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.

Legend would have it that Rock'N'Roll was born in Memphis in 1954 when a young truck-driver by the name Elvis Presley opted to sing "Black Blues" his way. A legend that drastically over-simplifies reality, however, for the roots of Rock'N'Roll are already to be found in the early recordings of Blues, Jazz and Country music of the mid-1920. This collection, created by Gérard Herzhaft, shows that the Rock 'n' Roll was not born with Bill Haley and Elvis Presley but before, the fusion of Rhythm and Blues, Western Swing, Country, Gospel - or the whole of popular music from the early twentieth century. This collection has become indispensable, because the history of interbreeding reveals the crystallization and the formation of gender identity as the history of amplified music…

Throughout the 80s a smooth dancefloor friendly genre developed that saw beats slowing down and basslines being cranked up. Hit after hit saw clubs up and down the country packed out as Jocelyn Brown, Mantronix, Maze, Simply Red, Mica Paris, Loose Ends, Soul II Soul, Neneh Cherry and many more produced classic after classic, many of them on this fantastic compilation. It was one of the most funky and feel-good periods of club music, supported by the rise of the music video and the birth of MTV which broadened musical styles and tastes and brought club soul to the mainstream. This soulful side to the 80s was heavily influenced by American soul artists of the time such as Luther Vandross, Alexander O’Neal, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Chaka Khan as well as the new rap stars like Grandmaster Flash and Eric B and Rakim. Even Debbie Harry joined in with a rap on the acclaimed Rapture.

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.

Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra bring us a remarkable performance of select masterpieces from Tchaikovsky, including the well-known 1812 Overture, complete with live cannon recordings.