his EP, it still retained some of the wide-ranging tastes explored previously, including a cover of Frank Sinatra’s ‘That’s Life’. 1987’s Skyscraper, included the hit ‘Just Like Paradise’ and 1991’s A Little Ain’t Enough continued Roth’s run of success, with another top 20 placement on the Billboard 200. 1994’s Your Filthy Little Mouth was produced by Nile Rogers although the shifting musical landscapes, especially the emergence of grunge, meant Your Filthy Little Mouth would not match the success of Roth’s previous albums, in America. The new box set features the debut EP and the following four albums as a 5CD set in a clamshell box.

Saint-Saëns's first opera, Le Timbre d'argent initially composed in 1864 need not fear comparison with some of the most celebrated works in the nineteenth-century French repertory. It depicts the nightmare of a man whose hallucinations anticipate by twenty years the fantastical apparitions of Offenbach's Les Contes d Hoffmann.

Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Gil Rose present the world premiere recording of The Lord of Cries, a breathtaking opera by John Corigliano and Mark Adamo. Telling the story of Euripides’s The Bacchae with the characters of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the piece explores the power of sexual desire and humans’ need to blame and attack others for what they can neither resist nor accept in themselves. Corigliano returns to opera for the first time since his The Ghosts of Versailles, introduced by the Metropolitan Opera, made an international sensation in 1992. The brilliant cast—most of whom introduced their parts in the world premiere in 2021—is led by star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role.

François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles offer us a double-sided portrait of Saint-Saëns here. On one side, some of the most fascinating symphonic poems of French Romanticism are revealed in all the shimmering timbres of the period. On the other, we rediscover a composer who enjoyed a good laugh (The Carnival of the Animals also returns to its original colours!), when he was not involved in the early days of the cinema, with the very first music ever composed for a film!

Continuing their exploration of Ravel’s output, François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles offer us two works linked by his love of Spain. Alongside the famous Bolero, which regains its original flavour here on period instruments, is Ravel’s first opera, which flirted with libertinism: though its outstanding cast consists entirely of native French-speakers, this caustic ‘Hour’ remains quintessentially Spanish!

Ligeti’s interest in sonorities and instrumental timbres is well known. François-Xavier Roth and the musicians of Les Siècles, themselves true alchemists of sounds and colours, recorded shimmering interpretations of these three works in 2016, displaying unprecedented clarity and naturalness, and also tremendous humour. They have been superbly remastered for this reissue.