Rolando Villazón as Nemorino exhibits a real gift for comic acting, manipulating his rubber face into dozens of hilarious poses, flawlessly turning stock comic gestures into laugh-out-loud moments, and even juggling apples with the panache of a circus performer. More important, he uses his lyric tenor to sing the part with impressive subtlety, suggesting Nemorino's desperation while singing of his love for Adina. His big show-stopper, "Una furtiva lagrima," features melting pianissimos and a breathtaking decrescendo in its final phrase. Netrebko's Adina is every bit as good, with deft acting and a lovely lyric soprano voice that makes you understand why she's the only girl for Nemorino.

A pianist of legendary fame and stature, Vladimir Horowitz was born in Kiev, Ukraine. His mother, herself a professional pianist, provided his first instruction at the piano and was the first to recognize his extraordinary talents; he studied further at the Kiev Conservatory. His first public appearance was a recital in Kiev on May 30, 1920, and in 1922 he gave a series of 15 concerts in Kharkov for which he was paid in food and clothing. Although Russia was still reeling from the revolution of 1917, Horowitz fashioned successful concert tours in major cities such as Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev – marking the beginning of a performing career of unflagging and spectacular success.

Anne-Sophie Mutter is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of modern times, combining technical virtuosity, beauty of tone, and exceptional charisma. She has nurtured the classical music scene through her own Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, which has commissioned new works and fostered the careers of younger violinists. Mutter was born in the German town of Rheinfelden, near the Swiss border, on June 29, 1963. She took up the piano at five, and the violin shortly after. By nine she was advancing rapidly and had begun lessons with Aïda Stucki. Mutter appeared in recital at the Lucerne Festival when she was 13 and was heard there by legendary conductor Herbert von Karajan.

Roy Buchanan is the guitarist's guitar hero. Singularly uninterested in rock stardom and the trappings of fame that go with it, Buchanan never achieved the popularity of his six-string peers; yet his unfathomable technique and ferocious Telecaster tone put him near the top of any serious listing of the greatest guitarists of all time. Stories abound about the regard with which other musicians held Roy (and the indifference with which he greeted their esteem); for example, legend has it he turned down the Rolling Stones for the job Mick Taylor got, and blew off playing with John Lennon, while Jeff Beck dedicated "'Cause We've Ended as Lovers" from Blow by Blow to him. These days, his ability to create the sounds he did without the use of any effects, often from his patented "pinch harmonic" method of playing, continue to astound players both casual and professional. Buchanan recorded a number of commendable studio albums, but on stage was where the magic happened; that's why most listeners deem the 1974 Live Stock album to be his best.

This disc brings together Marcus Garvey, Burning Spear's debut album, with its dub counterpart, entitled Garvey's Ghost. The resulting package is one of the pillars of roots reggae, an album packed with thick, heavy grooves and uncompromising religious and political messages. Although this Mango reissue has been criticized as sonically weaker than the Jamaican original, it will sound plenty dread to all but the most critical ears. Songs like the title track, "Slavery Days" and "Give Me" (with its remarkably well-integrated flute part) all tremble with the intensity of Winston Rodney's dark voice, and some of the dub versions (in particular "Black Wa-Da-Da," based on "The Invasion") number among the most frightening ever created. There are no sing-along melodies here; Burning Spear has always been more about setting up a relentless groove and using it to get the words across. But that groove is glorious, and it's more than sufficient to support the significant weight of the lyrics.

This three-CD box set from Not Now features remastered editions of three important Evans albums originally released by Riverside in the mid- to late ‘50s: 1956’s New Jazz Conceptions (Evans’ debut as a leader, featuring Teddy Kotick on bass and Paul Motian on drums), 1958’s Everybody Digs Bill Evans (recorded upon the pianist's departure from Davis’ landmark Kind of Blue sextet, and featuring bassist Sam Jones and drummer Philly Joe Jones), and 1959’s Portrait in Jazz (featuring his first working trio, with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Motian). If introspection became a byword during the latter part of his life, in earlier days Bill Evans did swing with the best of them, his more thoughtful moments carrying much weight as his choice of note/chord and placement thereof became crucial to a composition or solo. He also passed master as an accompanist, not only for what he did play but - almost as importantly - what he didn't.

20 killer tracks from B.B. King's 1950s heyday, including quite a few alternate takes and a few tough-to-locate items ("Bye Bye Baby," "Dark Is the Night," "Jump with You Baby"). Many of the titles are familiar ones – "Woke Up This Morning," "Every Day (I Have the Blues)," "Please Love Me," "Whole Lotta Love" – but often as not, compiler Ray Topping unearthed contrasting versions from the same sessions that shed new, fascinating light on King's studio techniques.

Grinderman is the eponymous debut studio album by alternative rock band Grinderman, a side project of members of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on March 5, 2007 on Mute Records in Europe and ANTI- in the United States. Aiming to recreate the more raw, primal sound of all former related projects such as The Birthday Party, Grinderman's lyrical and musical content diverged significantly to Nick Cave's concurrent work with The Bad Seeds, whose last studio album, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (2004), was primarily blues, gospel and alternative-orientated in stark contrast to the raw sound of the early Bad Seeds albums. Incidentally, the musical direction of Grinderman influenced The Bad Seeds' next studio album, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (2008).

