The Sorrow The Sorrow (2010)

Despite showing a passport not so common in the genre, turkish band Nemrud develops an anglo-saxon type of Progressive rock, of the highest quality. One might even be reminded of Eloy's "Ocean" opus… This is no surprise then to learn that the leader Mert Gocay is a close friend of Frank Bornemann! "Journey Of The Shaman" (Musea Parallèle, 2010) is a first concept-album divided in three parts: "The Ground", "Underground", "The Sky". Here's the initiatic journey of the shaman, who needs to go underground first, to be able to eventually reach the Sky. This rock symphony is mainly instrumental, as the lyrics are often used in a spoken and meditative way. It's a very sophisticated music, based on Seventies sounds but with an excellent production…

"Countertenor Franco Fagioli, an exceptional singer with an even rarer modesty, was equal to the challenge of Handel's music in all its facets – the breakneck coloratura, which he is able to propel powerfully and effortlessly in the highest range, but also the profound melancholy of 'Scherza, infida,' for which he knows how to enshroud his voice in the hues of sorrow." This is what the periodical Opernwelt wrote in the spring of 2010 about the Argentinian countertenor Franco Fagioli, who sang the title role in Handel's "Ariodante" at the Badische Staatstheater in Karlsruhe.

The highly personal and often chimerical piano music of Robert Schumann requires a confident interpreter who can enter the music with full awareness of the composer's quirks, yet not become so involved with their strangeness that he gets lost. For this Virgin release, the brilliant Piotr Anderszewski has chosen two works that show the extremes of Schumann's divided personality: the youthful and playful Humoresque, Op. 20, and the late, madness-tinged Morning Songs, Op. 133. In between them is the sober set of Studies for the Pedal Piano, Op. 56, which, in its serious counterpoint and controlled expressions, stands apart from Schumann's wild mood swings and emotionally turbulent music. Because these three works are seldom performed and are open to fresh possibilities, Anderszewski has free reign to explore the whimsy and sorrow of the Humoresque, the intellectuality of the Studies, and the brooding of the Morning Songs, and the range of his comprehension and expression is wide indeed.

It's the collection Pogues fans never dreamed would be released! This remarkable five CD collection of previously unreleased gems chronicles the bulk of the groups career; from demos recorded in 1983 through to live recordings from 2001 and all the B-sides, rare mixes and out-takes that came in-between. Also featured on this 111 track collection are unreleased soundtrack recordings, alternate versions and live recordings.