Nesles Blanche

Ten years of Revue Blanche. That’s ten years of making music together. Of exploring, brainstorming and challenging themselves, finding other soulmates and meeting audiences across the world. Ten years, too, of sharing laughter and tears, having each other’s back, looking for balance, defining – and redefining – who they are. But most of all, it’s ten years of friendship.

CeeLo Green has never made a bad album, and isn’t about to change his ways with Heart Blanche, which overflows with positive energy. The key track is “Est. 1980s”, a euphoric celebration of his musical influences, set to the kind of flanged guitar groove popular in an era when “Michael Jackson was king, Aaron Neville was God, and Run DMC looked just like me”. The period influence is confirmed by the sampled Taxi theme used for “Sign of the Times”, and by the departed comics (Belushi, Pryor, Williams) eulogised in “Robin Williams”, his tribute to the late comedian. Elsewhere, “Mother May I” suggests the teenage CeeLo straining at the parental leash, while “Music to My Soul” offers uplift to those “living in darkness”. The standard dips slightly in the later stages, but the grooves throughout are sleek and snappy, and CeeLo himself has rarely sounded better.

Sixun is French jazz-rock and fusion band founded in 1984, who celebrated worldwide a variety of performances over 14 years. The band name is derived from "six" (fr: six): together, and "un" (one fr). This refers to the six band members from around the world, playing as a band together. The main cast (Paco Sery (drums, percussion), Jean-Pierre Como (keyboard), Alain Debiossat (saxophone), Louis Winsberg (guitar) and Michel Alibo (Bass) remained over the years unchanged, but the percussionist changed steadily. Nuit Blanche is their debut album.

This set features the complete known recordings of French mezzo-soprano Blanche Marchesi (1863–1940), the daughter and pupil of legendary vocal instructor Mathilde (née Graumann) Marchesi (1821–1913). Mathilde was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and after a short, unsuccessful career as a performer, she transitioned to teaching voice in 1849, and never looked back. Her teaching career took her from Cologne to Vienna, and ultimately to Paris, where in 1881 she established her own school and enjoyed a long and illustrious career as vocal instructor to many of the greatest singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of her most famous pupils include Nellie Melba, Emma Calvé, Frances Alda, Selma Kurz, and Emma Eames. In addition to the complete Blanche Marchesi, this two-CD set features other rare recordings of pupils of Mathilde Marchesi, most being released here for the first time. Included are performances by American sopranos Elizabeth Parkina, Esther Palliser, and Frances Saville, Australian contralto Ada Crossley, and American lyric coloratura soprano Suzanne Adams.

This set features the complete known recordings of French mezzo-soprano Blanche Marchesi (1863–1940), the daughter and pupil of legendary vocal instructor Mathilde (née Graumann) Marchesi (1821–1913). Mathilde was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and after a short, unsuccessful career as a performer, she transitioned to teaching voice in 1849, and never looked back. Her teaching career took her from Cologne to Vienna, and ultimately to Paris, where in 1881 she established her own school and enjoyed a long and illustrious career as vocal instructor to many of the greatest singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of her most famous pupils include Nellie Melba, Emma Calvé, Frances Alda, Selma Kurz, and Emma Eames. In addition to the complete Blanche Marchesi, this two-CD set features other rare recordings of pupils of Mathilde Marchesi, most being released here for the first time. Included are performances by American sopranos Elizabeth Parkina, Esther Palliser, and Frances Saville, Australian contralto Ada Crossley, and American lyric coloratura soprano Suzanne Adams.

Although François Couperin (harpsichord) and Antoine Forqueray (Viola da Gamba) often played together in Versailles, they were very different musical personalities. Couperin was regarded as the ideal type of French music with its affective aesthetics. Forqueray on the other hand used the robust, highly virtuoso style of Italy. Together with Pieter-Jan Belder and Sofia Diniz, Rainer Zipperling presents the works of the antipodes, which show their contrasting musical characters.