Grammy Award-winning harmonica virtuoso Sugar Blue is not your typical bluesman. He wasn't raised on a Southern farm or even on the South Side of Chicago – he was raised in Harlem, New York. He didn't grow up with blues all around him – he grew up with the sounds of Billie Holiday and James Brown and all the acts that played the Apollo Theatre. Sugar Blue has used this background to his advantage, though, creating an ultra-modern blues style and sound that is instantly recognizable as his own. And now with his second Alligator release, In Your Eyes (AL 4831), he's on the verge of setting the blues world on its head.

George Strait may have landed his first number one in 1982, making him an "overnight sensation," but he'd been working for it since 1976. Strait From the Heart boasts "Fool-Hearted Memory," a perfect slow two-step that raged in all the dancehalls in America for half a year and sent folks to the bins in droves seeking out Strait's records. What they found was a singer of uncommon vitality who could sing honky tonk, countrypolitan, and the new traditional sounds that were just beginning to assert themselves after the first wave of "new country." The new Strait fans were interested in the ballads such as "Marina del Rey" and "A Fire I Can't Put Out," but they are hardly the best cuts on the set. In fact, when Strait lets it get on the raw side is when he is at his best. Tracks such as "Honky Tonk Crazy," his cover of Guy Clark's "Heartbroke," the Western swing of his original "I Can't See Texas From Here," and the strutting barroom anthem "The Steal of the Night" offer a portrait of Strait as a man who can do it all.

There are two quite distinct faces to the world of the rock musician: faces so contrasting that it is little wonder that so many contemporary stars appear at times to have lost touch with any kind of reality. While mass adulation hounds and sometimes even destroys the successful ones, the road to that status remains a golden dream for generation after generation of young people. Show me a boy with an interest in pop music who never once imagined himself as a rock superstar and I’ll show you a liar. Jim Maclaine, the anti-hero of the film STARDUST, was such a boy. To him success as a star was an end in itself, and before he achieved it he never questioned what price he might have to pay for that goal. And it is the way in which he achieves his ambition and the resulting pressures and despairs that are the subject of the film. Jim Maclaine is a fictitious figure, created on screen by David Essex. But the problems he faces are known and understood by all of today’s top musicians. And ironically it is out of these problems that some of the best music of the last decade has sprung. Rock music is to do with contemporary life: with the way in which young people see themselves and their problems. On stage, or in the recording studio, an artist can, by virtue of his creativity, cast aside the self doubts and neuroses which were frequently responsible for much of his success.

Dan Patlansky delivers a seriously fierce, fiery representation of his take on old-school blues and early rock. It’s a 10-track musical accomplishment that is sure to leave any blues fan wanting more of his work. The album is a strong testament to Patlansky’s talent, and a welcome addition to any blues enthusiast’s library. With Patlansky himself a producer of the album, his creative control was certainly able to flourish and produce something genuinely his.

Amazon Review by AlanMusicMan
Miller's unique voice seems to me a fascinating blend of cigarette soaked rasp and good-old-boy big-voice manly.
He wrote many of these songs, some of which other people took away and made their own. But what we have here is the best of his output - including those songs that were runaway successes commercially in Europe (King of the road, Little Green Apples etc). I have bought also-ran CDs of Miller's recordings before and some turned out to be the usual pale re-takes, whilst others were collections of his lesser stuff levened with a couple of the hits. This collection is not without clunkers, but for the most part it's his prime material. My favourites? The hits of course, and Engine #9 and the "'comedy' songs such as "My Uncle Use to Love me but She Died" are worth a single listen - though would get old fast! Also, I find myself drawn to his version of Me and Bobby McGee (though Gordon Lightfoot's is always the definitive version of that song for me). If you're only ever going to buy one Roger Miller collection - this one should do you nicely!

Formed in 1970, Jade Warrior were one of the most original British bands to emerge during the Progressive Rock era. The band’s first incarnation featured Tony Duhig (guitars) and Jon Field (flutes, percussion), both of whom had been in the Psychedelic group July, and Glyn Havard (bass, vocals).
Signing to the legendary Vertigo label, the band recorded their self-titled debut album in March 1971. Their unique sound ventured stylistically between ethnic music, melodic, gentle ethereal and ambient sounds and heavier guitar driven rock.
By the time of the recording of this, their second album, issued in November 1971, the band had expanded to a quartet with drummer Allan Price adding a new character to the band’s sound. The sessions also featured a guest appearance from saxophonist Dave Conners. ‘Released’ was a huge progression from the band’s debut and featured such classic tracks as ‘Three Horned Dragon King’, ‘Eyes On You’ and the epic 14- minute piece ‘Baranzibar’.

Herbert von Karajan was the most renowned conductor to emerge from Europe in the post-World War II era – and through fortuitous timing throughout his career, and in spite of controversy that dogged his early years, he was the most recorded conductor of the 20th century, and is likely to remain one of the most visible (and biggest-selling) conductors well into the 21st century. Born in Salzburg and descended from a family of Greek origin with deep roots in Austria – including scholars and physicians in Vienna and Salzburg – he was a music prodigy, playing the piano at three and playing his first recital a year later.