Performed by the Shanghai Film Orchestra, conducted by Wang Yongji. Truly celestial and a different feeling than American / European performances of this famous piece. This CD also contains David Mingyue Lang's gorgeous Music of a Thousand Springs and his Zen (Ch'an) of Water. Highly recommended.

Etched in Blue is a solid, if not exactly definitive, retrospective of Rory Gallagher's career that offers a fine introduction to the Irish blues star.

Until their third album, Regular Urban Survivors, Terrorvision were little more than a faceless metal band. That disc, however, worked as a loose concept album and featured some exceptional songwriting that earned them four big hits in the U.K. For the follow-up, the band hired four producers (including singer/songwriter Edwyn Collins) and wrote 15 of the best songs of their career to date. There is a definite pop leaning to Shaving Peaches that hardcore fans of the band may find disheartening, but the truth is that the band shines when they turn down the guitars a bit. Apparently the British music-buying public thought so as well – "Tequila" became the band's biggest U.K. hit single to date, peaking at number two. Apart from that anthemic single, however, there is much more to love here: the raucous twang of "Josephine," the Gary Glitter-esque glam rock of "Can't Get You Out of My Mind," disco metal on "Left to the Right," a hard-hitting synthesized rocker in "Babyface" and two tender ballads ("Day After Day" and "Vegas"). The only places that the album wears thin are on the more midtempo tracks, which are neither aggressive, tender nor particularly catchy. Luckily, there's more memorable material than filler on this disc, making it a very worthwhile purchase for Brit-pop fans.

Glory Days Of Rock 'n' Roll: Instrumentals is a various artist compilation album. Released in 2000.

This 25-track British release is the most comprehensive anthology of Fontella Bass' Chess work ever assembled. Very Best of Fontella Bass includes the entirety of her 1966 The New Look LP, as well as ten tracks from singles and three duets with Bobby McClure. If you value quantity as much as quality, it's certainly a superior buy to the shorter 16-track Rescued: The Best of Fontella Bass compilation that came out on Chess/MCA in 1992, including all but two tracks from that collection. While Bass is a fine, commanding soul vocalist, however, you don't actually lose out on much if you already have that 1992 best-of, since most of the added tracks are covers of '60s soul hits (à la "Our Day Will Come," "Gee Whiz," "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'") and pop standards from The New Look album.

During the mid-19th century, the Danish composer Niels. W. Gade was one of Europe's most well-known composers, conducting his own works all over the continent. Starting out as a protégé of Mendelssohn's, he later became his successor as music director of the famous Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and made the acquaintance of Robert and Clara Schumann, and of Liszt and Wagner. Initially known as a composer of symphonies, Gade mastered the German musical idiom to perfection, while adding a Nordic accent to it, particularly noticeable in his best works. His eight symphonies were composed between 1841 and 1871, and although Gade remained active as a composer until his death in 1890, he wrote no more symphonies. When questioned, he is said to have stated that 'there is but one Ninth Symphony!'

This recording combines the lyrical and rhythmic vitality of early 20th century Brazilian and American popular music with Rifkin's thoughtful and artistic realization, in much the same way as his 1970's recordings of Joplin piano works did on the Nonesuch label. As with those recordings, the sound here is good and the performances excellent. Various different interpretations of Nazareth, Scott, and Lamb exist, and some might find the slower pace of Rifkin's ragtime playing eccentric, but I believe these performances to be subtle and truly musical, as opposed to surface and expected.

Her story is one of the most legendary of all twentieth century musicians' stories, and also, one of the most tragic. Cellist Jacqueline Du Pré, born on January 26, 1945, in Oxford, England, to Derek and Iris Du Pré. (Despite the family name, Derek Du Pré was not French, but rather of British Channel Island ancestry; he could trace his lineage back to the Norman Conquest). She blossomed young and achieved international fame in a few short years during the mid-1960s, during which same time she joined Daniel Barenboim in one of history's most celebrated musical marriages. But her career was shattered in the early 1970s – not even a decade into its maturity – by multiple sclerosis.

