This is Volume 5 of Chandos’s indispensable Frank Bridge series. The Suite for Strings is superbly done, Richard Hickox being fully alive to the wide range of moods that make up the four movements. Drawing excellent playing, Hickox catches the rumination and growth of the opening Prelude, the perkiness and expressive asides of the Intermezzo creates a haunting atmosphere for the introspective Nocturne, and the Finale scampers with good humor.

Most jazz fans know Johnny Hartman from the famous album he recorded with John Coltrane in the early '60s. However, the singer had an illustrious career prior to that, recording for a variety of labels including Bethlehem, which released this album for the first time in 1956, six years before the Coltrane session. Of all Hartman's earlier albums, Songs from the Heart is the best place to start. It features the crooner fronting a small band, which gives the proceedings a more intimate ambience than Hartman's forays as a big-band singer (with Dizzy Gillespie, among others). The small ensemble suits Hartman's romantic melancholia perfectly; the album is like one long sob. His smoky baritone fits the mood, and the band follows in suit with some tender but evocative stylings. Considering pianist Ralph Sharon has backed up Tony Bennett for decades, it's not surprising to find in his early work an elegant smoothness. Consisting mostly of standards like "Ain't Misbehavin'," "I Fall in Love Too Easily," and "I'll Remember April," this is the perfect album for pouring a good stiff drink and drowning one's sorrows (especially on a cold winter night). A stand-out track is "Down in the Depths," where Hartman gets carried away, and apparently so does the band: the tangling between bassist Jay Cave and Sharon is the most exciting moment on the album.

Salon de Femmes in St. Petersburg:
Works by Cardon, Cimarosa, Galuppi, Koslovski, Kourakin, Manfredini, Paisiello, Sarti
Classical | 1 CD | EAC | FLAC, CUE, LOG | Scans | 357 MB | RS
Recorded: June 2000, Eglise Notre-Dame de Bon Secours, Paris
Released: 2001 | Label: Opus 111 OP 30299 | TT: 76:36
Olga Pasichnyk - soprano, Mara Galassi - harp, Musica Petropolitana

From the time of the reign of the empress Elizabeth Petrovna a different way of life began to establish itself in Russia, and a different kind of woman, not only aristocratic through birth but also because she belonged to a creative élite: a woman at one and the same time musician, poetess and composer of ballads, who sang and played several instruments […] These 'new' aristocrats adopted European manners, combining them with typically Russian tradition. (Irina Chudinova)

Greece appears to be a home to a very few Black Metal bands, but a very well selected few. So, why is this album, and Astarte all together so special? Well, first of all, "Rise From Within" itself is a very, very good and somewhat original release. Second, the band is composed of a group of ladies that look like they could have easily switched to modelling careers in case the music one failed. Lucky for us, that wasn't the case, because these gals took up their instruments and created some really worthwhile hardcore music.

Vampiria takes aspects of death, doom, black, progressive, and powermetal. There is also some gothic influence as well. It's almost seems like the band was composed of members from Dimmu Borgir, Theatre of Tragedy, Mental Home, and Anathema. But that is not the truth here, this is a totally different band. There is not a bad song on this CD. "Among Mortals" starts off with an instrumental track that is perfect to start with. Then they continue this album of epic proportions with tracks like "Legacy Of Blood," "Ambassador Of Morning (Salve Luxfer)," and "Brother Wolf (The Path Of Seventh Moon)," and that's just the first few tracks. The ten songs on this album last over fifty-two minutes, plenty of time for you to figure out that this is a damn good CD! "The Hand Of Death" and "Legend Of A Curse" are two other tracks that I enjoyed quite a bit. There are other good songs on this CD, but Im not gonna sit hear and just list the tracks for you. The best way to find out more about this band, and I highly recommend it