Midpoint Keys

In his Opus 300 Carl Czerny compiled a unique keyboard compendium of all the stylistic facets of European music from the Baroque until far into the Romantic era – an audio history of music en miniature featuring preludes as our guides and an overwhelming variety of characters, forms, and pianistic invention. The 120 finely chiseled preludes range from the aphoristic extreme of ten to twenty seconds in length to the just as aphoristically packed narrative and rhapsodic forms of a maximum of three to four minutes. Their numerical midpoint is formed by sixteen very short interludes that are brilliant examples of modulations, each proceeding from C major to all the other major keys. Like most of the preludes from No. 60 to No. 71, they represent variants of this art form originally distinguished by improvisation: as interludes they build audio bridges from one (imaginary) work to the next and link what would appear to be beyond linking. The work of course is interpreted in its entirety on two CDs – by none other than Kolja Lessing, one of the most versatile musicians of our times and a violinist and pianist who combines interpretive and musicological work in his many significant contributions to music culture.

God Is an Astronaut is an Irish post-rock band from the County Wicklow, formed in 2002 by Niels and Torsten Kinsella. Their style employs elements of electronic music, krautrock, and space rock, reminiscent of Tangerine Dream.

Cartoon Animator 4 (formerly known as CrazyTalk Animator) is a 2D animation software designed for both ability of entry and productivity. You can turn images to animated characters, control characters with your expressions, generate lipsync animation from audio, accomplish 3d parallax scenes, produce 2D visual effects, access content resources, and wield a comprehensive photoshop pipeline to rapidly customize characters and create content.

Marko Hietala doesn’t need much of an introduction. Active in the Finnish metal scene since 1982 and in the international scene since 2001, his distinctive singing voice, expansive songwriting, and “we don’t need a second guitarist because I have this thing” approach to playing bass set him apart from a great many musicians. Since departing Nightwish in 2021, he’s reconnected with several past projects, from Raskasta Joulua to Northern Kings to Tarot—and then back to his own solo work. Roses from the Deep marks Hietala’s return to his own songwriting, following 2019’s Mustan sydämen rovio. Joined by Tuomas Wäinölä (guitars, Kotipelto), Anssi Nykänen (drums), and Vili Ollila (keys, Northern Kings and Raskasta Joulua), Hietala’s sophomore solo comes with a whole lot of talent… and very high expectations too.

CrazyTalk Animator (CTA) brought the power of 2D face creation and facial animation from CrazyTalk to a full body 2D character with scenes, props, cameras and a stage to bring it all to life. Now CrazyTalk Animator is growing again and this next version is evolving the power into a robust 2D animation studio that deserves its own unique brand.

Cartoon Animator 4 (formerly known as CrazyTalk Animator) is a 2D animation software designed for both ability of entry and productivity. You can turn images to animated characters, control characters with your expressions, generate lipsync animation from audio, accomplish 3d parallax scenes, produce 2D visual effects, access content resources, and wield a comprehensive photoshop pipeline to rapidly customize characters and create content.

Cartoon Animator 4 (formerly known as CrazyTalk Animator) is a 2D animation software designed for both ability of entry and productivity. You can turn images to animated characters, control characters with your expressions, generate lipsync animation from audio, accomplish 3d parallax scenes, produce 2D visual effects, access content resources, and wield a comprehensive photoshop pipeline to rapidly customize characters and create content.