The Rise And Fall of a Midwest Princess

Bel Air present the hard-hitting new production of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Catalan collective, La Fura dels Baus, from the Teatro Real de Madrid. Composed in the 1930s by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, this is a mordant satire on capitalism in a society in which the ultimate crime is not having money. In 20 scenes the authors tell the story of a city lost in the middle of a desert and run by three thugs; in Mahagonny food, sex, gambling and violence rule supreme.

One year after the III Milenio experience, Brasilian keyboard player Fabio Ribeiro decided to take a step higher in founding Blezqi Zatsaz. This power-trio played deliberately on the same ground as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, showing however a very strong personality and a flawless originality. The omnipresence of keyboards is a major feature of the classically written band's music, which can be compared to that of Solaris and some of the best Japanese combos (Deja Vu, Mugen…). "Rise And Fall Of Passional Sanity" (1991) is a little gem of symphonic Progressive rock.

Amidst rumors a reunion album, The Kinks have announced a 50th anniversary reissue of their seventh studio album, Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire.

Levine’s legacy at the Met will be defined in part by the works he has introduced to its repertory. These include not only Berg’s “Lulu’’ but also Weill’s “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny,’’ that brilliantly synthetic score that seems to distill the musical essence of Weimar Berlin while serving up a scorching social and political critique that still resonates today.

Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht - Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny [English Version]
Measha Brueggergosman - Orquestra Y Coro del Teatro Real Madrid / La Furaq Dels Baus
MPEG-4 AVC, 1080i, 1.78:1 | PCM Stereo, 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, German | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: BelAir classiques # BAC467 | Country/Year: Europe 2011 | Size: 44,30 GB | 5% Recovery Info
Genre: Classical | Style: Opera, Early 20th Century

"…In spite of Brecht’s often heavy-handedness, the opera has plenty of pertinent points to make today. The Blu-ray looks great, even in the many very dark scenes, and the impact of the lossless surround track is excellent. I find that of the three productions, I’ll stick with this one now, and not just because it’s Blu-ray. You may want to keep the English subtitles on the screen to appreciate the details of the lyrics, which are not always discernible. 5 Stars." ~audiophile-audition

The Shadows are usually thought of as the quintessential British instrumental group and, along with the American band the Ventures and the Swedish group the Spotnicks, one of the most popular instrumental groups in the world. But that barely tells the story of their true significance in the history of British rock & roll - including the fact that they were the first homegrown British rock & roll band to dominate the U.K. charts, or that they weren't originally an instrumental group, either.

While Omicron's first album "Acrocosm" was an ambient techno album, similar to other releases of the time (B12'a Electro-Soma, Global Communications 76:14), "The Generation And Motion Of A Pulse" is strictly ambient, with a few beats scattered here and there, (Think SETI, only more restrained). This is an album best enjoyed in full, with the lights low.