Concertos Nos. 3 and 4 are not only formidably demanding from a technical standpoint, but also are extremely difficult to interpret musically. Rózsa has all the violinistic equipment necessary to tackle these fiendish scores, as he impressively shows in the first movement cadenza of the E minor work. For comparison, I turned to Salvatore Accardo's account on Deutsche Grammophon with Charles Dutoit and the London Philharmonic. Accardo is rightly regarded as a Paganini specialist, but he is neither as subtle in his phrasing and inflection nor so stylish and polished in bravura passages as Rózsa.

The war over, the Milanese set about the immediate rebuilding of the bombed La Scala. By 1946 the work was complete in time for Toscanini to return – by public demand – to his old house to direct the opening concert, a truly legendary occasion now at last officially available on CD in tolerable enough sound to enjoy its many virtues. Chief among them are the old maestro’s inimitable, indeed unique way of inspiriting singers and orchestra to perform Rossini and Verdi as perhaps never before or since.

Originally released on LP by Cramps Records in 1979. Recorded live on June 14 1979 at Arena Civica, Milan (Italy). The show, conceived to raise funds to cure Demetrio Stratos' disease, became a tribute in his honor after the news of the death of the artist occurred the day before the date scheduled for the concert.

Hijazz Project is a gathering place of the most famous musicians in Turkey. Each one individually has their own bands and personal projects, play in different festivals, working in different productions. Hijazz Project for them, is a way to surrender their togetherness in this music of synthesis they make hand in hand, without any ego, matching to the idea of Mevlana and Sufism. They play from Hamamizade Ismail Dede Efendi to W.A.Mozart… from Hasselman to Nayi Osman Dede.. from J.S.Bach to Tamburi Cemil Bey.. mixed with the jazzy mood, powered by Budapest Symphonical Orchestra conducted by Alparslan Ertungaalp. HiJazz Project's first concert was supported by Turkiye Is Bankasi in 2003. in 2007 the band is supported by Arif Mardin (R.I.P), who had great effort for Hijazz Project to perform in the Istanbul Jazz Festival. He made it but passed away on the concert day. So we dedicate our 2007 Istanbul Jazz Festival performance to his loving memory. He was the only music producer in the world who made the world a better place.

Matthew Gee (1925-1979), who belatedly had the opportunity to record this album, “Jazz by Gee!,” his first and only one as a leader, in 1956, was one of many talented jazzmen who earned the solid and lasting respect of his peers without ever achieving the public recognition they clearly deserved. Leonard Feather described Gee as one of the “best and most underrated of bop-influenced trombonists.”

Thibault Noally and Les Accents present a celebration of the Venetian Sonata. The term sonata was first coined at the end of the 16th century by Giovanni Croce and Andrea Gabrieli but it was Tartini, born and active in the Venetian Republic, who created some 200 sonatas for violin, the largest body of work in the form, followed by Vivaldi with 80. If Vivaldi borrowed from all an sundry [Caldara, Corelli, Matteis, Bonporti, Albinoni] then others were quick to borrow from him too and the Venetian sonata spread through competing musicians to Germany, via Pisendel and the Dresden court; France with Leclair and Guignone; and Russia with the Venetians Madonis and Dall'Oglio. Thibault Noally is a recognised name on the international baroque stage. He best-known as the solo violin of Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble with Marc Minkowski, with the Concerto Köln, Pulcinella or the Ensemble Matheus.

This is a beautiful, thoughtfully compiled disc. It chronologically charts the life of Jean de La Fontaine, that 17th-century master of the fable, through his own words and through music that sets his text, or that he simply admired. There’s one particular coup: the inclusion of identifiable extracts from the opera by Charpentier that sets a text by La Fontaine. Alas, the whole work did not survive, probably for reasons to do with Lully’s royally granted privilege, but the booklet notes make an excellent case for the association with the opera of the few pieces recorded here.

"Bach - Sonatas" is the fourth recording in Kåre Nordstoga's series of Bach's complete organ works. The main works on this double-CD are the six "Trio Sonatas".

