Documentary about the life and career of the controversial, award-winning pop star from New York. The programme features interviews with artists such as Akon, Ozzy Osbourne, The Pussycat Dolls and RedOne, as well as Lady Gaga herself.
Tracklista:1. Saves the Day2. Suzuki3. Side By Side4. Kerouac & Cassady5. It's Such a Beautiful World6. Rose7. 19978. Rendezvous9. 29
Tracklista:1. Defend Rosie2. Girl Parts3. Into the Sun4. My Parents Lied5. Sonata (Maybe We Can Work It Out)6. Walls (We Can't Work It Out)7. Mercy, Hallelujah8. Blood Pressure9. This Is Me Dancing10. Relief11. It's Such a Shame12. Drano-ears
Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Consort & Players celebrate their 40th anniversary with a magnificent recording of the world s first operatic masterpiece. Parrott has been at the center of the early and baroque music scenes for over four decades, and his meticulous research brings a fresh perspective to the myth of love lost and found through the art of music. Befitting such an outstanding recording, the two-CD set is luxuriously packaged with extensive notes and the complete libretto with English translations in a 60-page booklet.
Tracklista: 1. No Such Thing As Dry Water2. Rusty3. Drift4. Drone Suicide5. Brewing Tea in the Shadow of a Missle6. Ambulance Du Ciel7. Black Echo's8. A Brief History of Everything
The eight overtures by Gioacchino Rossini recorded on this CD were written between 1810 and 1814, and as such cover the early operatic period of the composer, who was born in Pesaro in 1792. Despite his world-wide popularity, primarily thanks to his popular operas, Rossini never managed to rise above the ranking of a musically aesthetic, yet rather second-rate composer, especially in German-speaking countries (in complete contrast to countries such as England and, of course, Italy). Rossini had his German antipode, Beethoven, to thank for this ranking. Both are considered outstanding examples of strongly contrasting "music cultures", which by the way have lost little of their validity right up to the present day. Thus Beethoven represents the symphonic style, exploring the smallest details of every theme and motif, whereas Rossini is considered the exponent of a style which, though decorative, is lacking in content and simply aiming for effect. Take for instance the division between light and serious music, which still exists today in Germany, derived from this very problem. Carl Dahlhaus expressed this contrast in musical aesthetics in the following words: Beethoven‘s scores were portrayals of "sacrosanct musical 'texts', the meaning of which should be disclosed through the interpretations, which should be seen as 'explanations'. On the other hand, a Rossini score is merely a model for a performance, which is given form by the aestheticians in charge as the realization of a design, and not as the interpretation of a text."Disregarding these reflections on musical aesthetics, Rossini was without a doubt the most important operatic composer in the period between Mozart and Verdi. One sees with amazement just how confident the young composer was in his mastery of the sophisticated tone languages of his time. Rossini managed to find his own musical voice at a very early stage. This "voice" is demonstrated superbly in his operatic overtures.Apart from one exception – La cambiale di matrimonio is really more an exponent of the older tradition of the sinfonia – the overtures all have a specific structure typical of Rossini: a slow introduction is followed by a quick main subject with two themes, which is brought to a halt by a ritardando, before a new intonation leads to a coda which outshines all else. But just how does Rossini fill this almost mechanical and pedantic structure he has chosen with musical energy? He links a lively melody to rhythmic vitality and bounces simple harmonic patterns off sudden humorous and surprising modulations. The motivic material, which is generally simple, is not subjected to symphonic development. Instead, by simply ordering the individual elements, Rossini creates a more extensive construction of areas of relaxation and tension, which achieve a spacious effect. In this context, the crescendi should be interpreted in the spirit intended by the composer: their typically characteristic features include simple metrical models, rousing melodies, sequential passages and the alternation of dynamics and instrumentation with radiant intensifications. Not without justification was Rossini fêted as "Monsieur Crescendo" upon his arrival in Paris. His instrumentation contains especially individual traits: in the first place, the solo entry of the winds, which can be discerned most strikingly in the horn soli in La cambiale di matrimonio. Besides, some of Rossini‘s very best ideas can be found in his overtures: such as the perpetuum mobile in La scala di seta or the violin bows striking the music stands in the overture to Il Signor Bruschini. The overtures do not contain much – if any – similarity to the ensuing operatic plots, as far as theme or programme content are concerned. This explains why Rossini made multiple use of some pieces, such as the overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia, which he had originally written for Aureliano in Palmira, or the introduction to Tancredi, which he borrowed from his La pietra del paragone, without making a single change.
