Ronald Brautigam, Die Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens – Wilms: The Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 59:23 minutes | 1,03 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © BIS
Born in the vicinity of Cologne, only two years after and some sixty km distant from Beethoven, Johann Wilhelm Wilms was once a musical force to be reckoned with. In Amsterdam, where he lived from the age of 19, his music was actually performed more frequently than Beethoven’s at one period, and his orchestral works were played in such musical centres as Leipzig. Besides chamber music and solo sonatas, Wilms composed several symphonies and concertos, among them piano concertos for his own use.
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Ron Caines, Martin Archer Axis – Port of Saints (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:14:25 minutes | 855 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Discus Music
“Imagine the AACM contingent crossing paths with Keith Tippett’s Centipede, injected with a healthy dose of contemporary electronic sound design, and you’ll get some feel for the diverse breadth of Axis’s multi-dimensional constructs.” – Darren Bergstein, DMG NYC
The 14 tracks are organised into 3 suites, each of which plays without break. It’s recommended that you listen to the album in Suite form, but all 14 tracks are also included individually.
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Rodolphe Menguy – Rhapsodies hongroises (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:00:03 minutes | 539 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Mirare
In his very first album, pianist Rodolphe Menguy invites us to reflect on two groups of composers (Bartók / Kodály versus Franz Liszt) and how they dealt with traditional music but also what influence this had on the evolution of music-writing – thereby on the evolution of pianism. An ambitious programme that reveals a more than promising talent.
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Roberto Abbado – Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (Live) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 02:12:35 minutes | 1,32 GB | Genre: Classical, Opera
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Dynamic
On 7th February 1857, after a delay of one year due to problems of copyright on a possible production of King Lear, Verdi accepted and signed a new agreement with the Teatro di San Carlo of Naples for an opera to be staged in January or February 1858. Not long after he had put behind the experiences of Simon Boccanegra (June 1857) and Aroldo (August), Verdi, then, had to face the issue of a new subject for Naples, which would no longer be King Lear, discarded for various reasons, and not even El tesorero del Rey by António García Gutiérrez or Ruy Blas by Hugo, to which he had given more serious thought, but Gustave III by Eugène Scribe, a play written in 1833 for Daniel Auber in which the king of Sweden is assassinated, in 1792, by a group of noblemen led by Jacob Ankarström. The composition of the score, between October 1857 and January 1858, went hand in hand with Verdi’s complex relationship with the Neapolitan censors, who would end up distorting the libretto and unnerving the composer to the point that he ended up refusing to stage the opera and breaking his agreement with the theatre.
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Guarnieri Roberto – Calace: Complete Guitar Works (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:17 minutes | 1,27 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Tactus
In Raffaele Calace’s considerable musical production – approximately 200 opus numbers – 9 pieces are for solo guitar, obviously not including his single composition for Hawaiian guitar, Piccolo fiore op. 168. This statistical datum takes on a greater importance if we consider that Calace’s other solo pieces were all for the two main instruments to which he devoted his existence, the mandolin and the cantabile lute: for these instruments he composed respectively 30 and 26 works, in addition to his handbooks, which are a fundamental point of reference for the modern teaching of these instruments. Nonetheless, it would be a mistake to consider this production unworthy of interest: it shows us the taste and charm of a period, and offers us compositions that are refined and far from commonplace. These pieces convey the emotions and intimacy of the romanticism that could be felt in drawing-room music, during the so-called “periodiche”, the musical gatherings in the Neapolitan middle-class homes. The young guitarist Roberto Guarnieri plays Calace’s music on a precious 1936 “Mozzani” guitar part of the collection of the Modenese luthier Lorenzo Frignani.
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Roberta Piket, Harvie S, Billy Mintz – You’ve Been Warned (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 51:44 minutes | 1,07 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sunnyside
The efforts put forth by ensembles comprised of friends always seem to have a special spark. When such a group comes together under ideal circumstances, the results can be spellbinding. Take note: This is exactly the case with the collaborative group of pianist Roberta Piket, bassist Harvie S, and drummer Billy Mintz on their new recording, You’ve Been Warned.
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Root Area – The Ray Session (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 42:41 minutes | 476 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Lamento Records
Their very latest program “RAY” is a bow to the “high priest of soul”, to Ray Charles. Without taking away the essence of his music, ROOT AREA has turned Ray Charles’ classics into completely original instrumental pieces that sound as if they had never existed any other way. And above all, they retain that “scream”, that bluesy quality that is the urgency of Ray Charles’ music. The energy and ferocity, the groove and the fat arrangements of two saxophones and Hammond remain ROOT AREA’s trademark in their latest program…
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Ronisia – Ronisia (Version Deluxe) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:00:45 minutes | 686 MB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Epic
Ronisia is originally from Grigny, in Essonne. She launches into music in 2019 by unveiling her first track Plus de peine during the month of May this year. She follows up the singles until the release of the one that will allow her to be noticed by the labels: Landing1. This title is having an impact on the TikTok social network with the #Landingchallenge, having allowed the clip to reach 50 million views at the end of 20212. In the meantime, she signed with Epic Records France in October 2020.
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