The sixth volume of our complete recording of Bach's cantatas inaugurates the long series of sacred cantatas written during the composer's years in Leipzig. With a single exception, the cantatas included in the present release belong to the first annual cycle and date from 1723/24.The cycle begins with Cantatas 75 and 76, with which the recently installed Thomaskantor took up his new appointment in April 1723.

Both these works are unashamedly Romantic and nostalgic in style. The E minor Piano Concerto was composed in 1960, at the same time as Rota's music for Fellini's film La dolce vita. As if in answer to the extreme cynicism of that and much of his other film music, the concerto seems to be a questioning exploration of the remaining possibilities in a modern, Romantic form. The opening Allegro-tranquillo movement begins with a dreamlike theme on the piano which is then taken up by the orchestra and developed as a sort of conversation – the orchestra insisting on a heroic, almost martial sound, while the piano and woodwind reiterate the original soft mood.

Synthetic Block (1998). Jonathan Block records as Synthetic Block. Synthetic Block is also the title of his debut release. He combines sequences and atmospheres to create little pockets of energy. It is all very tidy and systematic. Block sets his compositions with right angles and exact circles. He puts square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes. The scientific approach, while it seems harsh, works well for Block. The atmospheres are gentle and warm. The soundscapes are friendly and inviting. This is a very nice debut. It will appeal to fans of Ron Boots, Dave Fulton, and Paul Ellis…

Georgian composer Giya Kancheli's music ranges from brash to deeply personal. His scores explore dynamic and rhythmic extremes, and almost seem to be a soundtrack for angular, rhapsodic dreams. At times the orchestra swells to a heavy Russian march complete with bells and drums, and at other times there is near silence. The two works presented on this CD are enigmatic, yet one can sense that the materials are steeped in history, memory and drama.

"Namakar" is a description of our different initiation rites; australian-aboriginal, egyptian, red indian and tibetan. like the four dimensions these are four possible cardinal-points to consider the own psyche, the most fascinating and complex building of the creative-genius; the divine in me is greeting the divine in you… in remembrance to the great sacred spirit testimony of our anchestors.

There is a certain attraction to music of the viola da gamba, but usually, a few tunes are enough. Not that the gamba is not a beautiful instrument: round and rich-toned, supremely sensitive to the touch, and sublimely evocative of the human voice, the gamba is arguably one of the most soulful instruments ever devised. But the repertoire for the gamba makes extended listening emotionally fatiguing. The French music veers from the sentimental to the suicidal, the German repertoire ranges from the dour to the dismal, and the English repertoire is so fatalistic as to hardly exist in this world. Thus, getting through a whole disc of the gamba is like playing Russian roulette: the more you play, the more likely it is that you'll come to grief. But not on this disc by Jordi Savall.

Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s which consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty; bassist Stu Cook; and drummer Doug Clifford. These members had played together since 1959, first as The Blue Velvets and later as The Golliwogs. Their musical style encompassed roots rock, swamp rock, and blues rock. They played in a Southern rock style, despite their San Francisco Bay Area origin, with lyrics about bayous, catfish, the Mississippi River, and other popular elements of Southern United States iconography, as well as political and socially conscious lyrics about topics including the Vietnam War.

This, Vivaldi's very first opera, was premièred in Vicenza in 1713 and was an instant hit. The story is a relatively uncomplicated one by the standards of Baroque opera, of amatory pretences and misunderstandings: it has been admirably summarised by Eric Cross (who has edited the work) as a 'light-weight, amoral entertainment in which the flirtatious Cleonilla consistently has the upper hand, and gullible Emperor Ottone (a far from heroic figure) never discovers the truth about the way he has been deceived'. The score proceeds in a succession of secco recitatives (with just a very occasional accompagnato) and da capo arias – which the present cast ornament very stylishly.

The Christmas Attic is the second album by the American rock band Trans-Siberian Orchestra, released in 1998. The cover art is by Edgar Jerins. On November 18, 2004, The Christmas Attic was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Trans-Siberian Orchestra's second album, Christmas Attic, may not be as focused or serious as Christmas Eve, but it is just as enjoyable and maybe even more consistent, thanks to Paul O'Neill's increasingly impressive compositions and an improved musicality.

Originally issued as two seperate albums, Truth and Beck-Ola are brought together here on one CD. Truth is the debut album by Jeff Beck, released in 1968 in the United Kingdom on Columbia Records and in the United States on Epic Records. It introduced the talents of his backing band The Jeff Beck Group, specifically Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, to a larger audience, and peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200. Beck-Ola is the second album by Jeff Beck, released in 1969 in the United Kingdom on Columbia Records and in the United States on Epic Records. It peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200, and at No. 39 on the British album chart. The album’s title puns on the name of the Rock-Ola jukebox company.

For all intents and purposes, Whitney Houston retired from being a full-fledged recording artist after her third album, 1990s I'm Your Baby Tonight, choosing to be a Streisand-like celebrity who cultivated a career through movies, soundtrack contributions, and social appearances. She may have been content to continue in that direction for many years if Arista president Clive Davis didn't push her into recording My Love Is Your Love, her first album in eight years, which easily ranks among her best. Never before has Houston tried so many different sounds or tried so hard to be hip.

Nothing could be more appropriate in celebrating Victoria de los Angeles’s 75th birthday than this extensive conspectus of her recordings of Spanish song over 40 years. It’s hardly possible in a brief review to do justice to such an astonishing achievement on the part of the Spanish soprano; indeed had she sung nothing else her place in recorded history would be assured.

Mozart did not know how quickly to get out of Salzburg once he developed his own ambitions, but Johann Michael Haydn (1737-1806) apparently had a great time there. Joseph Haydn's little brother learned music as a choirboy in Vienna, worked for several years in Großwarden and Bratislava before settling in Salzburg in 1762. He stayed there until his death. In the correspondence of the Mozart family, Michael Haydn does not come off well; he is portrayed as a lazy figure who regularly looks too deep into the glass. However, excessive alcohol consumption has not stopped him from writing an extensive oeuvre of church music, operas and instrumental music in all genres.