Leslie August

One of the progenitors of heavy metal and British prog rock, Deep Purple had several different distinct lineups during the band's run, and there was always a shuffling of personnel, it seems, which makes the overall consistency of Deep Purple's recorded legacy pretty impressive, especially in retrospect. This three-disc set takes a particularly unique approach to the band's history, presenting instead a parallel one, with tracks from various bandmembers' projects in other guises and bands. Serious fans of this iconic band will find these discs fascinating.

Based on a ponderous libretto by Metastasio (who defined his own work as “stellar”) Leonardo Vinci’s dramma per musica was premiered in Venice in 1726 and was triumphantly acclaimed. Since then, Siroe, Re di Persia was put to music by composers such as Vivaldi, Handel, Hasse, and Galuppi, to mention just a few. The story uses some of the elements of the plot of Partenope, almost as if it were a sequel moved to Persia. Siroe’s plot revolves around a family mystery mingled with passions, traitors en travesti, fatherly affection and filial honesty that echoes Shakespeare’s King Lear. Performed in concert version at Teatro San Carlo of Naples in 2018, this rare opera was chosen to open the theatre’s 281st season. Conductor Antonio Florio , specialist of the Neapolitan Baroque repertoire, revised the score.

To celebrate the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Di of England, Oscar Peterson composed a ten-song suite that he performs on this album while accompanied by an unidentified string orchestra arranged by Rick Wilkins. Not too surprisingly Peterson (who doubles here on electric piano) proves to be a talented composer and, even if none of the individual pieces caught on (or was ever apparently recorded again by the pianist), the music on a whole is quite satisfying.

One of the progenitors of heavy metal and British prog rock, Deep Purple had several different distinct lineups during the band's run, and there was always a shuffling of personnel, it seems, which makes the overall consistency of Deep Purple's recorded legacy pretty impressive, especially in retrospect. This three-disc set takes a particularly unique approach to the band's history, presenting instead a parallel one, with tracks from various bandmembers' projects in other guises and bands. Serious fans of this iconic band will find these discs fascinating.

Despite critical acclaim as a performer, the rootsy singer/songwriter T Bone Burnett earned his greatest renown as a producer, helming recording sessions for acts ranging from Roy Orbison and Elvis Costello to Counting Crows and Sam Phillips.

"The greatest songs never grow old, they just get better as a select wine."