Soft Machine were never a commercial enterprise and indeed remain unknown even to many listeners who came of age during the late '60s and early '70s, when the group was at its most visible peak. In their way, however, they were one of the more influential bands of their era, and certainly one of the most influential underground outfits. Soft Machine, one of the original British psychedelic groups, were instrumental in the birth of both progressive rock and jazz-rock.

Pink Floyd Some bands turn into shorthand for a certain sound or style, and Pink Floyd belongs among that elite group. The very name connotes something specific: an elastic, echoing, mind-bending sound that evokes the chasms of space. Pink Floyd grounded that limitless sound with exacting explorations of mundane matters of ego, mind, memory, and heart, touching upon madness, alienation, narcissism, and society on their concept albums of the '70s. Of these concept albums, Dark Side of the Moon resonated strongest, earning new audiences year after year, decade after decade, and its longevity makes sense.

Willie Nelson Few songwriters and performers have played a vital role in post-rock & roll country music as Willie Nelson. Although he didn't become a star until the mid-'70s, he spent the 1960s writing songs that became hits for stars like Ray Price ("Night Life"), Patsy Cline ("Crazy"), Faron Young ("Hello Walls"), and Billy Walker ("Funny How Time Slips Away"), as well as releasing a series of records on Liberty and RCA that earned him a small but devoted cult following. During the early '70s, Nelson abandoned Nashville for his native Texas, setting up shop with the redneck hippies in Austin and taking control of his music on the landmark Shotgun Willie (1973) and Phases & Stages (1974). He found a kindred spirit in Waylon Jennings and, together, they spearheaded the outlaw country movement that finally made him a star by 1975. Following the crossover success of that year's Red Headed Stranger and "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," Willie became a genuine success, as recognizable in pop circles as he was to country audiences; in addition to recording, he also launched an acting career in the early '80s. Even when he was a star, he never played it safe musically.

With ‘Vieni, o Notte’, Francesca Aspromonte signsher first recording for Aparté with an all-Scarlattiprogramme.Together with Arsenale Sonoro and BorisBegelman, Francesca explores three cantatas(sometimes described as serenate) in which thecomposer makes the night the stage for hischaracters’ thwarted loves. He gives them ariasand recitatives that are painful, contemplative, orsearing, complemented by two sonate a quattrowith madrigalian lines, whose quartet performanceby Arsenale Sonoro highlights the bold harmonicshifts, the shadows, and the light.The album closes with All’hor che stanco il sole, aworld-premiere recording - a musical meditation onlove and loss. Here, Aspromonte unfolds amastery of line and text that reveals the fullsensuality of this music.

Domenico Cimarosa, one of the last great exponents of the Neapolitan School, was also one of the most-performed opera composers before the arrival of Rossini. He composed over 60 such works and was esteemed from Venice to St Petersburg where he was appointed to the Russian Court. L’Italiana in Londra (‘The Italian Girl in London’) is a charming and sophisticated intermezzo that displays an incredible understanding of comic situations and characters, satirising different cultural stereotypes that are as identifiable today as they were in the 18th century. Humour and wit abound in this acclaimed production.

Rush’s sixteenth studio album, Test for Echo, was released on 10 September 1996 on Anthem Records. It was the final Rush album co-produced by Peter Collins. The band supported the album with a world tour in 1996 and 1997! By December of 1996, the Test For Echo Tour was in the southern states of the US, and on the 5th of the month, Rush played at the Summit, in Houston, Texas, where they put on one of the tour’s very best shows! The whole affair was recorded and broadcast across local radio too, and the concert is now available in its entirety on this new 2CD set!

BROADCAST RECORDING FROM THE MID-1980s WHILE ON THE DISCOVERY TOUR Released in June 1984, Mike Oldfield s ninth studio album Discovery was to become one of his most celebrated. The record reached No. 1 on charts across Europe, but only gained a No. 15 placing on the British album chart. In the second half of 1984 Oldfield and his band embarked on a Europe wide tour in promotion of the album. On 8th September they performed at Teatro Tenda Bussoladomani, in Viareggio, Italy, where they played a stunning show which was recoded for FM broadcast across Italy as well as being synched live in the US, where, at that time, most folk were not generally too aware of Mike Oldfield s history. Previously unreleased this recording is now out in its entirety on this new 2CD set, allowing fans to hear one of Mike Oldfield s finest shows of the 1980s in fine audio quality.

