Donizetti's great tragedy is his undisputed masterpiece of melancholic romanticism, with the doomed love between Lucia and Edgardo retold from Sir Walter Scott's novel The Bride of Lammermoor. The 1992 production heightens the story’s powerful libretto with its dramatic visual design and first class musical performances.

On the penultimate disc in his series of the complete keyboard concertos by C.P.E. Bach, Miklós Spányi completes the set of six concertos (Sei Concerti, Wq 43/1-6) begun on Volume 17. Bach finished working on the set in 1771, but had already advertised its coming publication. In a bid to reach as many potential subscribers as possible, he marketed the works as ‘easy’, and also included optional parts for wind instruments: two horns in all the fast movements, replaced by flutes in the slow movements. Bach’s aim was to make the works appealing to both players and listeners, and the result is a set of highly attractive pieces, with approachable melodies and dance rhythms but also displaying a new freedom with regard to conventional concerto form. With the expert support of the Hungarian period band Concerto Armonico, Miklós Spányi performs the solo parts of Wq 43/5 and 43/6 on a harpsichord, a copy of an instrument from 1745.

Jacques Duphly (1715-1789) was the last of the great French clavecinists, a student of D’Agincourt and a contemporary of Corrette, de Mondonville, Daquin, Dandrieu, Boismortier, and especially François Couperin and Rameau, whose music Du Phly’s high-Baroque / gallant style perhaps most closely resembles. Du Phly early gained an outstanding reputation, with Couperin and Balbastre, as an esteemed teacher. He was cited by Rousseau as “an excellent master of the harpsichord, especially in the perfection of ‘le doigte’ … consisting in general of a soft, light, and regular movement”. P.-L. Daquin, wrote in 1753 that “one discerns a great deal of ‘lightness in his touch,’ and ‘a certain languor,’ which, ‘sustained by ornamentation’ (graces), marvelously renders the characters of his pieces.”

Il existe de nombreux enregistrements de la Première Symphonie de Mahler, mais très peu d'entre eux proposent de découvrir un mouvement que le compositeur retira in fine : “Blumine”. “Après tant d’auditions comparées, il est donc assez rare d’être à ce point captivé dès les premières mesures ! […] Le dosage est tout simplement magistral entre parodie et poésie, entre lyrisme et dérision, entre la “laideur” délibérée des timbres de l’orphéon villageois et l’envoûtante magie sonore des cordes… un chef évidemment possédé par Mahler.

The landmark concert from the 21 LP ‘Progeny’ Box showcases YES with their classic lineup at their peak, right after the release of Close To The Edge. "Classic Live Performance From The Close To The Edge Tour" Record Store Day 2023 exclusive release, according to their website, a quantity of 6000 copies.

Since their 2012 debut, Protomartyr have mastered the art of evoking place: the grinding Midwest humility of their hometown, as well as the x-rayed elucidation of America that comes with their vantage. The group’s sixth album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, TX with producer Jake Aron. “The desert is more of a metaphor or symbol,” singer Joe Casey says, “of emotional deserts, or a place or time that seems to lack life.” The “growth” came from a period of colossal transition for Casey, including the death of his mother. But life does go on, and Casey describes the great theme of Formal Growth In The Desert as an embrace and acknowledgment of that fact: a 12-song testament to “getting on with life,” even when it feels impossibly hard.

Wide Open Light Is a family of songs I’ve written. I’ve selected them with the care one might put into a personal photo album. To that effect, I’d call it a sonic family photo album, each track a close relative to the next. The story behind this record is simple. I have been writing songs now for over 30 years. It’s what I long to do, love to do, and at times feel I need to do, and hope to continue doing until the ink runs dry and the notes fade. But for now, Wide Open Light. Deliberately minimalist, the songs themselves do as much of the heavy lifting as the production. (produced by myself, and my longtime collaborators Danny Kalb and Jason Mozersky). Wide Open Light is a beautifully raw album that features appearances from the likes of Jack Johnson, Shelby Lynne and Piers Faccini.

From the symphony to the song would seem to be an enormous step: from the largest form for the largest orchestra to the smallest form for the smallest ensemble. Gustav Mahler nonetheless brought them together and interwove them in previous symphonies as well as in ‘Das Lied von der Erde’. "The long, endlessly stretched crescendo on the single note "e" (filled with so much desire) leads to the final part of Abschied, which I can only describe with the word ‘cosmic’. The voice is surrounded by floating meteors, objects, particles or stars, which move in various directions and speeds. We have left the atmosphere and look back on the beautiful green and blue planet." - Iván Fischer

Musically, the Bar Lounge Classics - The Chill Out Edition offers a cross-section of up-to-date, trendy and relaxed numbers with cool chill grooves and synthetic ambient surfaces. Less vocals, more relaxed spherical lounge accents, completely in the trendy Ibiza style with the usual high quality requirements.
Thievery Corporation, The Orb, Naoki Kenji, Nina Simone, Chris Le Blanc, Guardner, Index ID, Groove Armada and many others.

Industrial metal reached its creative peak in the late '80s and early '90s thanks to agitators such as Ministry, Godflesh, and White Zombie, but there is still room for quality industrial metal in the 21st century - even if it's a less than groundbreaking album like Cynic Paradise. Peter Tägtgren's Pain, of course, came to the industrial metal party later than the abovementioned bands; Tägtgren founded Pain as a one-man band in 1996, and Pain has remained a side project for the Hypocrisy founder (who is known for producing death metal and black metal). But if Tägtgren is a follower rather than a leader where industrial metal is concerned, that doesn't mean that Pain's work isn't worthwhile - and Cynic Paradise is an engaging disc even though it doesn't pretend to break any new ground for industrial metal…