The overwhelming success of the Prague performance of Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) in December 1786, led to the commissioning of a new opera. Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte turned to the Don Juan theme, making this promising material the basis for their new opera. In the spring of 1787 Mozart began to compose it in Vienna, and was able to complete it in Prague by the autumn of the same year. Don Giovanni received its first performance, under the composer’s personal direction, on 20 October 1787 at Prague’s Count Nostitz National Theatre.

Chailly has radically rethought his approach to these works, re-examining the scores and returning to the recorded interpretations of a generation of conductors alive during Brahms lifetime, principally Felix Weingartner and one of his Gewandhaus predecessors Bruno Walter.

The Borodin Quartet plays the music of its namesake as to the manner born. Theirs is a beautiful, lush realization of this lyrical work, polished and full of nuance, and well-served by the 1980 analog recording. The coupling with Borodin's First Quartet is especially attractive.

The soaring spirit of Blue Note Records – served up here with a really special twist to fit the mode of the Free Soul series! The package is overflowing with goodness – four hours' worth of listening, with a special focus on two periods of the label – that great late 60s/early 70s stretch when they were trying out so many new ideas and rhythms, including elements borrowed from soul, Latin, fusion, and Brazilian modes – and the more recent stretch that has seen Blue Note re-emerge as one of the most forward-thinking labels in jazz!

My Morning Jacket will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their sophomore studio album, At Dawn, by issuing an expanded version of the LP.

Known both as a first-call sideman/session musician and a top-shelf film composer with credits including “Superbad,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” prolific guitarist Lyle Workman will release “Uncommon Measures,” his first solo album in a more than a decade, on February 19, 2021, via Blue Canoe Records.

Tales Along This Road is the third studio album by the Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani. It was released on 21 April 2006 by Napalm Records.

WIZARD present their new studio album „Metal In My Head“, the first one with the band’s new guitarist Tommy Hartung (No Inner Limits)! The band went back to their roots in terms of the songwriting and deliver pure fucking heavy metal galore. WIZARD teamed up with their old friend and producer Martin Buchwalter (Tankard, Destruction, etc.), who also mixed and mastered the album. When it came to the drum recordings, you will hear the real stuff, no software was used to artificially spice up the drum sound. The cover artwork was created by Jens Reinhold, who is also responsible for the front cover of WIZARD’s „Trail Of Death“ album. „Metal In My Head“ includes a song entitled „Whirlewolf“, which is dedicated to Martjo Brongers (Vortex, Steel Shock) who passed away unexpectedly in 2019, and is sorely missed.

Boasting incredible sound quality and an impressive track listing, 1947, Vol. 3 is a wonderful collection of some of Nat King Cole's finest recordings from the late '40s. Despite his amazing piano playing, Cole's charming voice is the real star of this album. His smooth croon makes overplayed standards like "Dream a Little Dream of Me" feel fresh again. With minimal accompaniment and only one self-penned track (the humorous piano showcase "The Geek"), the arrangements had a lot of potential for failure. But instead these are some excellent renditions of songs that have mostly fallen out of the American public's interest. Anyone looking for a quality collection of Cole's performances, or even a good collection of classic vocal jazz, should definitely try to give this album a listen, as it really is quite good.

Mediterranea only released an LP in 1981, which nowadays is particularly rare and sought after by foreign collectors. Coming from Caserta, this trio was formed in 1978 and led by guitarist Fausto Mesolella before his huge success until nowadays with the well-known band Avion Travel. Together with him where Pasquale Ziccardi (later on bass player for the legendary NCCP) and Agostino Santoro on drums. The album is really great and contains 9 all-instrumental tracks, but being released in a period where progrock was not fashionable at all. Nevertheless it was noticed by a Japanese label that printed it in the land of the rising sun, but with a totally different cover…

Nuclear Blast will release on Blu-ray Michael Schenker Group's new album, Immortal, on Blu-ray/CD and Blu-ray/CD Earbook. The two releases will be available for purchase on January 29.
Label description: MSG is a legendary name. After two phenomenal records under the guise of Michael Schenker Fest, a true guitar hero is returning to his roots. By forming Michael Schenker Group (MSG) back in 1979, Michael Schenker laid the foundations for one of hard rock's most glorious solo careers of all times. And while nobody expected anything less from a former guitarist for Scorpions and UFO, it's close to impossible mentioning everything Michael has built over the past 50 years, or the countless people he influenced or played with. This, truly, is the stuff that hard rocking myths are made of.