Marka ne me le Dites Pas

Perhaps the Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 sound was at last beginning to show signs of wear, for not only didn't Ye-Me-Le produce any hits ("Wichita Lineman" reached a lowly number 95), but the album is also less enterprising and fresh-sounding than its predecessors. There is a surprising shortage of Brazilian material, which was always Mendes' most valuable contribution in the long run, and more reliance upon routine covers of pop/rock standards like "Easy to Be Hard" and "What the World Needs Now." But there are special moments, like the hypnotic "Masquerade" (no relation to the Leon Russell/George Benson hit), Sergio Mihanovich's haunting "Some Time Ago," and another winning treatment of a Beatles tune, "Norwegian Wood," where Mendes cuts loose a killer solo on electric piano (believe it or not, the 45 rpm single version features more of that solo than the LP).

Highlights from the screen icon’s music catalogue, featuring a distinctive take on swinging yé-yé and groovy pop-psych, as well as her own Tropezian introspection. The extensive booklet includes exclusive musings from B.B. herself on this brief and brilliant aspect to her career.

Le Poème Harmonique, one of the most important early music ensembles in France, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. For this occasion ALPHA CLASSICS has compiled twenty CDs from the catalogue in an attractively designed box. Award-winning recordings can be heard, some of them with an unusual repertoire from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. For loyal fans and those who want to become fans!

A contemporary of Mozart, Johann Christoph Vogel also died at an early age. Forward looking in approach, this composer of a tormented disposition, sought to extend the operatic revolution undertaken by Gluck in the 1770s. First performed in 1786 at the Opéra de Paris, 'La Toison d’or' reveals that search for an expressive art which demanded an all-embracing involvement from the performers and supplied the music with a sometimes unbearable intensity for audiences of the time.

Après le disque de diamant de l’album Vieillir avec toi composé par Calogero et un détour par Cuba avec Habana, l’album Le présent d’abord est un nouveau virage spectaculaire comme Florent Pagny les aime depuis toujours – « Partir dans de nouvelles aventures, c’est ma spécialité », avoue-t-il. Le présent d’abord mêle les générations et les univers : Florent Pagny a confié la réalisation de son album à Dany Synthé (Sapés comme jamais de Maître Gims, les tubes de MHD, Black M…). Ce mélange de générations et de cultures musicales est le prototype de cet album, pour lequel Florent Pagny chante des titres de Maître Gims, Slimane, Lionel Florence, Nazim (Amir, Claudio Capéo, Kendji Girac, Alma…), Antoine Essertier (Vianney, Daran, June The Girl…) et de toute une génération de jeunes auteurs et compositeurs.

André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry was the greatest French composer of opéra-comique in the eighteenth century. His librettist for Le Magnifique, Jean-Michel Sedaine, took a tale by La Fontaine and fashioned it into a compelling libretto. Grétry responded with an outstanding score, including one of the first programmatic overtures in musical history. His expressive love music, and extended preludes and postludes, add to the theatrical variety of this important and varied opera.