One of the prototypical Italian-American crooners, Vic Damone parlayed a smooth, mellow baritone into big-time pop stardom during the '40s and '50s. Early in his career, his inflection and phrasing were clearly indebted to Frank Sinatra, who once famously called him "the best set of pipes in the business." Overall, though, Damone's style was softer than Sinatra's and owed less to the elasticity of jazz, especially since he was a solo performer who never served an apprenticeship with a swing orchestra.
In June this year (2004), Riccardo Chailly stepped down as music director of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, to be succeeded by Mariss Jansons. Chailly's last appearances in Amsterdam exemplified his range as a conductor - there was a new production of Verdi's Don Carlo for Netherlands Opera, running in parallel with performances of Mahler's Ninth Symphony in the orchestra's home at the Concertgebouw itself.
2011 release, the ninth album from the Indian-British musician, producer and composer. Last Days Of Meaning is an eclectic and ambitious record. Conceived by Sawhney as a script before it became an album, and written and recorded in just five months, `Last Days Of Meaning' traces the character of Donald Meaning (played by John Hurt), an embittered old Dickensian man, fearful of immigrants, terrorists and the outside world. He sits in a room raging against childhood memories, society, himself and a small tape recorder sent to him by his ex-wife (the cassette-recorder contains the songs of the album).