Le pianiste italien Christian Leotta nous revient avec le volume 3 de son intégrale des 32 sonates pour piano de Beethoven. Il a fait de ce corpus une spécialité. Ce CD double contient notamment les sonates pour piano No. 17 en ré mineur op. 31 No. 2 “ La Tempête” et la No. 31 en la bémol majeur op. 110, ainsi que quelques sonates des premiers opus.

Quidam's debut album remains as impressive as it was 10 years ago. Rarely have I heard a progressive rock band made such an impact as Quidam did with their first release. Although the sound of the album is at times slightly metallic the production sounded incredibly professional. This was something to be expected since the producer and mixing engineer of the album were no others than Szadkowski and Palczewski (both of Collage fame and currently active with their new band Satellite).

The second two-disc installment of a projected Beethoven sonata cycle from Christian Leotta offers individualistic interpretations that alternately hit and miss, sometimes within the same work. The “Waldstein” first-movement exposition and recapitulation exude power and polish, yet the development comes off too sectionalized and rounded off for the arpeggiated sequences to generate the dramatic tension we expect. Leotta’s deliberation in the Rondo yields gorgeous, alluringly blurred sonorities at the outset as he observes Beethoven’s long pedal markings, yet the extensive scales and rotary figurations run in place, moving nowhere until the Presto coda: too little, too late.

French Canada's ATMA Classique label tends to favor Canadian artists and specifically those from Québec, but the only connection between Canada and young Italian pianist Christian Leotta is apparently that he appeared in 2002 and perhaps – this is not made clear in the booklet – that he began playing the complete cycle of Beethoven's piano sonatas in that city. He's certainly among the youngest performers to have attempted that feat, and perhaps that mark of ambition is what attracted the label to the project.

Poland can be considered like a second home for current neo Progressive music, along with Italy and the Netherlands. QUIDAM is certainly the main and most appreciated act to have emerged from this field, with ABRAXAS and COLLAGE. Note that female singer Emila DERKOWSKA's vocals and charm add a lot to the whole. As the sophisticated pop-rock melodies of "Sny Aniolow" ("Angels' Dream" for the English-sung version, 1998) contrasted with a first eponymous album (Revelation of the year 1996) extremely appreciated for its instrumental developments, the third opus "The Time Beneath The Sky" (2002) orchestrates a new stylistic change that keeps the characteristical QUIDAM sound.

At age 54, Elliott Murphy has been recording albums of his original compositions regularly for 30 years, and unlike some musicians who have been at it that long (such as Neil Young, whose raucous, Crazy Horse-style guitar playing is echoed on this album's leadoff track and whose After the Gold Rush ballad "Birds" is covered under the title "Bird"), he hasn't changed much about his musical or lyrical approach in that time. The Elliott Murphy of 2003 is not very different from the Elliott Murphy of 1973. He still writes semi-autobiographical songs full of poetic imagery and literary references (The Great Gatsby and Samuel Beckett are favorites), and he still sets them to folk-rock arrangements that call to mind Bob Dylan.

These quartets are Juilliard specialties, and anyone wanting to hear this music played with a near ideal combination of virtuosity and humanity need look no further. Carter's quartets are not for the musically faint of heart: they are uncompromisingly thorny, intricate pieces that require lots of intense, dedicated listening. Very few people doubt their seriousness–or even their claims to musical greatness–but just as few people enjoy listening to them. Perhaps this spectacular set will encourage the adventurous to give them a shot. They're worth the time.

This live American concert in 1992 emerged on cd at about the same time as the Geffen release "The road to you" which was culled from PMG's european concerts in the early 90's. While this current selection may not quite equal that release in the quality of the sound, it is a much better live performance overall. There are a couple of small blips in the performance but this is live and taken from one concert. Raw Metheny but edge of your seat performance.

One of the more imposing figures on modern blues scene, guitarist-singer Magic Slim serves up raw, passionate Chicago-style blues with his band The Teardrops on Scufflin’ (Blind Pig 5036; 40:53). Raucous, good-time romps like “Hole In The Wall,” Jimmy Reed’s “Down In Virginia” and Slim’s shuffle “Just Before You Go” sound like just another Saturday night at Florence’s on the South Side. And Slim imbues each tune with nasty licks from his trusty Fender Jazzmaster. Sloppy but powerfully intense, like the spirits of Albert King and Hound Dog Taylor mingling at a juke joint jam.

This recording of La Sonnambula is notable on a number of fronts. It's the first recording of the opera based on a 2004 critical edition of the score that confirms the leading role was indeed written for a mezzo-soprano, although it has been performed by sopranos for much of its history. (Among the first Aminas were the celebrated mezzos Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibran.) It's also the first recording using period instruments, in this case Orchestra La Scintilla, based at the Basel Opera and conducted by Alessandro de Marchi in an idiomatic and lively reading. And, as the promotional materials trumpet, it's the first recorded collaboration between superstars Cecilia Bartoli and Juan Diego Flórez. Although less hoopla is made of him, the recording also features a superbly lyrical performance by baritone Ildebrando D'Arcangelo.