Maria Carbone Tradita

cclaimed as one of the greatest interpreters of Mozart, Portuguese pianist Maria-João Pires is an artist who combines exquisite stylistic refinement with a serious effort to plumb the intellectual complexities and spiritual depths of music. Refusing to conform to the traditional image of a concert virtuoso, Pires emphasizes the spiritual dimensions of music, always searching for hidden meanings which may elude the analytical performer. This remarkable reverence toward works of music, clearly manifested in her performances of Mozart, was made explicit by her remark that, as a performer, she acts as a channel for the composer's ideas.

Maria Callas was born to a Greek family in New York in 1923. Her vocal training took place in Athens, where her teacher was the coloratura soprano Elvira de Hidalgo, who had sung with Enrico Caruso and Feodor Chaliapin. After early performances in Greece, Callas’s international career was launched in 1947 when she performed the title role in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda at the Arena di Verona in Italy. Her voice defied simple classification and her artistic range was extraordinary. In her early twenties she sang such heavy dramatic roles as Gioconda, Turandot, Brünnhilde and Isolde, but over the course of her career her most famous roles came to be: Bellini’s Norma and Amina (La sonnambula); Verdi’s Violetta (La traviata); Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and Anna Bolena, Cherubini’s Medea and Puccini’s Tosca. Though her timbre was not always conventionally beautiful, Callas’s musicianship and phrasing were in a class of their own. She brought characters to vivid life with her skill in colouring her tone and making insightful use of the text.

"America's First Lady of Roots Music", Maria Muldaur, returns to her original roots - Jug Band Music! Maria first recorded in the early 60's with both The Even Dozen and The Jim Kweskin Jug Bands. Here she has reunited with several of her former jug band mates and recorded many tunes from the classic jug band era (early 30's), as well as two hilarious newly penned gems by Dan Hicks. Special guests include John Sebastian, David Grisman, Taj Mahal, Dan Hicks, Fritz Richmond and sensational discovery Kit Stovepipe.

On She/Her, South African clarinetist Maria du Toit and Dutch pianist Vera Kooper explore music from around the world, exclusively written by women. The pieces performed here are rarely played, and for about half of them this is the world-premiere recording. Although some of these composers enjoyed popularity during their lifetimes, such as Ivy Priaulx Rainier, with the passage of time, their music vanished into near oblivion. Rainer’s exhilarating and at times meditative Suite is the centre of this album. With compositions ranging from 19th-century France to present day Nigeria, the exploration of this obscure repertoire became a mission – to celebrate and appreciate the music of talented and neglected female composers and bring these wonderful pieces to life again.

"Maria Nazionale - Voce di Napoli Best Of" è un album di raccolta della cantante italiana Maria Nazionale, che include alcune delle sue canzoni più amate. Maria Nazionale è conosciuta per il suo stile unico che unisce la tradizione musicale napoletana con un tocco moderno, accompagnato da una voce potente ed emozionante.