Greg Lake left behind a rich musical legacy when he passed away in 2016. As a member of Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, pre-Crim bands The Shy Limbs and The Shame – not to mention his talents as a solo artist, producer, and composer – he helped define the landscape of progressive rock. A new career-spanning compilation called The Anthology: A Musical Journey will pay tribute to his contributions through the decades. The two-disc set features 33 tracks, including many of Lake’s best-known songs, beloved album cuts, and rarities. There’s the hard-to-find “Love” that Lake recorded with The Shy Limbs, ELP favorites “Take a Pebble,” “‘C’est La Vie.” and “Lucky Man.” His time with King Crimson is represented with “Peace” from In the Wake of Poseidon, “In The Court Of The Crimson King.” recorded live at the Fillmore West, and “21st Century Schizoid Man” as performed solo in 1981. A clutch of ’80s solo material is also included, alongside a collaboration with Geoff Downes and a number of live recordings. Lake’s re-recording of the old ELP favorite “Closer To Believing” – one of his final recordings – is another highlight of the collection.

During Joseph Haydn’s lifetime, concertos for solo instruments and ensemble were generally written for a particular musician. In the case of Haydn’s violoncello Concerto in D major Hob.VII:2, this person was Anton Kraft, first cello in the Esterházy ensemble and later one of Vienna’s greatest virtuosi. This composition for a particular occasion has become a masterpiece for the ages; an autograph score by the composer survives, dating from 1783. The services of Haydn specialist Sonja Gerlach have been obtained for this edition of the concerto with piano accompaniment. She enriches the Urtext edition with a detailed preface that also examines the execution of the ornaments and the cadenzas.

With the three piano trios, Op. 1, Ludwig van Beethoven took a genre still largely associated with salon music and raised it up to rival the string quartet. The works are innovative in form as well as in content. From this collection, the Trio in G major, Op. 1 No. 2, appears as a cheerful and engaging work. While it has been said that one could discern ‘the master’s happy youth […] still unclouded, light and frivolous’, hints of ‘the deep seriousness and tender intimacy that would follow’ can also be found.

For his latest Steinway & Sons release, pianist Andrew Rangell presents an intimate portrait of Franz Schubert; An album that includes the expansive Sonata in G major, D 894, the late Drei Klavierstucke, D 946 and a seldom heard little gem, Variation on a waltz by Diabelli, D 718.

The excitement surrounding The Maine doesn’t with the new tracks. The band has announced the upcoming release of their highly anticipated ninth full-length album, The Maine, set to be released on August 1st, 2023, a significant day for The Maine. Written as 8.1.23, it aligns with a unique combination of numbers that hold deep meaning for The Maine. The numbers 8123 originally adorned a parking garage where the band members and childhood friends used to hang out. Over time, 8123 has become intertwined with their music, appearing in their lyrics, as the name of their biennial music festival in their hometown’s desert, as tattoos on many of their fans, as the name of their record label, and as the nickname for their dedicated fanbase, known as the 8123 Family.

Billy Talent - one of the most successful Canadian bands, returns with their first live album since 2007's '666'. The album sees the band perform 21 career spanning hits and was recorded this past November at the iconic German venue in front of a sold-out crowd. Canadian alt. rock band from Streetsville (Mississauga), Ontario, founded as Pezz in 1993, becoming Billy Talent in 1999. Their debut album won two Juno Awards, Best Album of the Year, and Best Band of the Year, and the band went on to be certified 3x Platinum in Canada for multiple albums and continue to expand their success overseas.

The music of Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969) has been enjoying a revival during the past two decades. Bacewicz was an outstanding figure in 20th-century music, a major Polish composer and a versatile musician. This album by the award-winning pianist Peter Jablonski, pianist Elisabeth Brauß, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Nicholas Collon includes some rarely recorded gems: the composer's Piano Concerto together with the late Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in it's first digital recording. Also included is the composer's homage to Bartók, Music for Strings, Trumpets and Percussion, as well as the composer's early exuberant Overture written during the German occupation of Poland.