William Orbit is a British musician and record producer, best known to the public for producing Madonna's album "Ray of Light", which received four Grammy Awards.
His speciality is atmospheric keyboard electronica although much of his work features accomplished guitar playing.
Like its predecessor, "Pieces in a Modern Style 2" is a collection of classical music "covers": from Puccini to Elgar, Bach to Tchaikovsky. Special Bonus CD: 6 bonus tracks from William Orbit plus 8 remixes by Ferry Corsten, John Digweed & Nick Muir, Jakwob, Timo Maas & Santos, Alex Metric, Rockdaworld.
Poised at the convergence of 18th-century French and Italian schools, Leclair and Senaillé were the French Paganinis of their day. Technically challenging yet full of poetry, rhythmically varied and always dance-like, their sonatas find two fervent advocates in Théotime Langlois de Swarte and William Christie. Transcending generational differences, the “venerated elder statesman of early music” (Opera News) and the youthful violin prodigy join forces to help us rediscover these still unjustly neglected pages.
That William Parker is a bassist, composer and bandleader of extraordinary spirit and imaginative drive is common knowledge among any with an interest in the progressive jazz scene of the past 25 years or more. What’s become increasingly apparent, though, is Parker’s stature as a visionary of sound and song – an artist of melody and poetry who works beyond category, to use the Ellingtonian phrase. The latest multi-disc boxed set from Centering Records/AUM Fidelity devoted to Parker’s expansive creativity underscores his virtually peerless achievement in recent years.
Ida Haendel’s sinewy and athletic reading of the often under-rated Britten combines toughness with a cumulative dramatic impetus which is hard to resist. Berglund and the Bournemouth players respond with a terse and argumentative vigour, suitably balanced between resignation and defiant rhetoric, especially in the closing Passacaglia. The Walton Concerto, also dating from 1938-9, is played with an apposite blend of inscrutable panache, as in the irrepressibly brilliant central movement, and elsewhere, a sensuous, if occasionally over-indulgent languor. Rare lapses in the finale can be safely overlooked, in a performance of eloquence and undisputed stature.
The first collaboration ever between conductor William Christie and director Luc Bondy with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, this production of Hercules has been a major event. Hercules returns from the war with Iole, a princess he fell in love with. Mad with jealousy, Déjanire, his wife, ends up totally insane after poisoning her husband. Half theatrical performance, half secular oratorio, Hercules wasn’t originally meant to be performed in front of an audience. Luc Bondy chose to show the dramatis personae as ordinary people, victims of their passions. The superb Chorus of the Arts Florissants, both mediator and prosecutor, is the main witness of this tragedy of women’s jealousy.
This is the first recording in the complete Monteverdi cycle with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, made possible by a three-year collaboration between Dynamic and Teatro Real. Luigi Pizzi's attractive and original staging is enhanced by the rich colour of 17th century costumes. The musicians - and Christie himself - also perform in costume, with the conductor clad in a flowing red cloak and white ruffed collar. The DVD also features interviews with Christie, Pizzi and the Opera's two protagonists.
William Gray is an ambitious Argentinian project that by this moment counts with 10 stable members. The project is born from the fusion of the soloist project "Living Fossils", recorded by independent musicians from the Academic Orchestra of Teatro Colón, the choir of the Engineering Faculty Choir (UBA) and the Camera 31, Pez, Rockafonica, The Sheppers and the Typical Orchestra El Astillero (Tango). William Gray blends Prog Rock, Classical passages, Tango and certain elements of Argentinean folklore. On stage they act on the format of Rock Opera, enhanced by an audiovisual presentation in which the images dispute the leading role with the actors and telling fantastic stories (Somehow as The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, the few times that worked). They are influenced by Astor Piazzolla, Alberto Ginastera, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Queen, etc, and to be honest, their music is mind-blowing.
It's possible to recreate everything about an eighteenth century opera except the audience,’ says director Robert Carsen in a documentary included with this DVD. ‘My work is for modern audiences.’ And how…In this brilliant production, Carsen goes to the heart of the drama…Michael Levine's stylised, bold designs allow the story to unfold with gripping clarity and, remarkably, some of the spectacular set-pieces (especially the storm in Act III) work even better on DVD than in the theatre itself. Barbara Bonney is vocally and dramatically stunning as Alphise…Conductor William Christie responds to Rameau's varied and colourful score with élan, and Édouard Lock's choreography – a version of classical ballet deconstructed and then pumped with amphetamines – is breathtaking.