Various Artists – Super Audio CD Ultimate Collection – Volumes 1 & 2 (2001) Mch Sacd Iso

Featuring 100 tracks across 5 CDs, "Forgotten Hits: The Ultimate Collection" delves deep into the memory banks and brings together some classics which truly deserve to be remembered! Focusing on the 1970s through to the 1990s, there are one hit wonders (White Town, Goldie, Hollywood Beyond, Alannah Myles), classic hit singles worthy of rediscovery by huge acts like Duran Duran, Roxette, Eternal and Spandau Ballet, and overlooked "guilty pleasure" number one singles like "My Camera Never Lies", "One Day At A Time", "Seven Tears" and "Baby Jump". This compilation reclaims all these overlooked gems, and many more.

Pentatone has another winner of Mendelssohn's two piano trios. Their star violinist Julia Fischer is joined by two other major young artists, pianist Jonathan Gilad, and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott in vivid performances of these delightful Mendelssohn works. Wolf Werth and Job Maarse produced this recording which was made in a radio studio in Cologne in February 2006.

Galina Gorchakova, endowed with what London’s Sunday Times called “one of the most important dramatic voices in the post-war era”, makes her debut on Delos label with Italian Opera Arias, a collection of her signature roles that have earned her critical acclaim and an immense public following the world over. Gorchakova is accompanied by Constantine Orbelian and the Philharmonia of Russia, the Maestro’s own assemblage of Russia’s leading orchestral musicians resulting in la creme de la creme of Russian ensembles.

On their own, bassists Ray Brown, John Clayton, and Christian McBride are three of the most talented musicians in jazz today. But, performing together as Superbass, the trio becomes a sublime ensemble, capable of inventive, virtuosic playing with no accompaniment needed or wanted from horns or percussion. Recorded live at the Blue Note club in New York over the course of a couple of sets in December 2000, this disc joyously defies logic–who knew that the upright bass was capable of singing solos from Porgy and Bess?–and standard musical conventions. Together, these guys produce a tender take "My Funny Valentine," an upbeat version of "Get Happy," and a funky Latin jazz number ("Taco with a Pork Chop") that would do Willie Bobo proud. All the while, the threesome is having a great time and taking plenty of solo turns. They've done this routine before–on the first live Superbass disc–but this one takes the cake; the playing is incredible.

In the early 1970's, Marriner was among the first conductors to record Mozart's early symphonies in stereo, a fairly startling and groundbreaking enterprise for the time. Back then, most people had pretty much disregarded most of the composer's youthful writing in favor of the big later pieces. Marriner showed the world the worth of some of the earlier works. PentaTone Classics unearthed the original master tapes for a number of these Marriner recordings that Philips Records had originally done in the Quadraphonic format but never released that way. PentaTone remastered them in a series of four volumes. This second volume containing the Symphonies 20, 45, 47, 51 in D, and the Symphony 46 in C. Needless to say, Marriner and the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields perform the works with their customary sprightly vigor and refined taste, and the PentaTone engineers remastered the Philips recordings in audio highly reminiscent of how many of us recall Philips discs sounding in the early 70s.

These are fresh, lithe and lean studio performances of old favourites, given by a fine Dutch cellist with an alert conductor-less Bremen chamber orchestra. Most arresting is the Saint-Saëns, freed from the overblown dramatic intensity familiar from performances by some 'big' cello virtuosi. The outer movements, are separated by an archaic 'escaped minuet', to quote Wispelwey's intelligent notes; the finale is an expanded version of the first. Balance is good, the cello a little more forward than it would generally be in concert. Good impressions are maintained in all the other items, the rococo variations light as befits a tribute to Mozart, the Bruch melody soulful and involving.

The Conga Kings are back with their second Chesky Records release to prove that these master congueros have more rhythmic tales to tell. Featuring Candido Camero, Carlos "Patato" Valdes and Giovanni Hidalgo, Jazz Descargas is a spontaneous celebration of modern rhythm and melody, a joyous colloquium of jazz and Afro-Cuban sounds by the likes of Machito, Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente. Historically, musically and conceptually, this rhythmic dream team is creating the genuine article. The Conga Kings are joined on Jazz Descargas by special guests Phil Woods, Mario Rivera, Chocolate and Jimmy Bosch.

David Johansen is a true musical chameleon. Whether fronting the influential punk band the New York Dolls, lounging it up as Buster Poindexter or invoking the blues with the Harry Smiths, he has always demonstrated his unique talent for taking a musical style and making it his own. On David Johansen and the Harry Smiths, David and his first-rate band summon the spirit of the blues through American musicologist/folklorist Harry Smith. Featuring gripping performances of songs by Muddy Waters, Mississippi John Hurt and Bob Dylan, this recording sounds so real you'll think you're in the Delta.