For his production of “ Don Giovanni“ at the Vienna International Festival (Wiener Festwochen), Roberto de Simone does not want to follow in the footsteps of other directors who modernise the design and add something that did not exist in Mozart’s original. He sends Don Giovanni on a journey through time to revisit the centuries that the character lived through starting with the original costume of the 16th century and ending in the 19th century. Don Giovanni changes garments but is still the same legend and archetype. Something similar can be said for his accompanying antagonist, Donna Elvira.

Hubay’s 3rd concerto mirrors the format of the piano concertos of Liszt (with whom he studied composition) in that it is performed without a break between the movements. The 4th concerto adheres to a more traditional baroque format regarding structure, melody and harmony, hence it’s title. The third work on the disc comprises a theme and twelve variations. All three works are virtuosic display pieces comparable to the concertos of Wieniawski and Vieuxtemps, and call for much pyrotechnics from the soloist.

Sergei Leiferkus has a fine and distinctive baritone, but what makes him a truly exceptional singer is his formidable talent as an actor, and never has this been more persuasively captured on record than here. From his electrifying and chilling interpretation of Songs and Dances of Death, in which, as Death, he assumes four very different guises (vindictive, romantic, seductive and bellicose), to the bright, faux-naïf songs of The Nursery, where, with no sense of awkwardness, he affects an improbably high but convincingly childlike voice, rattling off the silly ‘ta-ta-ta-ta’s of ‘Hobby-Horse’ with aplomb, then slipping seamlessly into the familiar adult tone of the nanny or parent, he demonstrates daunting versatility.

Seompi was an acronym for "self expression on musically potential instruments," and also the name of one of the hardest-rocking bands to come out of Texas in the early '70s. During the late '60s and early '70s, Texas had evolved from the garage rock state of the mid-'60s to one of America's hard rock capitols. Bands such as the Oxford Circle, Watermusic, the Remaning Few, Moving Sidewalks, 13th Floor Elevators, and the Headstones were evolving from a garage sound into that of heavy, guitar-dominated hard rock. Texas' Cicadelic label had brought many such bands to light by way of singles, but the times were changing. Groups like Josephus, ZZ Top, and Mariani were changing the face of Texas rock. Music was becoming heavy, and many former garage bands were experimenting with new sounds and techniques…

Here's an excellent Shostakovich chamber program, combining music from different phases of the composer's career as well as introducing two fairly unusual works in combination with a great masterwork, the Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67. This work, written in 1944 as the tide had begun to turn against Hitler's armies in Russia, is perhaps the definitive musical response to the horrors of the Second World War. Its final movement, evoking klezmer music gradually overtaken by darkness, is almost unbearably moving.

Louis Sclavis has for decades dazzled and provoked listeners with his literate, ambitious musical projects that examine not only the many dimensions and directions of the sonic spectrum, but also his Renaissance-like embrace of literature, foreign cultures, and now, visual art. With a new quartet collaborating with him – only cellist Vincent Courtois is retained from his previous outing, L'Affrontement des Prétendants – Sclavis turns his eyes, ears, and spirit toward an investigation of the paintings of the French artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest on Napoli's Walls.

Moonspell continues to delve into slow, Gothic doom-metal on Sin/Pecado, with occasional samples and electronic percussion popping up in the atmospheric arrangements. Still, the band has not yet quite recaptured the spark of their debut, Wolfheart.
2019 Deluxe version with 3 bonus tracks.

The purely magical, tonal, dancing alto or bass clarinet and soprano saxophone of Louis Sclavis are heard fully on this recording with his quintet, where he explores a variety of ethnically inspired motifs guaranteed to delight one and all. Where improvisation has always been his strong suit, here it is relegated to solos, as his written music takes center stage. Fellow front-liner Matthieu Metzger plays alto and soprano sax – together he and Sclavis create a whirling dervish cone of sound that reflects a definite European stance removed from American jazz.

One of the classic giants of jazz, Jack Teagarden was not only the top pre-bop trombonist (playing his instrument with the ease of a trumpeter) but one of the best jazz singers too. He was such a fine musician that younger brother Charlie (an excellent trumpeter) was always overshadowed. Jack started on piano at age five (his mother Helen was a ragtime pianist), switched to baritone horn, and finally took up trombone when he was ten. Teagarden worked in the Southwest in a variety of territory bands (most notably with the legendary pianist Peck Kelley) and then caused a sensation when he came to New York in 1928. His daring solos with Ben Pollack caused Glenn Miller to de-emphasize his own playing with the band, and during the late-'20s/early Depression era, "Mr. T." recorded frequently with many groups including units headed by Roger Wolfe Kahn, Eddie Condon, Red Nichols, and Louis Armstrong…

Those who are familiar with the multi-national recording project The Samurai Of Prog, are hopefully also aware of this related project, which is more oriented to Folk and Old Music elements, albeit always staying within modernly produced progressive rock. Liber de Dictis is the follower to the warmly received debut album The Knight and the Ghost (2020). The core line-up has changed for the main keyboards: Ton Scherpenzeel (Kayak) has been replaced by Alessandro di Benedetti, who contributed on one track on the debut. As always, the guest musicians are very numerous, but unlike with TSOP where the various collaborators usually also write the music, The Guildmaster is more self-contained in this matter, Rafael Pacha being the most prolific composer. This 68-minute album is loosely conceptual: each track draws inspiration from folkloristic sayings.

Eagerly awaited second ECM album by French-African drummer Manu Katche. Recorded in New York’s Avatar Studio in January 2007, “Playground” picks up where the best-selling “Neighbourhood” left off: in the interim the project has coalesced into a rip-roaring and fully-integrated band. Manu’s group, featuring a Polish/Norwegian confederacy of young players, is energized by his hard driving drums and by his compositions which invite spirited solos… Together, the quintet - whose strong new frontline features Mathias Eick and Trygve Seim - makes exciting, zestful music.

A specially-price limited edition compilation of Manu Katché on ECM. Here the French drummer is joined in performances of his tunes by an outstanding cast of soloists including Jan Garbarek, Tomasz Stanko, Nils Petter Molvӕr, Trygve Seim, Mathias Eick, Marcin Wasilewski, Tore Brunborg, and Jacob Young. Recorded 2004 -2012 in Oslo, New York and Pernes-les-Fontaines, and drawn from his widely acclaimed albums: Neighborhood (ECM1896), Playground (ECM 2016), Third Round (ECM 2156), Manu Katché (ECM 2284)

When the talented session drummer Manu Katche decided to release his own solo effort, his colleagues from studio gigs with Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos, Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, and Dire Straits were happy to sign on to help the talented Mr. Katche record It's About Time. Among them, guitarists Daniel Lanois, keyboardist Simon Clark, and sax legend Branford Marsalis join Katche to create some thrilling jazz- and funk-influenced rock cuts. Warm and soulful, Katche's tunes reflect the influence of Nothing Like the Sun-era Sting, perhaps more than any of the other artists that the drummer previously supported.

Since their formation in their native Holland, Clan Of Xymox's music has been constantly changing, always challenging and often quite breathtaking. Formed in the 1980's, CoX has always been a uniquely evolving band. The act earned a huge fan base with their early releases on the legendary 4-AD label, and later under the moniker Xymox for a Polydor subsidiary. With the album Hidden Faces, Clan Of Xymox released what many believe to be their finest work of that era. Lush layered guitars, pounding rhythms, shimmering keyboards and dark, melancholy vocals blend seamlessly. The singles "Out of the Rain" and "This World" are now considered club classics and were in the top 10 of the German Independent charts and numerous Indie charts all over the world.