This monumental work of French Romanticism is one of the essential landmarks in the career of any conductor. The quality of Berlioz’s orchestration and questions of timbre and the ideal instrumental forces lie at the core of the approach of Jos van Immerseel and Anima Eterna Brugge, who are increasingly drawn to French composers and especially to their precise, shimmering orchestral textures.

Produced by No-Man, Flowers At The Scene is a vibrant collection of 11 strikingly diverse songs. Against a backdrop of propulsive Art Rock, heartbreaking ballads and more, Tim Bowness distinctively delivers cinematic storytelling and disarmingly direct confessional lyrics on his strongest solo album to date. Representing the duo of Tim Bowness and Steven Wilson’s first joint production in over a decade, the album features stunning performances from an extraordinary cast of players including Peter Hammill, Andy Partridge (XTC), Kevin Godley (10cc), Colin Edwin, Jim Matheos (Fates Warning/OSI), David Longdon (Big Big Train), co-producer Brian Hulse (Plenty), Australian trumpeter Ian Dixon, and drummers Tom Atherton and Dylan Howe. The Curator, David K Jones, violinist Fran Broady and Charles Grimsdale also guest.

Vltimas have been legends since the dawn of metal. Flo Mournier has been drumming for Cryptopsy since their earliest exhumations of the Canadian underground. Rune Eriksen took hold of axe-wielding duties for the second coming of Mayhem. And who could forget David Vincent, the larger-than-life vocalist for Morbid Angel.
But these devils weren’t content with living amongst the gods. Instead, they’ve joined forces as the legendary heroes of the underworld. Their first album as Vltimas was greeted with a rapturous procession of devil horns. Something Wicked Marches In was voted album of the year by Zero Tolerance Magazine and BangerTV. “Likely to knock listeners asses to the ground with outlandish brute force”, praised Blabbermouth…

This 1992 album was Abbey Lincoln's third for Verve and another fine display of her musical vision. The set consists primarily of her own compositions. The arrangements vary throughout, depending on the needs of each song. Lincoln is supported by her core trio, with guest spots by trombonist J.J. Johnson, tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, the Staple Singers, and the Noel Singers, a group made up of children. Lincoln revisits a couple numbers from earlier in her career, "Rainbow" and "People in Me." Her interpretive skills and emotional commitment to the material are such that she can even take on a familiar standard like "A Child Is Born" and make it her own. It's gratifying to see a major jazz label allowing Lincoln's musical vision to flourish and grow.

Released in October 1984, Them or Us is Frank Zappa's last studio rock album (unless one counts Thing-Fish). It contains a little of everything for everyone, but most of all it has that cold and dry early-'80s feel that made this and other albums like The Man From Utopia and Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention sound dated pretty quickly. The record begins and ends with covers. "The Closer You Are" is one of those '50s R&B tunes the man loved so much. As for the Allman Brothers' "Whippin' Post," it answered a request from an audience member in Helsinki back in 1974 (go figure). In between one finds the usual offensive lyrics - the cliché-ridden "In France," the sexually explicit "Baby, Take Your Teeth Out." Crunchy guitars are found in "Ya Hozna" and "Stevie's Spanking" (named after Steve Vai, playing guitar in it, too), arguably one of Zappa's best straightforward rock songs from that period…

This is a complete re-recording of Robert Schroeder's cult classic album Galaxie Cygnus-A from the 1982.
If Harmonic Ascendant has put the name of Robert Schroeder on the map, Galaxie Cygnus-A has solidified the immense talent and creativity of the Aachen synthesist. Initially conceived for a science fiction project, the main idea behind this album was to capture the sound waves coming from galaxies with the help of a radio telescope placed in high altitude. The sound engineer in him edited and sampled these galactic tones on a music that he then performed during a big event in sounds and images, in front of a giant screen that was broadcasting images of cosmos during this concert presented within the framework of the prestigious ARS-Electronica in Linz, Austria, in 1982…