White Eyebrow

The cast in this performance, recorded live on November 18, 2004, is as excellent as the names would indicate: Patrizia Ciofi, Roberto Saccà and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
Hvorostovsky, who has been singing Germont since 2002, continues to surpass himself in this role every time one hears him. Though difficult to imagine Hvorostovsky as an elder man, he nonetheless gives credence to the role of Germont through his straightforward, yet elegant style of singing and acting. Hvorostvsky’s subtle coloring of his voice, his innate sense of drama and musicianship give him the edge over any other baritone available–be he younger or older. In Act II, when Germont confronts Violetta, Hvorostovsky is vocally stern without being offensive to his son’s mistress, and later in the scene when Germont lets his guard down, the singer is able to project a comforting fatherly image to the woman who is “the ruin” of Alfredo and his family… Daniel Pardo

Greg Osby's outings for Blue Note are always challenging, always extending one boundary or another in his own idiosyncratic jazz iconography that uses elements of the historical tradition, the mainstream, and the avant-garde> in forging that signature. Public was recorded in January, 2004 at New York's Jazz Standard. Osby was playing in support of 2003's excellent St. Louis Shoes album. That band - trumpeter Osby on alto, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, bassist Robert Hurst, and drummer Rodney Green - all make this gig. The only change is the replacement of pianist Harold O'Neil with Japanese prodigy Megumi Yonezawa…

It took 53 years, but now, at last, The Beatles’ final public performance can be heard – with all the songs complete and uninterrupted. True, a split-screen sequence of the remarkable event on January 30, 1969, was the climax of Peter Jackson’s epic Get Back trilogy. But the film’s fascinating cutaways to the drama unfolding at ground level meant the music on the roof was not always in the foreground. Finally, a new mix by Giles Martin and Sam Okell presents virtually every second from the two reels of tape containing the rooftop session. Listening to this historic audio is a thrilling experience. Although no one knew at the time, this was The Beatles’ last gig. But it’s a perfect live finale – original, humorous and unprecedented: elements that are forever associated with The Beatles.