Theme Time Radio

Once, computer game music was a cute joke. In 1984, it became art. The Commodore 64 home computer was the first to contain a full analog synthesizer. A new generation of composers started their musical careers, and computer music was changed forever. "Back In Time" is dedicated to Commodore heroes past and present: Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway, Ben Daglish, Fred Gray, Tim Follin, Jeroen Tel, David Whittaker, Jonathan Dunn, Charles Deenen, Chris Huelsberg, Bogg, Ratt, Jackal… they made C64 more than a computer: they made it an experience. These CDs are for those who support the rebirth of a computer that surpassed the relatively lowly level of its technology: the rebirth of a computer that never died.

Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings has released, on 22 hybrid SACDs, its Wilhelm Furtwängler edition, the first complete collection of all the surviving radio broadcast recordings of the Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Furtwängler during the period 1939 to 1945. From a total of 21 concerts, most complete and some in part, these recordings were originally produced by the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG) and are the first high resolution digital transfers from original monaural analogue sources.

This Naxos CD was released in 1998 and features 1995 recordings of Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 4 with the considerable bonus of the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43. As is often the case with Naxos orchestral recordings of this vintage, the sound is a little distant but opens up to reveal more than adequate engineering at higher volume levels.

Anton Rubinstein was a towering figure of Russian musical life, and one of the 19th century’s most charismatic musical figures. Rivalled at the keyboard only by Liszt, he was near the last in a line of pianist-composers that climaxed with Liszt, Busoni, and Rachmaninov. Like them, Rubinstein’s reputation as a composer in his day was more controversial than his reputation as a performer. But unlike them, his vast compositional output, much of it containing music of beauty and originality, still remains relatively unexplored territory. Rubinstein was one of the most prolific composers of the 19th century, with a catalogue of works ranging from several hundred solo piano compositions, to concertos, symphonies, chamber music, operas, choral works, and songs.

Celebration of the mid-60s Swinging London scene at its brash, colourful zenith. A cornucopia of club-friendly mod R&B/soul, era-defining pop hits and cult TV/film themes as England swung like a pendulum do.