Smokie Originally formed in Yorkshire, England in 1966, Smokie hit the British pop charts several times during the late '70s with updated psychedelic pop, influenced by the band's stay on Mickie Most's Rak Records as well as the writers of most of the band's hit material, Rak's Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Vocalist Chris Norman, bassist Terry Utley, guitarist Alan Silson, and drummer Ron Kelly had played in the Elizabethans, but formed the band Kindness in 1970.

I Will Always Love You: The Best of Whitney Houston is a greatest hits compilation featuring two previously unreleased songs — the single “I Look To You” with unreleased vocals from Whitney combined as a duet with R. Kelly, and “Never Give Up,” a song recorded during sessions for Whitney’s album I Look To You.

Celtic Voices highlights captivating melodies from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, and Cape Breton, performed by some of our favorite artists in the Celtic music scene today.

José Antonio Bottiroli’s protégé and greatest champion, Fabio Banegas, presents this fourth volume of his mentor’s complete piano works. In this wide-ranging collection we hear works with orchestra and with chamber ensemble, as well as pieces for piano solo and duo. Symphonic Impressions for piano and orchestra offers lyricism and virtuosity, while the remainder of the programme focuses on Bottiroli’s contrapuntal mastery, the creative refashioning and expansion of earlier works, and his use of Argentine folk dances such as the chamamé. Together they present musical mementos of his own life experience.

A native of Germany, Robert Volkmann was virtually unknown as a composer until the 1840s when he moved to Hungary. It was there that Volkmann achieved wider recognition due in part to Franz Liszt, Hans von Bülow and Richard Wagner expressing admiration for his Piano Trio, Op. 5. Volkmann’s music straddles the radical and conservative camps in the music of his era, with the early Fantasiebilder influenced by Schumann and Mendelssohn, and the scintillating Piano Sonata in C minor retaining the Classical roots of Beethoven and Schubert. From the cimbalom effects in the Ungarische Lieder to the whimsy in Lieder der Großmutter, Volkmann’s expressive potency is always infused with a compulsive rhythmic verve.

Harpist Anne-Sophie Bertrand presents Amalie’s Cosmos, an evocative journey through the salons of 19th-century Europe.
At the heart of Berlin’s vibrant cultural life in the early 19th century stood Amalie Beer, a wealthy patron, intellectual, and matriarch of one of Europe’s most influential musical families. While history often remembers her son, Giacomo Meyerbeer, as a towering operatic figure, it was Amalie’s salon that cultivated artistic, scientific, and political discourse, supported composers, and encouraged the careers of remarkable women such as Fanny Hensel and Pauline Viardot. Amalie’s Cosmos revives the spirit of these Berliner salons through a carefully curated program of works that echo their creativity and curiosity.From the intimate lyricism of Fanny Hensel and Glinka to the exotic colours of Debussy’s Estampes, the virtuosity of Parish Alvars, and the contemporary homage to Paganini by Nimrod Borenstein, the album traces a delicate thread through time, place, and influence. The result is a shimmering musical tapestry that celebrates memory, artistry, and the enduring power of the salon as a space for inspiration and dialogue.

Johannes Moser With an abundance of both technique and charisma, Johannes Moser has emerged as a top virtuoso cellist of the 21st century. He is also a passionate chamber musician.Moser was born on June 14, 1979, in Munich, Germany. His father was a German violinist, his mother a Canadian soprano, and he has retained dual German and Canadian citizenship. He lived in Germany, however, until moving to New York in 2012. Moser took up the violin at age five and then switched to the cello at eight. His first teacher was his father, but "[e]ventually, there was a little bit of a clash," he told the Dallas Observer. "I think we decided at some point that for the sake of peace at home, it would be better for me to move on." Studying with David Geringas, a student of Mstislav Rostropovich who worked in Germany during the latter part of his career, Moser developed an independent voice.His first breakthrough was a silver medal showing at the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition, performing Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33. He has since become identified with that cello showpiece, performing it dozens of times. Moser signed with the Haenssler label and recorded sonatas by Shostakovich, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, and Boris Tchaikovsky for his 2006 debut.

The most beautiful Chanson française songs by Edith Piaf, Johnny Hallyday. Sheila and many more on one compilation!