The Dio Album

For more than two decades, Cecilia Bartoli has undeniably been one of the leading artists in the field of classical music. All over the world, her new operatic roles, her concert programs and recording projects – in exclusivity with Decca – are expected with great eagerness and curiosity. The exceptional amount of 8 million CDs sold, more than 100 weeks ranking in the international pop charts, numerous Golden Discs, four Grammys® (USA), nine Echos and a Bambi (Germany), two Classical Brit Awards (UK), the Victoire de la musique (France) and many other prestigious awards reflect the immense success of for example Opera proibita and her solo albums dedicated to Vivaldi, Gluck and Salieri and that she is firmly established as today’s “best-selling classical artist”.

During his lifetime, Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816) was in fact more famous than Mozart, and his operas were veritable hits. Nowadays, it is in the hands of experts such as Florence native Filippo Mineccia to restore his unjustly neglected compositional output. With his fine countertenor voice, Mineccia presents a collection of outstanding opera arias in a recording which for sure will quickly deserve a prominent place in the shelves (or hard drives) of the many Italian Baroque opera lovers. Mineccia has found in the Lisbon-based ensemble Divino Sospiro under the direction of Massimo Mazzeo an exquisite support. Born in Florence, FIlippo Mineccia began his musical studies very early in the prestigious School of Music of Fiesole, singing in the polifonic choir.

Rare 1991 Japanese-only 38-track 4-CD boxed set including the albums 'Holy Diver', 'The Last In Line', 'Sacred Heart' & the exclusive 'Live Tracks', each in their own case with picture sleeve. Comes housed in an outer picture slipcase box with a 60-page Japanese/lyric booklet & original wraparound obi-strip

It went Gold in the U.S. but it had the hard tasks of following three superb Dio records AND competing in the overcrowded landscape that was Heavy Metal in 1987. The album is a blend of Ronnie’s career, from Rainbow through Sabbath to Dio, and it sounds more like a continuation of Dio’s first two albums. Craig Goldy provides a fresh contribution to the guitar slot and replaces Vivian Campbell easily, maybe adding a little more meat to the Dio sound. Of course, the Appice/Bain rhythm section turning in another solid performance and the man himself proving why he is considered a master of the vocal craft. This is an album that many need to re-discover.