Fossilium Catalogus i Animalia 98

98 Degrees - The Collection (2002)
2002 | MP3 VBR V0 244kbps avg | 300 dpi scans | 55:30 min | 97,73MB
Pop, R&B | Label: Universal Records

98 Degrees' smooth, sanitized soul and lush, precise harmonies are more akin to Boyz II Men than the Backstreet Boys. Which is not to say that they attract a different audience than their boy-band brethren; their simplistic but addictive songs of love and heartbreak seem torn from the pages of a Harlequin romance. The 13 songs on this best-of are culled from their 4 albums (including "This Gift" from their Christmas collection), and they rely heavily on lead vocalist Nick Lachey's breathy vocals, well-crafted melodies, and sparse production, but why tinker with a winning formula? These very songs have racked up nearly $10 million in sales for the band. What they lack in imagination, they make up for in guest appearances. Mariah Carey not only loaned them "Thank God I Found You," the song she penned with Terry Lewis, but her voice pushes the romantic ballad to stunning heights. The band also gets a boost when label mate Stevie Wonder takes a verse of "True to Your Heart." His seemingly effortless vocals and trademark harmonica transform the beat-heavy tune into an old-school classic. –Jaan Uhelszki

Like many Catalan musicians of his time, Antonio Soler received initial training as a chorister before his excellence as an organist ensured high appointment at the Escorial, Spain’s royal palace. Here he absorbed the influence of Domenico Scarlatti, and the keyboard sonatas Soler composed remain his most lasting contribution to musical history. The three sonatas in this volume reflect his awareness of trends in Viennese music and are notable for their vivid pastoral elements, refined delicacy and sizzling virtuosic demands.

When deciding on the repertoire for his début recital, James Newby’s first choice fell on An die ferne Geliebte, songs that he had been performing ever since the beginning of his career. But Beethoven’s song cycle – and perhaps even more so the quasi-operatic Adelaide – also sets a tone for the entire programme, that of longing and of wanting to be elsewhere, near the distant beloved. These are emotions that Schubert, perhaps more than any other composer, has plumbed in depth, and Newby went on to select five of his songs that in various ways depict the restlessness and loneliness of the eternal wanderer.

Paavo Järvi and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (DKAM), who have won worldwide acclaim, including the 2023 Gramophone Magazine "Orchestra of the Year" and the 2024 German Classic Echo Award, have released the second installment of "Haydn: London Symphonies," featuring four of the composer's most mature masterpieces, including No. 94, known as "Surprise."

Roderick Williams writes: “Although only twelve years separate the composition of Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte and Schubert’s Schwanengesang, the ethos and sound world of the two works are markedly different. Pairing them on the concert platform seemed an obvious choice on one hand, but I was reminded not to try to perform Beethoven in the way I perform Schubert. For one thing, the former still has the ring of the late classical, while the latter explores the darkness of the early romantic. For this reason, we decided to record the two works in slightly different soundscapes. In An die ferne Geliebte, the inventiveness of Beethoven is best expressed in the piano writing, while the vocal part is deliberately simple, strophic (the music is repeated for each stanza), and folk-like. …the sixth song states that these songs are offered ‘ohne Kunstgepräng’…"