Tracklista: 1. Turned Over to Dreams2. Consider the Worlds3. O'er Wave & Sky4. Good Evening, Good Night5. Amid the Stars6. You Are Home7. Touch the Earth8. Drifting9. Stay Awake10. It's Such a Good Feeling
Tracklista: CD 1 1. Elegie XII 2. Kitty Come Down The Lane 3. The Meadow 4. Art Nouveau 5. St. Valentine's Day Sonnet 6. Trip To Bath 7. Sultana Cake 8. Cul-De-Sac 9. Our Stolen Season 10. Has This Hotel So Many Secrets? 11. Evil-May-Care In Our Dancing Shoes 12. Eugene Onegin 13. It Was My Heart 14. I Dreamed A Dream 15. Thirty-Two Years And A Lifetime 16. Epilogue/French Catholic Wedding Tune CD 2 1. Avona And The Giant 2. Above The Angels 3. Aire And Angells 4. If There's No Other Way 5. If Love Has Wings 6. The Swift 7. Such A Crazy Marriage 8. Polly On The Shore 9. I Remember Every Detail 10. I Was Thinking Of Clarissa 11. Welcome To The World 12. Notes From The Journal Of A Quick-Tempered Man (Part One) 13. Sykaleshe 14. Notes From The Journal Of A Quick-Tempered Man (Part Two) 15. Lost In The Haze 16. Romeo And Juliet Excerpt/Song From Cymbeline
The American composer Steve Reich pioneered the style of minimalism in music. He has been hugely influential on contemporary composers such as John Adams, but also on the progressive rock movement of the 80s with bands such as King Crimson and rock musicians such as Brian Eno. The Guardian has described him as one of ‘a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history’. The Desert Music is perhaps Reich’s most ambitious orchestral score to date – a setting of texts by the American poet William Carlos Williams (1886 – 1963) for chorus and large orchestra. It is a highly symphonic piece which is inspired by Reich’s own travels in California’s Mojave Desert, the White Sands – and perhaps in particular the Alamagordo in New Mexico, which carries sinister associations with secret weapons of mass destruction and suggests a geographical link with the poet’s somber warning to mankind in the work’s central movement. Another opportunity to write for large orchestra came when the St Louis Symphony Orchestra commissioned Reich to write his Three Movements. This work was premiered in St Louis under Leonard Slatkin in April 1986. As in The Desert Music, the sizeable string section is divided, here into two subsections which are placed to the left and right of the conductor to create the alternating antiphonal effect that is so characteristic of Reich’s style. Hearing these performances, Steve Reich described them as ‘Incisive, focused, and intense’ and continued ‘this recording of Three Movements is the best I have ever heard. The Desert Music is full, rich, yet full of detail. Kristjan Järvi, the Tonkünstler-Orchester, and Sine Nomine perform with a relaxed rhythmic precision that perfectly fits the music. Bravo and thanks to all.’ This is the third SACD recording on Chandos by the Vienna-based Tonkünstler-Orchester, Niederösterreich under Kristjan Jarvi, its Chief Conductor and Music Director from 2004 – 2009. They are joined by Chorus Sine Nomine, one of Austria’s leading vocal ensembles and winner of numerous awards and prizes.
Tracklista: 1. Ain't Got Time for Hate2. Americans3. Would You Take My Blood?4. Great Rain5. Smoked Ham and Peaches6. The Wrong Idea7. Promised Myself8. In the Blood of the Blues9. Such a Pretty Flame10. One I Love11. I'm Not Like Everybody Else12. Go to Sleepy Little Baby