Detail 2018

Mario Venzago’s recordings of Bruckner symphonies with the Tapiola Sinfonietta and other chamber orchestras raised eyebrows and furrowed brows. I doubt his Brahms will provoke much if any controversy. It’s now more than two decades since the release of Charles Mackerras’s pioneering set with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra – discs that were clearly labelled ‘in the style of the original Meiningen performances’, presumably to assure buyers that there was historical precedence behind the notion of a smallish orchestra playing the canonical Brahms four.

The only other Seven Reizh album I've heard is 2001's Strinkadenn Ys–one of my five favorite albums from that year. As the band and its composers did so well on that album, there is an attempt to merge and blend the musical traditions of different cultures and ethnicities–here more toward West-East, Celtic and Arabic…

Polish singer and songwriter Basia became prominent during the 1980s, first for her membership in the polished British pop-jazz vocal outfit Matt Bianco, and later as a solo artist. Her first three wildly successful recordings – which sold by the truckload in the U.S. and U.K. – made her something of a household name during the MTV era. Her Brazilian-influenced jazzy soul helped to create a standard of excellence in adult contemporary on par with peers Everything But the Girl, Swing Out Sister, Level 42, and Sade. She all but disappeared after the '90s, but did take part in a reunion with her former band for 2004's acclaimed Matt's Mood. In 2009, she returned to solo recording with It's That Girl Again. The album resonated with longtime fans, but failed to rival the large sales of her earlier outings, perhaps due to a transitioning industry landscape. But everything in pop is cyclical.

One of the fiercer contenders of Finnish Death Metal has been ADRAMELECH, a scorching embodiment of Hell whose heyday was back in the early 90s. The Death Metal scene worldwide had a lot of great acts in the 90s, but Finland is regarded for creating the best quality of 90s Death. ADRAMELECH shared the scene with the likes of such Death Metal greats as ABHORRANCE, AMORPHIS, and CARTILAGE. ADRAMELECH began in 1991 but didn’t release their debut album “Psychostasia” until 1996. Their sophomore album “Pure Blood Doom”, originally released in 1999, has recently been reissued, remastered, and set to deliver the world another helping of infernal suffering…

Since his debut recording on Linn Records of Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique in 2012, and his subsequent releases of Les nuits d'été, La mort de Cléopâtre, L'enfance du Christ, and Roméo et Juliette, Robin Ticciati has demonstrated a strong affinity for the refined sonorities of French music, and his attention to vibrant orchestral colors and transparent textures is especially well-suited to accompanying the human voice. His 2017 album of works by Debussy and Fauré with mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena and the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin reflected his strengths and sensitivity, so this 2018 release with the same artists, featuring works by Maurice Ravel and Henri Duparc, effectively recommends itself to knowledgeable listeners.

Polish singer and songwriter Basia became prominent during the 1980s, first for her membership in the polished British pop-jazz vocal outfit Matt Bianco, and later as a solo artist. Her first three wildly successful recordings – which sold by the truckload in the U.S. and U.K. – made her something of a household name during the MTV era. Her Brazilian-influenced jazzy soul helped to create a standard of excellence in adult contemporary on par with peers Everything But the Girl, Swing Out Sister, Level 42, and Sade. She all but disappeared after the '90s, but did take part in a reunion with her former band for 2004's acclaimed Matt's Mood. In 2009, she returned to solo recording with It's That Girl Again.