Otello est un opéra en quatre actes de Giuseppe Verdi, sur un livret de Arrigo Boito d'après Othello ou le Maure de Venise de William Shakespeare et créé au Teatro alla Scala de Milan, le 5 février 1887.Il est accueilli avec un succès éclatant. Pourtant sa musique continue ne peut aisément être scindée en numéros pouvant être donnés en concert. Certains critiques estiment que bien que magistralement orchestré, il manque de l’éclat mélodique si caractéristique des premiers grands opéras de Verdi, et que le prélude fait défaut, ce à quoi ses auditeurs ne sont pas habitués. Beaucoup en revanche considèrent Otello comme le plus grand opéra tragique de Verdi, celui qui contient l’une de ses plus belles, de ses plus expressives musiques. Otello, la tragédie, est considéré comme l'opéra le plus achevé du maître.

When the history book is written on the minimalist scene that emerged in the 1960s, it’s likely that composer Steve Reich will emerge as the most influential figure. Certainly artists including Philip Glass and Terry Riley have made extremely significant contributions to contemporary classical music and have evolved, like Reich, beyond the inherent constraints of the genre. But Reich’s influence can be felt in music by artists as diverse as German bassist Eberhard Weber, guitar legend Pat Metheny and British progressive rock groups Soft Machine and Gentle Giant. Even Mike Oldfield’s classic Tubular Bells had considerable precedent in Reich’s work.

While this collection brings together all the standard tunes Mstislav Rostropovich recorded for EMI Classics, the "Russian" recordings are deservedly the headline grabbers. World premieres abound, from a searing account of Prokofiev's Cello Sonata with Sviatoslav Richter to an especially probing Shostakovich Second Cello Concerto, both given in the presence of the composers. Benjamin Britten, meanwhile, conducts his own Cello Symphony in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire. At the same time, Lutoslawski's Cello Concerto is simply staggering in its virtuosity and depth of musical feeling, as is its companion piece, the concerto Tout un monde lointain by Henri Dutilleux. Both are Rostropovich commissions. There are relative rarities too, in the Richard Strauss' Cello Sonata, some "lollipops" of Popper, Scriabin and Debussy, as well as the wonderful interpretation of the Miaskovsky's Cello Concerto. And there's a lot more. As the collection continues, dedications emerge from Russian composers far and wide. Boris Tchaikovsky gets a whole disc, with a Suite and a sizeable Concerto, while there are works from Tischenko and Weinberg. Shostakovich accompanies Rostropovich in the Cello Sonata, while yet more Russian contemporary composers, namely Ustvolskaya and Schnittke, are championed through the cellist.

This is the reincarnation of the same post brought earlier by slcn. Unfortunately, it's noteworthy debut was brutally cut short by a bandit of marauding trolls. Without further ado, a big shoutout of thanks goes out to slcn and many other contributors, without whose support this would not have been possible.

Daniel Balavoine, est un auteur-compositeur-interprète français né à Alençon (Orne) le 5 février 1952 et mort dans un accident d'hélicoptère le 14 janvier 1986 à Gourma-Rharous (Mali).

Keren Ann was one of my big discoveries of 2008. She has a soft melancholic voice which I find enchanting, truly beautiful to listen to. My favourite of her albums are Not Going Anywhere and La Disparition both of which I am posting today.

Keren Ann was one of my big discoveries of 2008. She has a soft melancholic voice which I find enchanting, truly beautiful to listen to. My favourite of her albums are Not Going Anywhere and La Disparition both of which I am posting today.