The Walls Have Ears

“Italians say that someone who acquires a new language ‘possesses’ it. In my case, Italian possesses me. With Italian racing like blood through my veins, I do indeed see with different eyes, hear with different ears, and drink in the world with all my senses…”

This video of Beethoven’s Fidelio was taped over four nights at the end of October, 2006 at the then year-old Palau de las Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. The production inaugurated the opera house’s first official season, and a cast of international opera stars was called upon to take part under Zubin Mehta’s leadership in an evocative production by Pierluigi Pier’Alli… Mattila/Levine (DG)

Of all the traditional Japanese metal bands out there, it must be Anthem who best represent what I love about that country's take on the genre. This is a band who have never flinched in the face of trends, never given a goddamn about the changing times and the onslaught of newer, more extreme strains of the art, and continued to produce good album after good album of old school, NWOBHM-derived riffing, powerful vocals and killer guitar solos…