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Playboy Magazine's Iconic Alcohol Advertising in the 1980s

Playboy Magazine, a hallmark of 20th-century popular culture, was known for many things - its groundbreaking interviews, in-depth articles, and iconic centerfolds. But, often overlooked, was its strategic and stylish portrayal of alcohol advertising, particularly during the exuberant decade of the 1980s.

Playboy Magazine's Iconic
Alcohol Advertising in the 1980s

William Christie, Les Arts Florissants - Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Judicium Salomonis (2006)

Posted By: ArlegZ
William Christie, Les Arts Florissants - Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Judicium Salomonis (2006)

William Christie, Les Arts Florissants - Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Judicium Salomonis (2006)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 333 Mb | Total time: 63:00 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Virgin Classics | # 3 59294 2 | Recorded: 2005

This Virgin Classics release reunites William Christie and Les Arts Florissants with the music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, a composer for whom it can be said Christie has done more to expose than any other he has taken on. This is saying a lot, as Christie has also made extensive recorded forays into the works of Campra, Lully, Montéclair, Monteverdi, Purcell, and in particular, Handel. However, Charpentier remains a special case to Christie, and there is still a monumental amount of unrecorded music by this composer to exploit. The two works on Virgin Classics' Charpentier: Judicium Salomonis actually have been recorded before, though not often and not by well-known groups like Christie's – the Motet pour une longue Offrande has been recorded by Philippe Herreweghe and that's about it in terms of the competition.

Bernard Labadie, Les Violons du Roy, La Chapelle de Quebec - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem (2015)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Bernard Labadie, Les Violons du Roy, La Chapelle de Quebec - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem (2015)

Bernard Labadie, Les Violons du Roy, La Chapelle de Québec - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem (2015)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 230 Mb | Total time: 52:59 | Scans included
Classical | Label: ATMA Classique | # ACD2 2722 | Recorded: 2001

This is an ATMA Classique reissue of one of Les Violons du Roy’s seminal discs: the orchestra’s 2002 Dorian label recording of Mozart’s Requiem as revised and completed by Robert D. Levin. The recording won the JUNO® Award for Best Classical Album of the year in the Vocal or Choral Performance category. Founding conductor Bernard Labadie brought Les Violons du Roy and its the fifteen member core together in 1984. The ensemble specializes in the vast repertoire of music for chamber orchestra, performed on modern instruments but in a stylistic manner most appropriate to the work’s era.

Ensemble Meridien; Laia Frigole, Juan de la Rubia - A German Soul: Devotional Music from 17th-century Hamburg (2014)

Posted By: Designol
Ensemble Meridien; Laia Frigole, Juan de la Rubia - A German Soul: Devotional Music from 17th-century Hamburg (2014)

A German Soul - Devotional Music from 17th-century Hamburg (2014)
Ensemble Méridien; Laia Frigolé, soprano; Juan de la Rubia, organ

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 340 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 154 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Brilliant Classics | # 94717 | Time: 01:04:06

This stylishly devised programme juxtaposes cantatas by Rosenmüller, Krieger and Buxtehude with instrumental chorales and sonatas by Scheidemann, Praetorius, Tunder and Weckmann; most of these now known, if at all widely, as forerunners to Bach rather than as fine musicians in their own right as they deserve to be. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Hamburg became a leading commercial port where material and cultural goods circulated freely. Ensemble Méridien has chosen this city as the focal point of a fascinating musical journey through northern Germany, a journey that reveals different aspects of this artistic power. The port of Hamburg was also the driving force behind the north German organ school of the time. Churches were overflowing with magnificent organs, and their building and playing techniques reached extremely high standards, as is evident from the organ music included here. Though most of the music in this recital has been recorded before, it has only appeared on relatively obscure labels, and not in this imaginative context where one may more fully appreciate its dramatic as well as musical merits.

Olivier Schneebeli, Les Pages et les Chantres, Musica Florea - Jean-Baptiste Lully: Grands Motets (2004)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Olivier Schneebeli, Les Pages et les Chantres, Musica Florea - Jean-Baptiste Lully: Grands Motets (2004)

Olivier Schneebeli, Les Pages et les Chantres, Musica Florea - Jean-Baptiste Lully: Grands Motets (2004)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 284 Mb | Total time: 52:13 | Scans included
Classical | Label: K617 | # K617157 | Recorded: 2003

Grands motets, requiring lavish vocal and instrumental resources, always signalled important occasions at the French court. Until the advent of public concerts in Paris in the 1720s they were performed exclusively by the king's musicians for the court. Olivier Schneebeli has assembled an admirable survey of these large-scale settings of psalm texts, which were excerpted and arranged to convey doubles entendres flattering to Louis XIV and his policies. The music employs an orchestra with a full continuo complement, a choir and a petit choeur of soloists that relies on high male voices. The only concession to modern times is the use of sopranos instead of castrati in the top part and the inclusion of girls among the pages.

Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava - Bernat Vivancos: Requiem (2015) 2CDs

Posted By: Designol
Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava - Bernat Vivancos: Requiem (2015) 2CDs

Bernat Vivancos - Requiem (2015) 2CDs
Latvian Radio Choir; Sigvards Kļava, conductor

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 365 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 228 Mb | Artwork included
Classical, Choral | Label: Neu Records | # NEU 010 | Time: 01:37:54

Catalan composer Bernat Vivancos's 'Blanc', released by Neu Records in 2013, was an acclaimed double album of premiere recordings by the Latvian Radio Choir, one of the world's finest chamber choirs, conducted by Sigvards Klava. This follow-up reunites the composer with these forces in a performance of his profound Requiem. The renowned musician Jordi Savall first encountered - and was greatly moved by - Vivancos's music through 'Blanc'. He says: "The innovative richness of the works by Bernat Vivancos are, I believe, the clearest and most striking proof of the vitality of a new musical Renaissance. His extraordinary talent and his profound spirituality are placed at the service of a process that is the invention of a new language which, in spite of its complexity and modernity, is capable of transmitting to us pure beauty and emotion." Vivancos composed his Requiem - scored for mixed choir, soloists, cello soloist (here Pau Codina), cello quartet, accordion and percussion - in memory of his father.

Lisa Gerrard & Patrick Cassidy - Immortal Memory (2004)

Posted By: Designol
Lisa Gerrard & Patrick Cassidy - Immortal Memory (2004)

Lisa Gerrard & Patrick Cassidy - Immortal Memory (2004)
EAC | FLAC | Tracks (Cue&Log) ~ 283 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 131 Mb | Scans included | 00:57:07
Modern Classical, Vocal Music, World Fusion, Ambient | Label: 4AD | # CAD 2403 CD

Immortal Memory is a collaboration between vocalist Lisa Gerrard and Irish composer Patrick Cassidy. Billed as a cycle of life and death and rebirth, Immortal Memory is better described as an orphaned film score. Cassidy's warm arrangements allow the former Dead Can Dance singer to step out of the dark medieval world that she's called home for nearly 20 years – though there is much of that world within these castle walls – and focus on the simplicity of love, faith, and loss with a grace that's bereft of the icy perfection of her previous work. Gerrard, whose voice has aged like the finest oak, displays an almost supernatural mastery of the material. Her effortless contralto wraps itself around the ten Gaelic, Latin, and Aramaic spirituals like an evening prayer, making each stunning entrance the equivalent of audio comfort food.

Valeri Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Antonín Dvořák: Mass, Te Deum (1996)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Valeri Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Antonín Dvořák: Mass, Te Deum (1996)

Valeri Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Antonín Dvořák: Mass, Te Deum (1996)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 243 Mb | Total time: 64:44 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN9505 | Recorded: 1995

A performance like this makes me wonder why it isn’t (the Mass) performed more often… this mass is a treasury of beautiful sounds… I can’t imagine better readings than the ones here.

Frank Agsteribbe, CantoLX, B’rock Orchestra - Philippus van Steelant: Antwerp Requiem ca.1650 (2022)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Frank Agsteribbe, CantoLX, B’rock Orchestra - Philippus van Steelant: Antwerp Requiem ca.1650 (2022)

Frank Agsteribbe, CantoLX, B’rock Orchestra - Philippus van Steelant: Antwerp Requiem ca.1650 (2022)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 361 Mb | Total time: 74:35 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Pentatone | # PTC 5187 006 | Recorded: 2021

CantoLX, B'Rock Orchesta and conductor Frank Agsteribbe present Antwerp Requiem c. 1650, an album showcasing the exceptional wealth of musical life in Antwerp in the age of Rubens. Philippus van Steelant's recently-rediscovered Requiem settings are unique in their exuberant splendour, tied to a funerary culture that embraced the glory of life.

Valeri Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Alexander Grechaninov: Symphony No.4, Cello Concerto, Missa festiva (1997)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Valeri Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Alexander Grechaninov: Symphony No.4, Cello Concerto, Missa festiva (1997)

Valeri Polyansky, Russian State Symphony Orchestra - Alexander Grechaninov: Symphony No.4, Cello Concerto, Missa festiva (1997)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 306 Mb | Total time: 74:16 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 9559 | Recorded: 1996

Grechaninov’s long life (1864-1956) covered much, from birth in Moscow and training with Rimsky-Korsakov to exile when he was already old, and death in New York. His quiet Russian lyricism never left him, and his idiom did not range as wide as his experience. The Missa festiva is one of several attempts at reconciling Eastern and Western traditions, and to this Orthodox composer’s surprise it won a prize in 1937 for a setting of the Catholic liturgy. As in his subsequent Missa oecumenica, he tries to bring together different styles, making use of Gregorian-influenced melodies but avoiding the use of polyphony in favour of a more chordal, Russian manner; however, there is an important part for the organ. The most successful movements are the closing “Benedictus” and Agnus Dei, where his essential gentleness finds touching expression.

