Stepmother is Lukas Simonis (Dull Schicksal, VRIL, Coolhaven …), Jeroen Visser (Kazanchis, morFrom …), Bill Gilonis (The Work, The Hat Shoes, Hail …) and David Kerman (5UUs, Present, Thinking Plague, Aranis …). Anglo-American-Dutch post-punk prog rock and experimental soundscapes with a dash of Monty Python thrown in. A reunion of an 80s band that never existed (but should have): twangy guitars, nifty keyboards, zany drumming, vocal histrionics à la The Rutles (well, sort of), lop-sided rhythms, regurgitated spam lyrics.

Transience started as a side project for Lands End keyboardist Fred Hunter, and was almost considered Lands End itself following the recording of Natural Selection. All members of Lands End contributed to Sliding; still, this is not a Lands End album – one would be tempted to say it's better than that. Each song relates to a particular U.S. landmark, from Captiva Island, FL, to Maui. The music belongs to the light neo-prog genre and is keyboard-driven, as could be expected. These atmospheric songs slowly surround the listener by evoking the corresponding landmark. Very laid-back, they remain tighter and more focused than typical Lands End material.

The Far Side is from Rome, Italy and had one album released in 2002: 'Parallelebiped'. Before in the 80's and 90's the guitarist, vocalist and keyboardist Simone Montrucchio and drummer David Guidoni had played together in Invisible Sun alongside with bassist Emanuele Fasanelli. They changed their name to Crystal Gaze when the lead guitarist Lorenzo Fasanelli joined the band. They played around Rome some covers with their own original material when they stopped in 1995. In 1998, they reunite as a trio and with the name The Far Side. The music is influenced by Rush, Enchant and Fates Warning and contains some slower and symphonic songs with piano and synthesizers and some heavier and faster tempo kind of songs were guitars are dominant.

This lively production originated at Baden Baden in 2003 and moved to the Aix-en-Provence Festival the following year. Marc Minkowski is the moving spirit of the performance and “moving” is the right epithet, as most of his speeds are on the fast side. No harm in that when the work is so lengthy. He assembled a fine young cast, all of whom are up to their taxing parts, headed by Malin Hartelius as Konstanze, who is at once a visually attractive performer, absolutely tireless in her three arias, and at the same time projects a very moving portrayal. She is partnered by a promising young tenor in Matthias Klink as Belmonte. He is deprived of one of his arias but sings the rest with fluency and makes an eager young lover. Magali Léger is a bright-buttoned Blonde with voice to match, and her Pedrillo, Loïc Felix, is a suitable partner.

Johann Christoph Pezel was born in what is now Poland, but spent much of his career in Leipzig, Germany, occupying various positions within the city's musical hierarchy. Pezel's Opus Musicum Sonatarum was published in Frankfurt in 1686, and he dedicated it to the councils of the “Hexapolis,” the six principal cities of Upper Lusatia (Bautzen, Gorlitz, Lauban, Kamenz, Lobau, and Zittau). Opus Musicum Sonatarum is a collection of twenty-five sonatas for two violins, three violas, bassoon or violone, and basso continuo.

The Munich Philharmonic and Sergiu Celibidache share an exceptional legacy. He started his work as principal conductor in 1979 and remained in this position for as long as 17 years. Sergiu Celibidache played an integral part in making the Munich Philharmonic what it is today: an orchestra of worldwide renown.

After experiencing two devastating miscarriages in 2021, I subsequently felt a profound need to channel grief into something constructive. Whilst a collection of traditional Christmas carols might not seem an obvious musical choice for a personal journey through loss, I have always taken comfort in the warmth, feelings of nostalgia, and hope that festive music inspires. Arranging these carols for solo harp has been a healing experience for me as an artist, and I hope that the Christmas message shines through in each arrangement. Arranging often feels like an easier option than composing from scratch as there isn’t the pressure to formulate an original idea.

For the last eight years, Cappella Nova has been singing liturgical music of the Renaissance and the late Middle Ages for New York audiences. Sunday evening at St. Joseph's church in Greenwich Village the 19-member group and its director, Richard Taruskin, gave their last concert for a while. Cappella Nova is taking a year off and is scheduled to reassemble in the fall of 1984.