This production of Verdi’s ever-popular, melodic opera was filmed in Busseto, near Parma, Italy, close to the composer’s home and birthplace. The story of the opera concerns the plight of Violetta a mid-19th century Parisian courtesan who is dying of consumption. She responds to the ardent love of the young Alfredo but sacrifices him when his father, Giorgio pleads that their love will ruin his daughter’s happiness and his son’s career. Leaving the musicality of the opera to conductor Plácido Domingo, Franco Zeffirelli is here concerned with a natural expression of Verdi’s opera – and Alexander Dumas’ story.

Drummer/composers are a relatively rare breed in jazz, but Aldo Romano is one of the most gifted on the scene. With a baker's dozen musicians (including himself) and thoughtful arrangements by Lionel Belmondo, Romano creates a powerful sound with reeds, brass, and rhythm section, often emphasizing the ensemble more so than than soloists, starting with the lovely bittersweet "Silenzio," which sounds like it could have been written for a film soundtrack. Trumpeter Stefane Belmondo and pianist Eric Legnini are showcased in the driving bossa nova "Pasolini." The elegant, lyrical waltz "For Michel" and the graceful "Touch of a Woman" (the latter with Belmondo on flügelhorn) are also obvious highlights. Romano plays guitar, sings, and co-composed an Italian lyric with Yves Simon for his upbeat "Jazz Messengers." This is yet another rewarding date by Aldo Romano.

Vito Di Modugno is one of the most well-known musician, not only in the national context, especially in contemporary jazz; he is an hammond organ palyer among the most highly regarded internationally. Vito Di Modugno also appeared in the special classification of Down Beat (the most authoritative jazz magazine in the world) among the best performers of this instrument. With "Songs from the soul" Vito Di Modugno best expresses his potential, combining and mixing various sounds and genres, from soul to gospel, from funk to jazz. Together with him some musicians with whom Vito has consolidated over the years collaborative relationships, all of great prestige and national fame (Massimo Manzi, Michele Carrabba, Patrizia Conte, Pietro Condorelli).

Volume 8 of our complete Brahms songs proves the ideal platform for Harriet Burns in her debut album. As usual, Graham Johnson’s scholarly booklet notes are an indispensable companion.

A 7CD collection tracing Nigel Kennedy’s journey from the phenomenal Elgar concerto with Vernon Handley in 1984 through to his ground-breaking Vivaldi Four Seasons with the English Chamber Orchestra in 1989 – the recording which launched him to global super-stardom. “If it wasn’t for a spiky-haired Nigel Kennedy’s 1989 recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons,” the Classic FM radio station told its website’s readers a few years back, “you and I might not be listening to Classic FM today”. The station had launched in 1992 with a mission to bring classical music to a wider public, three years after the runaway success of young violinist Nigel Kennedy’s Vivaldi album had revealed an untapped audience just waiting for the right invitation.

To My Queen is Walt Dickerson's crowning achievement, a perfect balance between his intellectually advanced concepts and deeply felt passion. Dickerson had always displayed a fertile imagination, but there hadn't been much indication that his vision could be as expansive as it was on To My Queen. Never before had he attempted such extended, freely structured performances, which makes the album's consistency and focus all the more impressive. Like the foreground of a canvas, the listener's attention naturally falls on the title cut, a side-long, 17-and-a-half-minute opus (written in tribute to his wife, Elizabeth) that became Dickerson's signature piece. It's deliberate, spare, and tender, with the soloists accompanied by either a gentle swing or the barest hints of support…

The stage name of German actress and musician Senta-Sofia Delliponti, Oonagh (the name is derived from a legendary faerie queen of Celtic origins) specializes in evocative, new age, Celtic-infused, fantasy dance-pop…

Various Artists - Keyboard Wizards Of The Gershwin Era - Volume VI (1922-34) {Pearl GEMMCD 9206 rel 1998}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 153 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 140 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 13 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1922-34, 1998 Pearl | GEMM CD 9206
Classical / Jazz / Traditional Jazz / Pop / Piano

This has to be one of the most brilliant piano collections ever. The whole Keyboard Wizards series is wonderful, but some of the tracks on this disc - notably the duet "Dizzy Fingers" - are jaw-droppingly stunning. As a longtime pianist myself, I can't imagine playing some of these works, and the remastered recordings are a national treasure. I hope the creating company keeps finding and releasing more! Another great audio-engineering feat by this label. Another disc that I have listened to dozens of time. My only suggestion would have been giving Constance Mering billing over Vee Lawnhurst as Constance's playing displays greater technique and artistic range.

Time is the fourth studio album by the Danish heavy metal band Mercyful Fate. It was released on 25 October 1994 by Metal Blade Records. The track "The Mad Arab" is about H. P. Lovecraft's character Abdul Alhazred, the author of the fictional forbidden tome of occult lore The Necronomicon.