Along with Leos Janacek, Bohuslav Martinu was one of the twin giants of Czech music in the twentieth century, a composer with a distinctly individual voice and a versatility that led him to excel in every medium from stage works to symphonies to string quartets. Martinu was born in the Moravian town of Policka. Starting violin lessons at the of seven, he gave his first recital when he was 15. By the age of 10 he had written his first compositions; his juvenilia include songs, piano music, symphonic poems, string quartets, and ballets. In 1906, he entered Prague Conservatory, but reading and the theater diverted Martinu from his studies, and he was finally expelled for "incorrigible negligence" in 1910. However, he continued composing. Exempted, as a …….
From Allmusic

Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educator, and ethnomusicolgist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now Romania), on March 25, 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies at the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works – most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) – Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály, he traveled throughout Hungary ……..

From Allmusic

“The cast is a dream team” wrote the Financial Times after the premiere of this production of Verdi’s La forza del destino at the Wiener Staatsoper. Topping the list is Nina Stemme, who gives a full-blooded portrayal of Leonora. Passionate forceful readings are also provided by Salvatore Licitra as Alvaro and Carlos Álvarez as Don Carlo. Zubin Mehta leads Staatsoper Orchestra with agility, subtleness and relaxed mastery, and right from the start David Poutney establishes an atmosphere of entrapment by fate. With the aid of a bizarre, unforgettable stage construction, the acclaimed director finds an ideal setting to illustrate the merciless powers of chance and destiny.

Sonic's Rendezvous Band - Sweet Nothing (CD 1998)
WV-IMG+CUE+LOG or MP3 CBR 320 | Complete Scanwork | 406 or 128 MB
Scorching live recording from the Second Chance, Ann Arbor, on April 4, 1978, +

Sonic's Rendezvous Band - City Slang (CD 1999)
WV-IMG+CUE+LOG or MP3 CBR 320 | Complete Scanwork | 525 or 170 MB
Live recording from various venues in 1978-79 that captures the band in full flight

In the Midwest during the 1970s, you would be hard-pressed to find a rock group with a more impressive pedigree than Sonic's Rendezvous Band, which brought together members of four key bands from the fabled Detroit/Ann Arbor rock scene of the late '60s – Fred "Sonic" Smith of the MC5, Scott Morgan of the Rationals, Gary Rasmussen of the Up, and Scott Asheton of the Stooges. Among fans of high-energy Michigan rock, Sonic's Rendezvous Band would – with the passage of time – become nearly as legendary as their forebears, but it would be years before listeners outside of the Midwest had much of a chance to hear their music; fate seemed to conspire against them while they were together, and one of the most talented and powerful acts of its day ended up releasing only a one-song single during its six-year lifespan.

Friedrich Gulda was frequently called "eccentric," mainly because he was one of those rare musicians who could see the connections between classical music and jazz, and because he could perform equally well in both arenas. Joe Zawinul is another pianist who "gets" it, and he and Gulda frequently collaborated. This recording is from two concerts they did together in May 1988 at one of Gulda's festivals, and it tries to straddle the line between classical and jazz.