If not at the beginning of the opera, then surely with the well-known prisoner chorus “O welche Wonne!” everybody will recognise the outstanding quality of this Fidelio. Leonore’s “Töt erst sein Weib!”, sung by the soprano Anja Silja, is only one out of many deep emotional moments of this studio production of the Hamburg State Opera, recorded in 1968 under the artistic direction by Rolf Liebermann. This very natural set and unostentatious production goes without any wrong pathos and lives through its simple beauty, strong emotions and great musical moments. A reunion with great opera stars: Anja Silja as Leonore, Lucia Popp as Marzelline, Richard Cassilly as Florestan, Hans Sotin as Don Fernando und Theo Adam as Don Pizarro.

Swiss art rock band Rumpelstilz was founded in 1971 by Hanery Amman (piano) and Polo Hofer (vocals, lyrics), along with Jürg Werren (guitars), Sami Jungen (bass) and Hans Jungen (drums). Hans Jungen was replaced soon after its founding by Küre Güdel, and half a year later René "Schifer" Schafer replaced Jürg Werren. The first single Warehuus Blues (Swiss German, meaning "department store blues") was released in 1973 and was less successful, and in 1975 the first LP Vogelfuetter (meaning "bird seed") was released. The band's performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1975 opened the band's sound to a wider audience. The song Teddy marked the commercial breakthrough in 1976, and shortly afterwards Kiosk became their greatest hit.

After Speak of the Devil, Tribute, Just Say Ozzy, Live & Loud, the Ozzfest collections, and both Osbourne-fronted Black Sabbath live discs, one would think that Ozzy had exhausted his concert-album appeal. But due to the success of his reality TV show, Osbourne once again decided it was time for another live album. Although Osbourne's live performances were still rock-solid during the recording of this tour, Live at Budokan seems mighty excessive…

Italy's foremost female rock singer, Gianna Nannini, was born in Siena on June 14, 1956, to a family that included a renowned industrialist and Siena Football Club president father and a Formula One pilot brother. Often described as the creative rebel in the family, Nannini attended the Lucca Conservatory throughout her entire adolescence, where she was trained as a pianist. At age 19, she decided to become a professional musician, and left her home for Milan, where she began to perform in local bars and small venues…

Nearly everyone in the world can rattle off the great African-American musical forms. Jazz, blues, R&B, soul, hip-hop, house, gospel. One influential genre is always left off of the list: a folk music known as rock n’ roll. Rock n’ roll was a term originally coined to market the white-friendly version of a genre that already existed; prior to 1965, the line between rock n’ roll and R&B was thin: Ike Turner recorded and released “Rocket ‘88’ ” in 1951 and, while its Chess Records release reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart, it is regarded by many as the first rock n’ roll record.

Esoteric Recordings releases of a newly remastered 5CD clamshell boxed set comprising the two original ‘Archive Collection’ albums by celebrated composer and Genesis founder member Anthony Phillips. Aside from his work as a solo artist, Anthony has been a composer of music for television for many years, going back as far as 1976 and those compositions form the backbone of these collections.

Akiko Suwanai releases Bach’s Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin on Universal Music Japan, 25 years since releasing her first disc and the first recording to be made on her ​‘Charles Reade’ Guarneri del Gesu violin, generously loaned to her by Japanese-American collector and philanthropist, Dr. Ryuji Ueno. Recorded at the White Church in Baarn in the Netherlands the album will be available for worldwide digital release on 19 January.

Nat King Cole: This is a three-DVD compilation of the previously released Nat King Cole DVDs featuring full-length performances from film and television: Nat King Cole: Unforgettable, Nat King Cole: Encore, Nat King Cole: Stardust Memories. Songs include such classics as "Mona Lisa," "When I Fall in Love," "Route 66," and - of course - "Unforgettable."…

On the occasion of the 85th birthday of Arvo Pärt (September 2020) and the 75th anniversary of the Bavarian Radio Chorus (May 2021). The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, born in 1935, has succeeded in bringing sacred music back to a broader audience, and away from the confines of the church service, more than almost any other contemporary composer. The meditative character of his works, and his return to the simplest and most basic musical forms, convey moments of intense spirituality. Before his emigration from the Soviet Union, Pärt had already invented what he termed the tintinnabuli style of composition (from the Latin word for a bell). He produced an early and important example of this expressive style in 1977 with his “Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten”, scored for string orchestra and bell.

First time on CD for this 1973 album from Cross Country, formed by three members of the Tokens-Jay Siegel along with brothers Mitch and Phil Margo. The group released one self-titled album on the Atco Records label featuring a top 40 cover of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour".