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Isabel Bayrakdarian, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra & Constantine Orbelian – The Other Cleopatra: Queen of Armenia (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:04:04 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Delos
Yes, there was another Cleopatra! She was married to Tigranes the Great, King of Armenia, and together they created an Armenia that reached from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. The resplendent and regal voice of soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian is perfectly suited to the role of Cleopatra. Bayrakdarian shines in arias from three rarely heard operas about King Tigranes and his queen. Bayrakdarians multi-hued voice relates the passion, drama, and fervor of the love story of Tigranes and Cleopatra. Bayrakdarian sparkles in five arias from Il Tigrane by Baroque master Johann Adolph Hasse, famous in his day as one of the foremost composers of opera. Arias by Vivaldi and Gluck add further excitement to the album.Bayrakdarian is supported by the Grammy-nominated team of Constantine Orbelian the singers dream collaborator (Opera News) and his marvellous Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra.
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Isabel Bayrakdarian – Mother of Light: Armenian hymns and chants in praise of Mary (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:01:56 minutes | 2,17 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Delos
Soprano sorceress Isabel Bayrakdarian, acclaimed internationally for her glittering accomplishments on both stage and screen, presents – in this hypnotically alluring album of Armenian sacred music – a more spiritual aspect of her multifaceted musical persona.
Isabel conceived this project as a heartfelt gift to God for sparing the life of her mother, and the entire album is very much a “family affair.” Her husband arranged the pieces, her brother plays the ceremonial percussion instruments, and her two sisters join her to form a vocal trio in several tracks.
This spellbinding music – scored variously for solo and ensemble voices, cello and women’s choir – will take its fortunate listeners on a deeply spiritual and meditative journey of the soul.
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Isabel Bayrakdarian – Isabel Bayrakdarian – Armenian Songs for Children (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:13:00 minutes | 2,59 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Avie Records
Lebanese-born, Canadian-Armenian-American soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian is as celebrated for her beauty, dynamic presence, and style as for her strikingly multidimensional voice. With this deeply personal project, she gathers a selection of haunting and poignant lullabies that draw on the memories and experiences of the Armenian people. Twenty-nine tracks trace an arc from the Ottoman Empire through the Genocide and beyond, with songs and transcriptions by the country’s beloved folk composer Gomidas Vartabed, Parsegh Ganatchian who joined the diaspora in Lebanon, and Ganatchian’s contemporary Mihran Toumajan. For Isabel, these evocative songs span two centuries and five generations. Sung by her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother, and now to her own children, Isabel’s “Armenian Songs” have an appeal to children of all ages.
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Isaac Stern – The Very Best of Sibelius (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 03:04:27 minutes | 1,72 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BnF Collection
Isaac Stern was among the most distinguished of the world’s violinists. He achieved a strong rapport with his audience through his own personality and his visible love for the music, with an unerring command of the proper style for each work in his exceptionally wide repertoire. His technique was impeccable, his tone strong and warm, though not rich. He performed and recorded virtually the entire standard violin repertoire, including most of the many great violin concertos of the 1930s: those of Hindemith, Berg, Prokofiev (No. 2), Walton, Bartok (No. 2) and other works, some quite contemporary. His repertoire extended at least from Vivaldi to Dutilleux. Stern also dubbed on-screen appearances by actors impersonating violinists; his films include Humoresque, Tonight We Sing, and Fiddler on the Roof. Stern’s family moved to the United States and settled in San Francisco when he was one year old. His mother, a professional singer, gave him his first music lessons. He began studying the violin at the San Francisco Conservatory in 1928. In 1932 he became the third immensely talented San Francisco-area boy to train with the San Francisco Symphony concertmaster Louis Persinger (the others were Menuhin and Ruggiero Ricci). However, he considered Naoum Blinder, with whom he studied until the age of 15, his only true teacher. Stern made his debut with the San Francisco Symphony on February 18, 1936, with Pierre Monteux conducting the Third Concerto by Saint-Saëns. After his New York debut in 1937, he returned to San Francisco for further study. He re-entered concert life on February 18, 1939, again giving a recital in New York. Soon he was one of the leading American violinists, particularly noticed for his young age, and his January 8, 1943, recital at Carnegie Hall (his first solo performance there) was a smash hit. In 1943 and 1944 Stern entertained American troops in Iceland, Greenland, and the South Pacific. After the war he toured Australia in 1947, and made his first trip to Europe in 1948. He played at Pablo Casals’ Prades Festival from 1950-1952, and the Edinburgh Festival in 1953. His tour of the U.S.S.R. in 1956 was an early sign of one of the recurrent thaws in the Cold War. In 1960 he formed a durable trio with pianist Eugene Istomin and cellist Leonard Rose; the group played the complete trio literature by Beethoven in bicentennial celebrations of the composer’s birth. He recorded mostly for Columbia (which subsequently became CBS, then Sony Classics), with major orchestras and conductors, with the Stern-Rose-Istomin Trio, and in sonata and other duet repertory with his regular partner, Alexander Zakin. He made several appearances at the White House. In the late 1950s, when the City of New York planned the construction of the Lincoln Center complex, it became clear that the plans as they stood would entail the destruction of the old Metropolitan Opera house and of Carnegie Hall. The latter, one of the finest concert halls in the world acoustically, was saved for posterity by the actions of a group Stern formed in 1960. Stern was chosen president of the Carnegie Hall Corporation, formed to supervise the artistic program of the great concert hall. He also was involved in the formation of the U.S. National Endowment of the Arts, and was appointed to its initial advisory board. He served as chairman of the board of the American-Israel Cultural Foundation, which aids the careers of young musicians. Stern, among other honors, was named Officer of the Légion d’honneur of France.
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Isaac Stern – Lalo: Symphonie espagnole – Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 (Remastered) (1956/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 54:06 minutes | 577 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical
Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist.
Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and performing extensively in Israel, a country to which he had close ties since shortly after its founding.
Stern received extensive recognition for his work, including winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom and six Grammy Awards, and being named to the French Legion of Honour. The Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall bears his name, due to his role in saving the venue from demolition in the 1960s.
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Isaac Stern – Brahms: Violin Sonatas 1, 2 & 3 – Dietrich & Schumann & Brahms: F.A.E. Sonata (Remastered) (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:33:56 minutes | 1,14 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical
Isaac Stern is awarded the 2000 Polar Music Prize for a unique and consummate artistry distinguished by a personal musicianship without compare for half a century, for his pioneering achievement on behalf of young people the world over, for his patient and energetic commitment to preserving and developing places where music is played, and for his uncompromising attitude concerning the humanistic power of music.
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Isaac Makhdoomi – Domenico Maria Dreyer: Two Sonatas for Recorder (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 14:27 minutes | 291 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Prospero Classical
Almost nothing is known about the composer Domenico Maria Dreyer except the approximate dates of his life (ca.1680 – ca.1740). Only six oboe sonatas (which are also wonderfully suitable for the recorder) and two recorder sonatas have survived from his oeuvre. Now Isaac Makhdoomi has recorded all these works together with Sebastian Bausch (harpsichord). In this completeness a WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING.
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Isaac Hayes – Truck Turner (1974/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:11:39 minutes | 2,49 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stax
This soundtrack was considerably lengthier and more varied than the one Hayes had released earlier in 1974 (Tough Guys), including Holiday Inn funk, a lugubrious vocal (“You’re in My Arms Again”), and some jazz and blues riffs peppering the instrumental grooves. While the length ensured more variety, though, it also makes it a challenge to sit through the hour-plus program when you don’t have images to fit the music.
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Isaac Hayes – Tough Guys (1974/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:48 minutes | 1,45 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stax
One of Isaac Hayes’ richest soundtracks – deeper and more complicated than the groove of Shaft and Truck Turner, and filled with some great tunes that glow with color, life, and imagination – showing an Isaac Hayes that almost seems to be moving beyond the usual blackploitation groove! The album sports 2 really classic tunes – the title theme “Tough Guys“, and the classic “Hung Up On My Baby” – both of which have a solidly funky feel that will more than please the usual soundtrack beathead crowd. But overall, the other tunes twist and turn in a delightful mix of modes – expanding on the soulful territory Ike first explored in his original soundtracks, and offering up a great range of moods and emotion. The album’s got some especially great chromatic guitar work – and other titles include “Joe Bell”, “Randolph & Dearborn”, “Buns O Plenty”, “Run Fay Run”, and “Red Rooster”.
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Isaac Hayes – …To Be Continued (1970/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 42:03 minutes | 1,59 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stax
Released in late 1970 on the heels of two chart-topping albums, Hot Buttered Soul (1969) and The Isaac Hayes Movement (also 1970), Isaac Hayes and the Bar-Kays retain their successful approach on those landmark albums for To Be Continued, another number one album. Again, the album features four songs that span far beyond traditional radio-friendly length, featuring important mood-establishing instrumental segments just as emotive and striking as Hayes’ crooning. Nothing here is quite as perfect as “Walk on By,” and the album feels a bit churned out, but To Be Continued no doubt has its share of highlights, the most notable being “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.” The album’s most epic moment opens with light strings and horns, vamping poetically for several minutes before Hayes even utters a breath; then, once the singer delivers the song’s orchestral chorus, the album hits its sentimental peak — Hayes elevating a common standard to heavenly heights once again. Elsewhere, “Our Day Will Come” features a nice concluding instrumental segment driven by a proto-hip-hop beat that proves just how ahead of his time Hayes was during his early-’70s cycle of Enterprise albums. It’s tempting to slight this album when holding it up against Hayes’ best albums from this same era, but a comparison such as this is unfair. Even if Ike isn’t doing anything here that he didn’t do on his two preceding albums — Hot Buttered Soul, The Isaac Hayes Movement — and isn’t quite as daring as he is on his two successive albums — Black Moses, Shaft — To Be Continued still topples any Hayes album that came after 1971. It didn’t top the R&B album chart for 11 weeks on accident — this is quintessential early-’70s Isaac Hayes, and that alone makes it a classic soul album.
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Isaac Hayes – The Isaac Hayes Movement (1970/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 36:24 minutes | 1,43 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stax
Although this is Isaac Hayes’ third long-player, he had long been a staple of the Memphis R&B scene — primarily within the Stax coterie — where his multiple talents included instrumentalist, arranger, and composer of some of the most beloved soul music of the ’60s. Along with his primary collaborator, David Porter, Hayes was responsible for well over 200 sides — including the genre-defining “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby,” “Soul Man,” “B-A-B-Y,” “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” and “I Had a Dream.” As a solo artist however, Hayes redefined the role of the long-player with his inimitably smooth narrative style of covering classic pop and R&B tracks, many of which would spiral well over ten minutes. The Isaac Hayes Movement (1970) includes four extended cuts from several seemingly disparate sources, stylistically ranging from George Harrison’s “Something” to Jerry Butler’s “I Stand Accused” and even Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself.” These early Hayes recordings brilliantly showcase his indomitable skills as an arranger — as he places familiar themes into fresh contexts and perspectives. For example, his lengthy one-sided dialogue that prefaces “I Stand Accused” is halting in its candor as Hayes depicts an aching soul who longs for his best friend’s fiancée. Even the most hard-hearted can’t help but have sympathy pains as he unravels his sordid emotional agony and anguish. Hayes’ lyrical orchestration totally reinvents the structure of “Something” — which includes several extended instrumental sections — incorporating equally expressive contributions from John Blair (violin). Both “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself” and the comparatively short (at under six minutes) “One Big Unhappy Family” are more traditionally arranged ballads. Hayes again tastefully incorporates both string and horn sections to augment the languid rhythm, providing contrasting textures rather than gaudy adornment. These sides offer a difference between the proverbial “Black Moses of Soul” persona that would be responsible for the aggressive no-nonsense funk of Shaft (1971) and Truck Turner (1974).
