Gnther Wand Boxset cd 2017

This gigantic 33 CD boxset features Wand's stunning recordings with renowned orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and NDR-Sinfonieorchester. This edition contains magnificent recordings personally authorized by Wand himself, such as Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and Schubert symphonies.

Michel Legrand's abundantly lyrical soundtrack to Jacques Demy's 1964 movie musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg faithfully evokes the film's predominant theme of young love foiled by adult reality. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg's overriding melancholia finds a voice in two main melodic motifs Legrand uses throughout the soundtrack, the first from the Legrand jazz standard "Watch What Happens" and the second from his song "I Will Wait for You." Legrand's considerable arranging abilities are on display here as he works the recurring themes through a variety of settings: tragic duets cloaked in dramatic string passages, broken-down cabaret soliloquies, and even a tango piece à la Astor Piazzolla. A prevalent jazz waltz theme also seesaws its way through the score, providing a break from the gloom. As with his later Demy soundtrack, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Legrand does integrate jazz into the mix, but not in such pervasive fashion; occasional big-band outbursts and light jazz backgrounds ultimately take a back seat to Legrand's preferred chanson mode. Combining Debussy's opaque melodies and Richard Rodgers song economy, he transforms the whimsical French song of Piaf and Trenet into petite arias. For Legrand it comes down to the song, and there are plenty of good ones on The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

n the summer of 2016, guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck celebrated fifty years of his musical career with an extraordinary concert at the famous Hollywood Bowl. Beck set the stage ablaze with incredible live versions of "For Your Love", "Beck's Bolero", "'Cause We've Ended As Lovers", "Big Block", "Over Under Sideways Down", "A Day In The Life", "Blue Wind", and more. The night also featured guest appearances by a legendary list of special guests, including Steven Tyler (AEROSMITH), Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ TOP), Jan Hammer, Beth Hart, Jimmy Hall and the great Buddy Guy.