Front And Center am Madden

When dissected carefully, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking becomes a fascinating conceptual voyage into the workings of the human psyche. As an abstract peering into the intricate functions of the subconscious, Waters' first solo album involves numerous dream sequences that both figuratively and symbolically unravel his struggle with marriage, fidelity, commitment, and age at the height of a midlife crisis…

When dissected carefully, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking becomes a fascinating conceptual voyage into the workings of the human psyche. As an abstract peering into the intricate functions of the subconscious, Waters' first solo album involves numerous dream sequences that both figuratively and symbolically unravel his struggle with marriage, fidelity, commitment, and age at the height of a midlife crisis.

The release of She’s So Unusual in 1984, catapulted Cyndi Lauper to the top of the charts and established her as a household name. She became the first woman to record four Top 10 singles on a debut album; “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “Time After Time,” “All Through the Night” and “She-Bop.” With her iconic four-octave voice, Cyndi celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Grammy-winning smash debut album with Front and Center. Taped from New York City’s Highline Ballroom, the performance marks the first time Lauper has ever performed the album from start to finish.

Nino Rota (1911-79) is best known for his many film scores. That doesn't mean that he couldn't write great music for other purposes, as this highly interesting program demonstrates. His idiom is conservative harmonically but highly imaginative, full of melody and mood. All three of these pieces have been recorded before. If you don't have them yet, these performances are done with conviction. Bronzi is a good conductor as well as a fine cellist; and his reading of the Concerto for Strings is intense and well balanced ………

Fanfare, Raymond Tuttle, Nov/Dec 2009