The late Cathy Berberian who was married to Italian composer and avant gardist Luciano Berio,was far sighted enough as to become the first legitimate opera singer to cover Beatles songs thus affording the Beatles a classically credible status. Unlike the usual image of an opera singer Cathy was actually quite a stunning lady. Hearing Beatles songs performed this way has the power of either clearing a room or realising the songs are as good if not better than the average operatic aria. As one of these songs was used on an Exotic Beatles volume its a case of whether you think the songs should have been left alone or whether you think of the Beatles music as classical such as the many Baroque collections.

"Soviet Alien" is a journey through dark and mysterious soundscapes with obsure radio samples and pulsating minimal percussions. The album develops an anguishing atmosphere, somewhere between threatening ambient and deep droning rhythms - a sound universe full of Electronic and Industrial noises as well as historical and science fiction references.

"In his 60s, Domingo remains a marvel. Indeed, he gives us a performance of Tristan, carefully studied, heroically sung, sympathetically interpreted, that truly crowns his career as a tenor and recording artist. (…) Even more remarkable is the Isolde of Nina Stemme. As she showed at Glyndebourne a couple of years ago, she offers the most telling Isolde since Nilsson's at Bayreuth for Böhm; (…) To near-perfection she is the angry, frustrated woman of Act 1, the besotted lover of Act 2 and the transfigured Isolde of Act 3. Nothing in the long and taxing role escapes her notice, yet the detail is never exposed at the expense of the portrayal as a whole. (…) Mihoko Fujimura, Bayreuth's current Fricka and Waltraute, not only has a lovely voice but - like her mistress - never misses a point in the text. Hers is a lighter voice than that of most Brangänes (…). Over all presides the alert and commanding Pappano. This is not an interpretation in the timeless, deep vein of Furtwängler, more in the dramatic mode of Karajan in 1952 and Böhm. We are here concerned with a living drama, an aching tragedy played and played out through every bar with a pulsating energy tamed by a thoughtful mind."

Alan Blyth, Gramophone Magazine / September 2005

Once again the lonesome poet/warrior known as Der Blutharsch is back from the lands of Austria with a brand-new work. "The Pleasures Received in Pain", thirteen new tracks that lead us through his world of epic battles and war chants, sung in English on a background of stunning orchestral themes and ancient acoustic/folk sounds. Albin Julius, the man behind the project, has finally established his style and interests, his voice, which was perhaps the only aspect that wasn't completely appropriate in the previous releases, is now at its best. Respecting the tradition which comes down from Albin's previous project The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud, there are no titles for the tracks; nonetheless, among the lyrics, we can hear Der Blutharsch's anthems such as "We'll Never Give Up! And You?", or "The Pleasures Received in Pain". A great work, full of a fightin' spirit hard to find in today's flat music, which definitively sets up Der Blutharsch as being amongst the mightiest poets of modern Europa (source).

Frank Zappa - The Yellow Shark (1993) {1995 Ryko Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 400 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 166 Mb
Full Artwork + Full Booklet @ 600 dpi (tiff) -> 478 Mb
© 1995 Rykodisc / The Zappa Family Trust | RCD 40560
Classical / Modern Composition / Avant-Garde / Experimental

THE YELLOW SHARK consists of Frank Zappa compositions commissioned by the German orchestra Modern Ensemble in September 1992. The tracks included here are Zappa's reconstructions of these pieces, as well as early tracks and more recent songs.

Frank Zappa was not only a great satirist, an incredible guitarist and eclectic bandleader, he was also one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His avant-garde instrumental compositions ranged from the ridiculously absurd to outright masterpieces. On a series of European concerts in 1992, the unique Ensemble Modern performed many of Zappa's works for contemporary orchestra as well as arrangements of some of his instrumental rock pieces and assorted sketches. The recorded result is the magnificent THE YELLOW SHARK.

This once-in-a-lifetime event is one of the few chances to hear Zappa's compositional genius performed by an ensemble that could execute such dramatic colors and textures the way FZ intended. The grandeur of the opening "Dog Breath Variations" sets the stage for the ensuing hurricane of sounds. The agitation of "Outrage At Valdez" and the dark string ensemble piece "Times Beach II" are balanced by lighter works like "Be-Bop Tango" and "Pound For A Brown." "Food Gathering In Post-Industrial America, 1992" and "Welcome To The United States" are ingenious combinations of narration and sound effects yielding hilarious results. Finally, the closing "G-Spot Tornado" is a powerful exclamation of Zappa's contemporary compositional design.