Canadian alternative Rock, alt-Country superstars the Cowboy Junkies for 20 years proved to be still going strong. Although the narcotic blend of country twang and slowcore moodiness that's implicit in their name has never left the band's music, the Cowboy Junkies have developed many different shades of gray in their chiaroscuro music sound. Recorded and filmed at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in England at the end of their 2004 tour, Long Journey Home is one of the strongest performances the Cowboy Junkies have ever put on tape. “Cowboy Junkies” is one of the best names to convey a band’s sound. The words’ connotations signal a wide musical palette for the band to draw from as they frame the torch song tales delivered by Margo Timmins who continues to make despair sound so good. This artistic expanse keeps listeners engaged, as they never know what is coming next. This DVD+CD combo finds Cowboy Junkies at the end of their 2004 One Soul Now tour at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in England, three years afer their last appearance in the UK.

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A true musical statesman, Prévin excelled as a soloist (such as on his classic recording of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Piano Concerto), accompanist (acclaimed for his stunning collaborations with Itzhak Perlman), conductor (his recording of Ravi Shankar's Sitar Concerto No.1, as well as his numerous recordings of both traditional favorites and daring, modern compositions), and composer (his opera, A Streetcar Named Desire, was given its premiere in 1998). This 10-CD set brings together his greatest moments, celebrating 80 years of magnificent music from this remarkable man.

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Discographic carping aside, Anda applied extraordinary craftsmanship at the keyboard and was a stimulating though at times controversial interpreter. Generally speaking, he favored point over mass, blueprint clarity over warm sensuality, and intricate details ahead of the big picture. The pianist lavishes Schumann's concerto with fanciful textures, unexpected accents, and exploratory rubatos, and though the finale's basic tempo is too sedate to take wing, at least it doesn't drag. In both the 1943 and 1963 Symphonic Etudes recordings Anda's technical finesse and X-ray projection make this gnarly opus sound like child's play. Strange, though, how he abruptly and crudely accelerates in the concluding measures. The Davidsbündlertanze proves equally distinctive, and Kreisleriana boasts refreshing lightness and stinging clarity, despite the absurdly fast tempo for the final movement's main section. --Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

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Filmed in December 2002 at the R.J. Reynolds Auditorium in Winston-Salem, NC, this PBS concert special immortalizes the historic teaming of three legendary bluegrass performers. For one historic evening, American music legends Earl Scruggs on banjo, Doc Watson on guitar, and Ricky Skaggs on mandolin joined forces as The Three Pickers, to film a concert for Public Television. The music they made before a North Carolina audience is as relaxed as a front porch picking session, informed by the skill and good humor of three master musicians who contributed so much to the creation and evolution of bluegrass music. The trio's repertoire is highlighted by such selections as "What Would You Give?," "Foggy Mountain Top," and "Feast Here Tonight." Also on hand is special guest Alison Krauss, performing the traditional ballad &"Down in the Valley." The Three Pickers: Legends of American Music originallyaired as an episode of the public-TV anthology Great Performances. Includes bonus documentary.

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This is one of an exciting series that pays homage to some of the greatest recording artists of the recent past, with these elegantly-packaged multi-CD sets devoted to their finest recordings.

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The best reason to purchase the set however lies in the very rare highlights of Traviata (once issued on LP). I don’t know why he stopped singing the role and never recorded it commercially, but he is brilliant in it. He has the plangent tone for ‘Un di felice’, the rage for the party scene and the morbidezza for ‘Parigi, o cara’. Not unless Carlo Bergonzi, in one of his very best commercial recordings, would there be an Alfredo who could compete with the Swede. His Roméo is better known and this Swedish version of 1943 is at least on a par with the recording of the famous Met-performance with Sayao.

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. . . these recordings capture a fearless, even brash talent. In Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and Brahms' "Tragic" Overture, Maazel took tempos seemingly aimed at leaving the orchestra behind; the edge-of-your-seat results ended up as some of the most exciting records he would ever make. Other highlights range from Schubert's "Tragic" Symphony to Rimsky-Korsakov's "Capriccio Espagnol." Record Review / Star Ledger (Newark) / 08. May 2005

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Anne-Sophie Mutter was born in Rheinfelden in Baden. She embarked on her international career as a soloist in 1976 at the Lucerne Festival and a year later made her Salzburg debut at the Whitsun Concerts under Herbert von Karajan, followed by first appearances in the US (1980), Japan (1981) and Russia (1985). She made her first recording with Deutsche Grammophon at the age of 14 with Mozart Violin Concertos nos. 3 and 5 with Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker; in the years that followed she recorded concertos by Beethoven (1985), Brahms (1982, 1983), Bruch (1981) and Mendelssohn (1981/2008).

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Victoria de los Angeles' voice not only has a silken quality and fascinating glow to it but it is one of the most regal, noble sounds you'll ever hear. She illuminated those moments of quietness, gentleness and noble, feminine pride and elegance like no other soprano before and after her. This release of her "Spanish Songs" has never been surpassed. The songs of her homeland seem to have been written for her beautiful instrument alone, she fills every piece with special beauty and charm, religious flair and beautiful, noble simplicity. Buy this recording and see why Victoria is one of the best sopranos ever having come from Spain.

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Otmar Suitner was one of the last survivors of the old Kapellmeister tradition, learning his crafts as he made his way up the professional ladder in slow and steady stages, rather than the catapult-to-stardom system that deposits young conductors before the public these days. Eventually, Suitner's name was to become a frequent one on recordings, but the fact that he spent most of his working life in the former East Germany meant he was not as familiar a figure on the international scene as his abilities deserved.

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Two supreme masterpieces of the piano literature played by a supreme master of the instrument--could there be a more felicitous combination?--Edith Eisler

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During the remaining decade of his life Fritz Wunderlich gained the highest respect as a Mozart singer, lending lyrical brilliance to J.S. Bach, Schubert and Gustav Mahler and melodic tenderness to Bel Canto and light opera roles. Following such greats as Tauber and Schmidt, Wunderlich also devoted a good part of his time to the beautiful songs of such compsers as Strauss, Lehár, Kálmán and Fall. Singing with the Bavarian State Opera and the Vienna State Opera, he also sang every year at the famed Salzburg Festival. After a a highly successful concert tour of the United States in 1964 and engagements at Covent Garden and Edinburgh in 1965, Wunderlich planned his Metropolitan debut as Don Ottavio on October 8, 1966. However, it was not to be. He died September 17, 1966, a week before his 36th birthday in an accidental fall down a stone stairway at a friend's castle in Heidelberg.

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“Villazón's singing offers a combination of intelligence and glamour not seen since the ascendancy of Domingo.” - The New Yorker

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For those of us who grew up on Janet Baker's recordings (and were lucky enough to hear her "live" as well), the sound of her voice and her singular artstic personality - British restraint coupled with fierce emotional and spiritual commitment - are indelibly imprinted in our minds and hearts. The closest current equivalent is Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, another superb artist who has charted her own course, and not surprisingly there is some overlap of repertoire, in the music of J.S. Bach, of course, but also Berlioz's Didon and Beatrice, Handel's Ariodante and Britten's Phaedra (composed for Baker).

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Ansermet was sine qua non in French repertoire and there are bagfuls of this here including some delightful excerpts from Delibes' ballets, his beloved Chabrier, ravel's 'Le Tombeau de Couperin' and the conductors own orchestrations of 'Six epigraphes antiques' alongside Busser's orchestration of the 'Petite Suite' (both of these recordings are available on a Testament CD).

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