The soprano Ania Vegry, the recipient of many prizes, was nominated by Opernwelt as the Young Artist of the Year in 2009 and has been an ensemble member at the State Opera of Lower Saxony in Hanover since 2007. The Online Musik Magazin certifies that »her soprano voice, most highly fluent in the coloraturas, possesses warmth and substance, expressive power, and flawless intonation« – which makes her the ideal choice for the rich affections of the arias of Florian Leopold Gassmann, an Austrian composer on the cusp between the Baroque and Early Classicism. After two years of study with Giovanni Battista Martini, Gassmann became an organist in Venice. In 1757 he composed his first opera, and through 1762 he composed an opera every year for the Carnival season In Venice.

Pourquoi Rachmaninoff est-il devenu une légende? Comment a-t-il pu symboliser la perfection technique pour des générations entières de pianistes? Façade roucoulante d'une carrière médiatique au cours de sa vie américaine ? Intime personnalité développée de sa Russie natale?

The repertoire of trouvere songs is one “we are only now beginning to explore” writes Margaret Switten. I’m not sure that John Stevens or Hendrik van der Werf would agree with this, but it is certainly a claim that whets the appetite. And here we have an enlightened and well-chosen selection, sensitively presented and delightfully sung by Paul Hillier with insight and feeling. The main object of the poets’ attention is fin’amor, but other themes, including the return of spring (Volez vous que je vous chant and En mai, quant li rossignolez), make their joyful appearance, and there is one piece in a completely different vein, a serious piece of religious polemics: Deus est ensi conme li pellicanz.

1999's Superharps was a great record featuring four top blues harmonica players. Two years later, Superharps II was an attempt to duplicate the success with four other harmonica wizards (in this case Carey Bell, Lazy Lester, Raful Neal, and Snooky Pryor). There are five individual features, eight songs that have two harmonicas, and a remake of the closing "Harp to Harp," which has all four harmonica players.

Four great blues harmonica players (James Cotton, Billy Branch, Charlie Musselwhite, and Sugar Ray Norcia) are featured in various combinations on this spirited disc, backed by a four-piece rhythm section (with guitarist Kid Bangham and pianist Anthony Geraci). Cotton and Norcia have solo pieces, seven numbers feature two harmonicas, and the lengthy low-down blues "Harp to Harp" has all four of the harmonica players taking turns soloing. Much of the material is jazz-oriented, including "The Hucklebuck," "TD's Boogie Woogie," and "Route 66," and the majority of the selections are instrumentals. Each of the harmonica players sounds inspired and the results are consistently exciting and swinging.

'Weltschmerz' is the much anticipated new and final double studio album from Fish that is being acclaimed as the finest work of his long and illustrious career. Co written with long term collaborators Steve Vantsis and Robin Boult with contributions from John Mitchell (Garden of Remembrance) and Foss Paterson it has been over 3 years in the making and as such is an exceptional piece of work produced by Calum Malcolm (Blue Nile, Fish 'Feast of Consequences' and '13th Star') and Steve Vantsis.

C'est le temps où la France de l'Age Classique n'en finissait pas d'opposer le style italien - personnifié alors par le grand virtuose et compositeur Corelli - au style français, associé comme on le sait à Lully, dont le nom n'avait pourtant de français que ce "y" final ! Mais François Couperin ne prit jamais parti, tant ces deux "goûts" lui paraissaient d'égale valeur : c'est ainsi qu'il rendit dans un premier temps hommage à Corelli, à travers cette grande sonade (sic) conçue comme une apothéose. Un an plus tard, L'Apothéose "composée à la mémoire immortelle de l'incomparable Monsieur" de Lully lui offrira un contrepoint fameux, tout à la gloire de la musique française…

1723 marked the beginning of a new era: Johann Sebastian Bach was appointed Thomaskantor in Leipzig and was about to leave his mark on German music history like hardly any other composer. But first, Georg Philipp Telemann, the actual preferred candidate, needed to withdraw from his appointment in favor of Hamburg. Christoph Graupner, the jury's next choice, was unable to take up the post because he didn't receive approval from his employer in Darmstadt. It's hard to believe that Bach was only the third choice! Immerse yourself in the fascinating application process and slip into the role of the jury!

E Pluribus Funk is Grand Funk Railroad's fifth studio album and was released in November 1971 by Capitol Records. Like previous Grand Funk Railroad albums, it was recorded at Cleveland Recording Company and is the final album produced by Terry Knight. The title is a play on the former motto of the US government, E pluribus unum. The original release cover (designed by Ernie Cefalu) was completely round and covered with a silver-like film to resemble a large coin. The back side of the cover of this album included a die cast picture of Shea Stadium to celebrate Grand Funk beating The Beatles' Shea Stadium attendance record by selling out in just 72 hours.

While recording her 2019 album War in My Mind with producer Rob Cavallo, Beth Hart sang a version of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" during a bit of downtime in the studio. Impressed, Cavallo suggested that Hart record an entire album of Zeppelin covers, but the singer demurred, saying she needed to be in a specific mindset to sing those songs: "you've got to be pissed off to hit that right." Hart got pissed off during the COVID-19 pandemic, so she summoned Cavallo and made A Tribute to Led Zeppelin. If Hart's focus on anger suggests she has perhaps a rather limited perspective on the oeuvre of Page, Plant, Jones, and Bonham, the resulting A Tribute to Led Zeppelin confirms such suspicions.