Messiah of Stockholm

Handel's Messiah is increasingly performed in authentic Baroque style and with period techniques, and this version by conductor Anders Öhrwall, the Stockholm Bach Choir, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra falls in line with the trend. While there is no clear indication that the instruments are anything but modern, the orchestral sound is imbued with a glossy string sound and transparent textures supported by a basso continuo that includes both harpsichord and organ, and the choir's scaled-down size gives it the transparency associated with Baroque choral singing.

The 30th anniversary of Metallica’s Master of Puppets came and went last year without much fanfare from the band. Now, the heavy metal giants are finally ready to celebrate their landmark third album with the deluxe boxset it deserves.

Metallica - Master Of Puppets (2017) {3CD Blackened Recordings Remastered & Expanded Edition BLCKND005R-3 rec 1986}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.31 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 484 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 300 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1986, 2017 Blackened Recordings | BLCKND005R-3
Metal / Heavy Metal / Thrash Metal

Even though Master of Puppets didn't take as gigantic a leap forward as Ride the Lightning, it was the band's greatest achievement, hailed as a masterpiece by critics far outside heavy metal's core audience. It was also a substantial hit, reaching the Top 30 and selling three million copies despite absolutely nonexistent airplay. Instead of a radical reinvention, Master of Puppets is a refinement of past innovations. In fact, it's possible to compare Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets song for song and note striking similarities between corresponding track positions on each record (although Lightning's closing instrumental has been bumped up to next-to-last in Master's running order). That hint of conservatism is really the only conceivable flaw here.

Acclaimed for her “superior vocal value” (Boston Globe), Soprano Hein Jung has performed in major cities throughout the US and Korea. These venues include Opera Tampa, Tanglewood Music Festival, San Francisco Opera Merola Program, Milwaukee Symphony, Madison Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, Bel Canto Chorus, Tampa Oratorios Singers.

This imaginatively-curated, generously-filled Christmas package is sure to find favor during this and future holiday seasons. Why? Because it packs in every conceivable carol, tune, choral work or song in timeless performances from the greatest artists in the world: singers of immense communicative gifts including Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming and Luciano Pavarotti to name but four. It truly offers something of every Christmas mind, spirit, and looks fantastic.

This collection brings together the full contents of the three former boxes, with the addition of a further 60pp booklet of newly unearthed, or commissioned, band commentaries, pictures and other documents prepared specifically for this release - as well as re-mastered versions of all the studio CDs and the rare bonus CD (Cabinet of Curiosities), which came with the subscription edition of the original boxed set. Subscribers only will also receive an extra numbered edition subscription CD of more newly recovered, discovered and previously unreleased recordings.

Performed across two nights at the Royal Dramaten Theatre in Stockholm in March of 2017, Who By Fire is a theatrical staging of Leonard Cohen’s songs, poems and letters. Conceived and anchored by First Aid Kit, the band are joined by an array of guest artists, two actors, an 8 member band and strings and on two songs a 20 strong choir. An incredibly ambitious undertaking, they selected and sequenced all of the material performed and collaborated with the theatre and their music director to stage and orchestrate the show.