Read moreIsaac Hayes – Shaft (Music From The Soundtrack) (1971/2011) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]
Isaac Hayes – Shaft (Music From The Soundtrack) (1971/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:14:24 minutes | 2,60 GB | Genre: R&B, Soundtrack
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stax
Shaft, the motion picture soundtrack that garnered worldwide praise for Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Isaac Hayes remains one of the most successful soundtrack albums of all time. The well-crafted record composed and produced by Hayes spent over a year on Billboard’s pop album charts and earned Hayes a Grammy® Award for “Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture.” The album features the critically acclaimed hit single “Theme From Shaft,” which reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and won Hayes an Oscar® for “Best Original Song.” The funky soulful jazz score full of cinematic instrumentation is a testament to Hayes’ undeniable genius.Hayes’ laid back delivery and gorgeous arrangements are still breathtaking, and the album remains a quintessential slice of ’70s soul. “ Trevor Maclaren, All That Jazz
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Isaac Hayes – Live At The Sahara Tahoe (1973/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:49:02 minutes | 3,84 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stax
You could expect Isaac Hayes to be in his element at a resort venue — lounge soul was his forte, and this double album offers almost two hours of it. Hayes demonstrates his versatility by getting “Shaft” out of the way right off the bat and alternating between originals and covers of a wide range of tunes, including “Light My Fire,” “Never Can Say Goodbye,” “Rock Me Baby,” “Stormy Monday Blues,” “Feelin’ Alright,” and “It’s Too Late” (yes, the Carole King song). Often these are linked together, of course, by Hayes’ brotherly raps; for Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” he tests the limits, stretching the tune just past the ten-minute mark. The set has a funky lounge lizard charm, but it’s too much to bear at once, except for the most devoted of fans.
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Isaac Hayes – Joy (1973/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 47:41 minutes | 1,67 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stax
With seven massive number one records trailing in his wake, Isaac Hayes donned his stylin’, funky gold-chain link vest once again and capped 1973 with Joy, a set which might have proven the lucky-streak breaker — it missed the top spot by one place — but still waded into gold-record waters with ease. “Joy” itself, of course, was the album’s crowning glory, a gargantuan 15-minute piece which essentially devoured side one of the album (the accompanying “I Love You That’s All” is merely an afterthought). Heady, smoky, ubiquitous — an instrumental and vocal foray into the land of good grooves — it was sexy and sassy, with strings and innuendo stripped bare and smoothly built to lead anyone within earshot toward a classic climax. The song continued to impact via sampled revitalization from as far afield as TLC, Massive Attack, Eric B. & Rakim, and Big Daddy Kane. But don’t forget that Joy is an entire album, with Hayes continuing his silky vocal assault across a further three slow, simmering songs. The best, and perhaps most interesting, is the closing “I’m Gonna Make It (Without You).” Markedly un-steamy, the song finds Hayes trading in his come-ons, choosing instead to open up and lay himself down in the wake of a broken romance. It’s Joy’s most touching moment, equally on par with the opener. Indeed, with those two glorious bookends, this album becomes a must-have for any ’70s soul aficionado.
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Isaac Hayes – Hot Buttered Soul (1969/2011)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 56:49 minutes | 1,95 GB | Genre: R&B
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Stax
A staff songwriter with the legendary Stax label, Isaac Hayes, with partner David Porter, composed material for many of the company’s artists, including Sam And Dave, Carla Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. Frustrated with this backroom role, he began recording in his own right, and with Hot Buttered Soul, redefined the notion of soul music. Although the tracks were lengthy, there was no sense of self-indulgence, each one evolving over sensual rhythms and taut arrangements. Hayes’ vocal anticipated the ‘rap’ genre of Barry White and Millie Jackson without slipping into self-parody, lending an air of sophistication to a highly influential collection.
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