Concept album by Elvenpath guitarist Till Oberboßel feat. Alexx Stahl (Roxxcalibur), Jutta Weinhold (ex-Zed Yago, Jutta Weinhold Band), Thassilo Herbert (Dragonsfire) and Leo Stivala (Forsaken) on vocals, Michael Petrick (Synchronic) and Oliver Rossow (Elvenpath) on guitars. LUCID DREAMING do not blow up their sound with over-produced keyboards and also do not care for thousands of effects – they simply limit themselves to the classic structures of Power Metal: guitars, bass, drums, plus driving rhythms. That distinguishes them from their competitors like Ayreon, Avantasia, or Missa Mercuria.

Keystone is the solo debut from Italian keyboardist Alessandro Bertoni, currently based in Los Angeles. You may know Alessandro from his earlier band Aphelion, who released the album Franticode in 2008. That CD was mixed by Derek Sherinian - and Alessandro's new album sees that collaboration continue.

. . . vocal subtleties achieve their own high definition, and we can better appreciate the period theorbo and recorders that conductor Harry Bicket adds for flavoring in the pit. Via this medium, characters give every sign of communicating with one another, while the producer's agile camera focuses tightly on individual expressions to register the characterizations that are so crucial to Baroque opera's theater of personality. It also helps that this matinée in December 2011 finds Renée Fleming, as Rodelinda, and countertenor Andreas Scholl, as the deposed king Bertarido, in stronger vocal form than when the revival opened a month earlier. The soprano invests her high-speed passagework with convincing venom in arias such as "Morrai, sì" and, when the occasion demands, spins a subtle line, easing effortlessly in and out of trills . . . David J. Baker, Opera News

Largely overlooked during his formative years, Art Farmer's consistently inventive playing was more greatly appreciated as he continued to develop. Along with Clark Terry, Farmer helped to popularize the flügelhorn among brass players. His lyricism gave his bop-oriented style its own personality. Farmer studied piano, violin, and tuba before settling on trumpet.

Christine Brewer - Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod / Strauss: Tod und Verklärung, 4 Last Songs
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra / Donald Runnicles
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 252 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Telarc # CD-80661 | Country/Year: US 2006
Genre: Classical | Style: Opera, Songs, Vocal

…Nowhere is this overindulgence as exciting but in his rendering here of Strauss' Death and Transfiguration. Charged with energy, depth, and intellect, this is one of the finest modern-day accounts of this work ever recorded. Telarc's sound is naturally clear and deep, which makes for a riveting compact disc all the way around. If you aren't familiar with Runnicles or his work, you deserve to know both him and it. This recording is not to be missed.

Dans cet enregistrement, Arthur Schoonderwoerd tente de retrouver l'esprit et le mouvement des Danses de Chopin. Des pièces qui, en leurs temps, étaient aussi bien jouées au concert que dans les bals.
Combien de fois avons-nous entendu les danses de Chopin jouées dans des tempos insolents ? Sans doute, pour les interprêtes, fallait-il souligner l'audace du compositeur et la tentation était grande de donner à sa musique une dimension supplémentaire : pour les uns ce fut la vitesse, pour d'autre le sérieux.
Aujourd'hui, le pianiste Arthur Schoonderwoerd se porte contre cette tradition d'interprétation. Ce faisant, il traque ce qui avait troublé les contemporains de Chopin et cherche un chemin de pensée dans les rythmes et les couleurs d'un piano formidablement poétique. (Mathias Heizmann)

VA - The Producers: Original Broadway Cast Recording
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 410 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Sony Classical # SK 89646 | Country/Year: US 2001
Genre: Pop, Stage & Screen, Classical | Style: Musical, Modern Classical

…The Producers' (Original Broadway Cast Recording) is an excellent representation of the show, with key bits of dialogue from the book between the songs. It's the next best thing to seeing the actual play.

Ralf Uhrlandt's third solo album (after 'Schlafphase' in 1999 and 'Expedition' in 2002) for Elektrolux gets into the multifaceted world of electronic music - between the power of narrative vision, harmonic complexity, musical outlines and, somehow, also pop. Here, 'Odyssee' also means exploring the sound options of the in-between. The hypnotic abundance allows a playful liaison of dramatic strings and accordion-like sounds ('Vega'), bewitching epic early nineties Dubtrance ('Voltage'), oriental-influenced blues in violin heaven ('Nirgendwo') and synthie pop melancholy of tragic beauty with intensive vocals by Teloy ('Gone', 'We Carry On').