Queen Aid

"In Spring 2019, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, led by John Eliot Gardiner, presented a critically-acclaimed European tour of Handel’s opera 'Semele', including Alexandra Palace Theatre in London, where this live recording took place. Semele had not been performed by John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi ensembles since they originally recorded it in the 1980s and this recording gives listeners the chance to hear a fuller version of the work. A glamorous team of young soloists joins the Monteverdi ensembles to bring the story of Semele to life, including celebrated English soprano Louise Alder, who takes on the title role, with the young tenor Hugo Hymas portraying the amorous Jupiter. "

The Hamburg-based musician Frank Us looks back on a long musical career. He played in a few local bands before turning music into his profession, successfully composing jingles for products and companies. His secret love is and has always been the progressive rock that had the biggest musical influence on him. Frank Us and his friends have created a debut album that delivers an enormous bandwidth and that was clearly inspired by the golden era of progressive rock. Bands like ELP, Genesis, Marillion, UK, Yes, Rush, the early Queen or King Crimson were the influences that cemented Frank's love for this genre…

With the belief that “No opera loses so much as Die Zauberflöte if one strips it of its drama and that means, above all, the spoken dialogue,” René Jacobs’ agenda in Die Zauberflöte is to rehabilitate the reputation of Schikaneder’s libretto. At the heart of his reassesment is the idea that Schikaneder and Mozart’s Masonic message is deeper and more carefully presented than we have thought. He suggests that seemingly silly or inconsistent aspects of the story are put there as intentional false paths as the audience, not only the prince and the bird catcher, undergoes its own trials of initiation. The opera’s symbolism and structure are explained in convincing detail in an essay in the booklet by the Egyptologist and Mozart researcher Jan Assman.

Three CD set. First-ever complete anthology by the 'Beach Baby' harmony pop hitmakers. Featuring both First Class LPs, all singles, pseudonymous releases and numerous previously unreleased tracks including advertising jingles and songs from an aborted 1974 musical. Arguably the ultimate Beach Boys tribute, 'Beach Baby' introduced a new name, The First Class - actually veteran pop hitmaker and songwriter John Carter with the aid of Chas Mills and lead singer Tony Burrows. While other singers and musicians adopted the name to front their music in public, the Carter/Burrows/Mills combination continued to record new First Class material, including a self-titled LP that is quite possibly the finest, most ambitious British harmony pop album of the 70s.

The live show recorded for this DVD showcases Morrissey on his birthday at a homecoming in Manchester, England on May 22, 2004.The set list includes You Are The Quarry selections like 'Irish Blood, English Heart,' 'First Of The Gang To Die' and 'Let Me Kiss You' plus Morrissey classics like 'Every Day Is Like Sunday' and 'Hairdresser On Fire.'
The live performance DVD is directed by Bucky Fukumoto from A-V Club, who also directed Morrissey's three music videos for this album, all of which are included as DVD extras.
Stephen Patrick Morrissey was born May 22, 1959, in Manchester, England; not surprisingly a shy, awkward youth, he became obsessed with music and film as a teenager and devoted his writing talents to penning a New York Dolls fanzine (he was the president of their U.K. fan club), as well as a tribute to James Dean and numerous opinionated letters to the weekly music paper Melody Maker.