Martins Hero

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music
When the music press announced that Rick WAKEMAN returned to YES in ’76, I was delighted, what a pleasant surprise!

Final volume in the first-ever complete recorded cycle of symphonies by Talivaldis Keninš (1919-2008), one of the most prominent post-WW2 composers in Latvia and Canada. This album includes three of the composer's eight numbered symphonies performed by the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra under Andris Poga. Although born in Latvia, Keninš lived most of his life as an exile. He was educated in Paris, where he studied under Tony Aubin and Olivier Messiaen, and won several awards. Keninš emigrated to Canada in 1951 and became a respected pedagogue and a very influential figure in Canada's music life.

David McVicar's production of Manon takes a more than usually harsh view of the story…Here, everything and everybody is for sale… It is thrilling, sometimes even slightly shocking, and throughout the direction of the cast is faultless: every scene bears re-viewing for the amount of detail and dramatic energy that is released. It is unlikely that Natalie Dessay will ever give a greater performance than this. Her singing of each of the great arias is equally fascinating. The scene in which she and Rolando Villazón size each other up before speaking is exquisitely managed… Villazón makes a passionate hero. I cannot imagine that we will see another Manon to equal this for a long time. (Gramophone)