Lute music in Germany is closely associated with the name Silvius Leopold Weiss who influenced generations of lutenists with his outstanding compositions and was the cornerstone of German lute music. As his oeuvre has already enjoyed a wide distribution and substantial appreciation, this anthology only touches on a few individual works as reference points and places a greater focus on Weiss’s musical environment and legacy. A particular focus is given to Bayreuth which developed into a regional cultural centre for the lute thanks to the encouragement of the Margravine Wilhelmine, the sister of Frederick the Great.

This 10 CD set offers an exciting overview of some of the most important recordings made by American jazz stars in Paris in the Fifties. They are milestones of Modern Jazz, Bebop and Hard Bop recorded by some of the most important players of the time, including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Lionel Hampton, Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan, Mary Lou Williams, Lester Young and Donald Byrd. Treated like second class citizens at home, many American jazz stars not only got more recognition and respect in the French capital, but found much better playing conditions as well. From concert-halls like "L'Olympia" to the clubs of the "Latin Quarter" they were appreciated and celebrated, and their music met with a glowing enthusiasm.

Universal’s 2012 collection Icon is a 19-track overview of the Cranberries’, offering all their biggest hits – “Dreams,” “Linger,” “Zombie,” “Salvation,” “Ode to My Family,” “Ridiculous Thoughts” – and digging into some album tracks, resulting in a good sampler of the band at its peak.

Years ago when Eastgate started the Booster compilation series, it used to be mainly a collection of cupdisc titles and newly recorded music material originally composed for various occasions. We never thought that it will become one of the best accepted CD releases out of our very extensive catalogue. Now we've achieved Booster number 5, a very special collection because the band themselves selected it out of a variety of known and unknown material. We do hope that this record will become a good companion during your diverse daily activities or private moments. Enjoy more than two hours of Tangerine Dream's description of another time in another country - far far away…

There aren't too many bands out there that can say they have been around for a decade, let alone a quarter of a century. For those few that manage to hit the twenty five year mark, some sort of celebration is usually in order. Some might go on a world tour and appeal to their aging fanbase, while others may record an album or release a collection of shelved demo tracks for the diehard followers to eat up. Of course, Therion have never been known to follow in the footsteps of others. Although the operatic symphonic metal style is all-too common in current metal culture, Therion carved out their own niche, unshackling from their death metal roots and taking a more sophisticated and experimental approach to the symphonic style. With that in mind, it's no surprise that Therion didn't decide to celebrate things the regular way; instead, they went ahead and did an album of 1960's French pop song covers…

Elmore James Jr., son of the great Elmore James, is an accomplished and masterful Chicago blues singer, slide guitarist, and former rock & roll drummer. Second CD for Wolf Records, titled Old School Lover, is one of the best traditional Chicago blues albums of 2012. Includes six new songs and six traditional tunes in the Chicago blues style. Features Eddie Taylor Jr., Ed Williams, and Illinois Slim.

First performed at the Paris Opéra in 1802, Sémiramis by Charles-Simon Catel is an example of the revival at that time of the tragédie lyrique inherited from Gluck. A work with a touch of exoticism (Babylon), expressing the pathos of isolation, but also with pomp in its ambitious finales, the work bade farewell to the ‘Louis-XVI style’ and announced, in a neo-Classical style, the grand opéra of the Romantic period. But it came at a time of polemics between supporters and detractors of the new Paris Conservatoire, where Catel, at that time professor of harmony there, had made so many enemies that the audience pit at the Opera was bristling with vengeful hostility when the curtain rose on the first act…

It is well known that Bach was a keen recycler – always borrowing old musical ideas and refashioning them for different expressive purposes. The Oster Oratorium is no exception in that its origins can be traced back to a secular cantata written in 1725 to celebrate the birthday of Duke Christian of Saxony-Weissenfels. Little over a month later the cantata was performed again, this time with an amended text and new recitatives to suit the celebration of Easter Sunday, but it was not until 1735 that the composer, having made further alterations to the work’s structure and scoring, chose to give it the revised title ‘oratorio’.

This 2007 recording of J.S. Bach's Johannes Passion, featuring Concerto d'Amsterdam and the Flemish vocal ensemble La Furia, uses the 1725 version of the piece, which substitutes some movements (most noticeably the opening chorus) more staid than those of the 1724 version. That decision to go for restraint rather than passion carries over to the performance style, as well, which tends to be reserved and tastefully correct rather than stirringly dramatic. It couldn't be characterized as flaccid because there is certainly a high energy level when appropriate, but even in these sections the performers seem more concerned with brisk precision than with stirring the blood.

There is so little professionally shot video footage of Roy Buchanan officially available, that this frustratingly short half-hour set is a major find for the late guitarist's devoted fan base. Recorded November 15, 1976 when he was 37, the Austin City Limits DVD doesn't add extra footage to what was originally telecast, and is one of the few ACL videos not to do so…

"Let The Music Play" is the authorized story of The Doobie Brothers from their beginnings as a biker band in California in 1970, through their breakthrough with "Listen To The Music" in 1972, sustained success and line-up changes in the mid-seventies and their change of musical direction and further success following the arrival of Michael McDonald in 1976…

This is the third album from the same GH line-up with Steve Babb (bass/ keys/backing vocals) and Fred Schendel (keys/guitars/backing vocals) with Kamran Alan Shikoh (guitars) and Jon Davidson (vocals) along with Randall Williams sessioning on drums plus assorted guests. Here we have a concept album (not unfamiliar territory for GH) which is based on what happens when we walk through the gates into the cemetery beyond, and start a journey which can be "Perilous". Sure, there are Yes comparisons to be made here. Frontman Jon Davison is, in his highest range, a dead ringer for Jon Anderson - to the point that he’s been asked to take over as lead singer in Yes, but these guys are not Yes clones.

Gregorian Journey (2012). Gregorian Journey is an album that draws on a variety of complementary musical traditions, but features Gregorian Chant as a common theme throughout. The depth of spirituality and tradition therein has been combined with more contemporary chill and ambient styles to provide an hour of blissful listening full of sacred mysticism and ancient wonder…

Thirty years on from their acclaimed recording for Erato, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir return to the Bach Motets in a new SDG recording, taken from a concert in London last year at the end of a tour which saw performances in Italy, France, The Netherlands and Germany. The Motets can be seen as some of Bach’s most perfect and hypnotic compositions. Through their extraordinary complexity and density, they require exceptional virtuosity and sensitivity of all the performers. Each of them is endlessly fascinating, and each inhabits its own sound world, Bach's masterful use of canon, fugue and counterpoint, the brilliant exploitation of double-choir sonorities are perfectly matched by the Monteverdi Choir's virtuosity.

Before the early 20th century, any list of significant Western composers would have included Benedetto Marcello. Through his advocacy of a return to the proportional values and simplicity of ancient Roman civilization, he helped set the stage for the Classical era in Western music, soon to unseat the aesthetic norms of the Baroque in which he lived.