Score January 2003

Simply put, this set is a treasure that is also a bargain. Two masterful performances by Barshai and the outstanding Junge Deutsche Philharmonie (a youth orchestra playing like a world class orchestra), both performances among the best available versions of each work. Mahler's unfinished score for his Tenth symphony has been ably projected and realized in performing editions of (most commonly) Deryck Cooke, Joe Wheeler, Clinton Carpenter, Remo Mazzetti, and others. Performances of the Tenth are now commonplace, and there are numerous recordings, many compelling.

Christmas songs! Not exactly what you’d expect from Rebekka Bakken, the risk-taking shooting star of the exploding Scandinavian vocal scene, Christof Lauer, the equally stormy and thoughtful sound magician of all timeless post-post and pre-pre styles and Geir Lysne, the most important European reviver of the big band score.
This music will certainly not be heard on the third week of Advent in the lifts of department stores. Which doesn’t mean that they approach the subject arrogantly or in an ironic deconstructive manner. They treat the spiritual templates between chorale and folksong with respect for the former aims and atmospheric uniqueness. The world-weary hits such as "Jingle Bells" and "Oh Christmas Tree" have anyway been left outside in the blizzard. Lauer’s approach to this material is without affectation based on his emotional background…

This album has been a fantastic adventure, inspired by the amazing visual images by cameraman David Hannan and the magical underwater world of coral reefs.
Aqua Zone is Tony O'Connor's musical score and DVD celebrating our undersea life. Aqua Zone sets a wonderful atmosphere, featuring orchestral pieces, gentle moody harp, acoustic guitar and world of magical sounds.
This CD is the soundtrack from the DVD of the same title.

Guitarist, composer, and bandleader Pat Metheny is one of the most successful jazz musicians in the world. He is the only artist to win 20 Grammy Awards in 10 different categories. A consummate stylist and risk-taker, his musical signature melds a singular, euphoric sense of harmony with Afro-Latin and Brazilian sounds, rock, funk, global folk musics, and jazz. His 1976 debut, Bright Size Life, and the self-titled Pat Metheny Group two years later resonated with audiences and critics for its euphoric lyricism, dynamics, and rhythmic ideas.

Issued as part of Universal France's Essentials of Cinema series, Serge Gainsbourg's soundtracks to Michel Colombier's 1968 Ce Sacre Grand-Pere, and Pierre Koralnik's scandalous Cannabis, are among the most startling pieces of music in his oeuvre. Cannabis was based around a tawdry thriller and was set by Pierre Koralnik in the free, lone-generation of the late '60s, and starred none other than Gainsbourg and wife Jane Birkin…

2009 four CD antology from the British Jazz/Prog/Art Rock band. Pieced together with the active assistance of band leader Jon Hiseman, Morituri Te Salutant features extended highlights from Colosseum's original albums as well as numerous previously-unissued studio and live outtakes, including BBC session material, the aborted late '60s single `Tell Me Now' and a host of alternative recordings from the tour that was immortalised on what many admirers believe to be the band's definitive work, Colosseum Live. Lavishly packaged with hitherto unpublished photos and a 10,000 word essay, Morituri Te Salutant is the final word on one of the most individual and iconoclastic British bands to emerge from the musical and cultural revolution of the '60s.

Enthusiasts have long clamoured for a Bax symphony cycle under the baton of the composer’s doughtiest champion, but even they could hardly have imagined that it would appear in one fell swoop – and from the same company that has already given us a sumptuous, if admittedly uneven, series under Bryden Thomson. Hats off, then, to the BBC Manchester Music Department (and executive producer Brian Pidgeon, in particular, for pushing the project through) and to Chandos for its foresight, courage and sheer enterprise.

RCO - Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vol 2, 1950-1960 (2003) {14CD Box Set Q Disc 97018, Limited Edition}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.80 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 2.39 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 133 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1950-60, 2003 Radio Netherlands Music / Q Disc | 97018
Classical / Orchestral / Symphony

Again we are indebted to NM Classics for another volume (the second) in their Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra series. This one covers the period 1950-1960 and contains many unusual treasures as well as a number of performances that have already been issued: the fine Daphnis and Chloe with Monteux which currently is available on both Audiophile Classics and Music & Arts, Bruno Walter's Mozart, Mahler and Strauss all of which are available on Music & Arts, and the Brahms concerto with Monteux/Milstein, available on Audiophile Classics and Arioso (as well as a discontinued Tahra set). However, there are many fascinating items here including a number of major additions to Eduard van Beinum's discography. We have Beinum conducting music of Dutch composers Hans Henkemans (1913-1995), Anthony van der Horst (1899-1965), and Matthijs Vermeulen (1888-1967).

Juliane Banse & András Schiff - Songs of Debussy and Mozart (2003) {ECM New Series 1772}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 193 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 141 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 169 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2003 ECM Records | ECM New Series 1772
Classical / Chamber Music / Piano / Soprano

First recorded collaboration between one of the leading sopranos of our time, Juliane Banse, and the incomparable pianist András Schiff. The programme is a fascinating combination of two different worlds of 'Liedgesang' - in language as well as musical style and historicity.