Bevan Family Consort & Graham Ross - Vidi Speciosam: Sacred Choral Music (2023)

Posted By: delpotro
Bevan Family Consort & Graham Ross - Vidi Speciosam: Sacred Choral Music (2023)

Bevan Family Consort & Graham Ross - Vidi Speciosam: Sacred Choral Music (2023)
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 279 Mb | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 147 Mb | 01:04:03
Classical, Sacred, Choral | Label: Signum Classics

Soprano Mary Bevan writes: “In 1975, the original Bevan Family Choir released their debut album on vinyl, featuring an eclectic programme of sacred choral works, Welsh folk songs, and piano music."

Diego Fasolis, I Barocchisti - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat Mater, Laudate pueri, Confitebor (2013)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Diego Fasolis, I Barocchisti - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat Mater, Laudate pueri, Confitebor (2013)

Diego Fasolis, I Barocchisti, Julia Lezhneva, Philippe Jaroussky - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat Mater, Laudate pueri, Confitebor (2013)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 337 Mb | Total time: 71:00 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Erato | # 319147 2 | Recorded: 2012

Russian Julia Lezhneva here shows an admirably gutsy attitude toward developing her repertory, avoiding familiar milestones in favor of an original project. Here she is paired with French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky in a program of works by Pergolesi for two high voices, strings, and continuo: the Stabat mater, for which there are plenty of other recordings, and the less-common Laudate pueri dominum and Confitebor tibi Domine. The distinctive feature here – which might tempt some to use the word "gimmick," but listen before doing so – is that Lezhneva fashions her voice into a very close copy of Jaroussky's, which is not at all an easy thing to do. Put this together with the precise, rather edgy playing of I Barocchisti under Diego Fasolis, and the result is a rather otherworldly Stabat mater.

Harry Christophers, The Sixteen - Robert Fayrfax: Missa Albanus (1988)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Harry Christophers, The Sixteen - Robert Fayrfax: Missa Albanus (1988)

Harry Christophers, The Sixteen - Robert Fayrfax: Missa Albanus (1988)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 237 Mb | Total time: 49:42 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA66073 | Recorded: 1982

Although his music is rarely heard today, in the early 1500s Robert Fayrfax was a major composer. His 29 surviving works are less elaborate than those of his contemporaries, but are similarly built around alternating sections of imitative counterpoint and high treble parts supported by slow moving harmonies. The Sixteen delivers first-rate performances that successfully exploit the music's textural richness and unique color.

Max Emanuel Cencic - Fantastic Cencic [3CDs] (2016)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Max Emanuel Cencic - Fantastic Cencic [3CDs] (2016)

Max Emanuel Cencic - Fantastic Cencic (2016)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 0.97 Gb | Total time: 75:31+78:36+80:11 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Erato | # 0190295904722 | Recorded: 1992, 1993, 2007-2012

Even in an age of thrilling countertenors, Max Emanuel Cencic stands out for the heroic scale and brilliance of his voice, his expansive lyricism, and his imagination and enterprise in choice of repertoire. Cencic has excelled as both a soprano and a mezzo-soprano, and Fantastic Cencic showcases his extraordinary interpretative range – from the great and lesser-known masters of the Baroque to the bel canto of Rossini and composers of the Romantic era from Schubert to Strauss. The third of these three CDs comprises recordings from the early 1990s, shortly after Cencic left the Wiener Sängerknaben, which are released here for the first time.

Mauro Borgioni & Seicente Stravagante - Cazzati: Motets & Sonatas (2023)

Posted By: delpotro
Mauro Borgioni & Seicente Stravagante - Cazzati: Motets & Sonatas (2023)

Mauro Borgioni & Seicente Stravagante - Cazzati: Motets & Sonatas (2023)
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 389 Mb | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 179 Mb | 01:17:31
Classical, Sacred, Vocal | Label: Pan Classics

Mauro Borgioni (bass) dedicates this CD to the composer Cazzati. The focus is on solo motets for bass with concertante voices, for which he has enlisted the Ensemble Seicento Stravagante with organ, cornett and violin. The vocal works are complemented by instrumental sonatas by Cazzati.

Anja Harteros, Sonia Ganassi, Rolando Villazon, Rene Pape, Antonio Pappano – Verdi: Messa da Requiem (2009)

Posted By: tirexiss
Anja Harteros, Sonia Ganassi, Rolando Villazon, Rene Pape, Antonio Pappano – Verdi: Messa da Requiem (2009)

Anja Harteros, Sonia Ganassi, Rolando Villazon, Rene Pape, Antonio Pappano – Verdi: Messa da Requiem (2009)
EAC | APE (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 86:19 | 422 MB
Genre: Classical, Sacred | Label: EMI Classics | Catalog: 6 98936 2

The Verdi Messa da Requiem is probably the best known Requiem in the repertoire. Many great conductors have recorded it. I’m thinking of Toscanini at New York/1951, Victor De Sabata at Milan/1954 and probably the best known of all Carlo-Maria Giulini at London/1964-65. Some more recent versions have proved popular notably John Eliot Gardiner using period instruments in London/1992, Claudio Abbado at Berlin/2001 and also Nikolaus Harnoncourt at Vienna/2004.