In Abbado’s exalted account, the splendour and pageantry of Ancient Egypt are well-captured in the first two acts, to be succeeded by concern for the tormented fates of the lovers Aida and Radamès in Acts 3 and 4. Domingo is "near ideal" as the hero Radamès, while Katia Ricciarelli gives "a very involved, subtly defined account of her music".

(Gramophone)

From the Notes: Both the artists on these discs made their mark early on the musical scene. At the age of 17 Lili Kraus graduated with the highest honours from the Academy of Music in her native Budapest [where Kodály and Bartók had been among her teachers] and went on to study with Schnabel at the Vienna Conservatory, where, only three years later, she was appointed professor. Willi Boskovsky [her junior by four years] at the age of 17 won the Kreisler Prize at the Vienna Academy, where he became professor at 25. He was already a member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, but in 1939, at the early age of 30, he was appointed one of that prestigious body's concertmasters, and remained in that post for 32 years. … Meanwhile Lili Kraus had toured the world in the early 1930's, gaining a considerable reputation as an interpreter of the Viennese classics from Haydn to Schubert….

Music for piano solo, or the result of arrangements for more than one piano, or for piano and cello, with an interpretative richness and depth such as to place the "classic" composer Philip Glass in a position of absolute distinction. With its absence of refrains and points of melodic support, it has the flavour of an opera which, above and beyond the so-called minimalist movement, now belongs in the history of contemporary music.

John McLaughlin - Floating Point (2008)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 419 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 139 Mb | Artwork
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Jazz / Fusion / World Fusion / Indian

From his wiry, Eastern-influenced solos on Miles Davis's BITCHES BREW through his world fusion forays with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti, guitar virtuoso John McLaughlin has always shown a keen interest in Indian music. Some 40 years into his career, that influence still holds sway, as 2009's FLOATING POINT attests. Though the synth guitar and polished production make the album less edgy than some of McLaughlin's work from the 1970s, there's no shortage of stunning instrumental work and bold, brain-bending ideas. Recorded in India with mostly Indian musicans, FLOATING POINT is another impressive notch in the guitar icon's lifelong pursuit of East-West fusion.

For Floating Point, which was recorded in India, McLaughlin used several of the best Indian musicians in the world. "Now while this CD features predominantly Indian musicians, we are in quite another form compared to the group Shakti," McLaughlin says. "