Skeeter Davis – Sings Buddy Holly (1967/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Skeeter Davis – Sings Buddy Holly (1967/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 27:43 minutes | 997 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RLG – Legacy

Twelve Holly covers, produced by Felton Jarvis in Nashville and featuring Waylon Jennings on guitar, at a time when neither Davis nor Holly were exactly in the forefront of pop’s collective consciousness. A modest accomplishment, this LP is nevertheless fairly worthwhile, with a much more upbeat sound than Davis’ early-’60s recordings. The arrangements are pretty straightforward and close to the originals, with solid country-rock backing and occasional light, tasteful strings.

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Skeeter Davis – Singin’ In The Summer Sun (1966/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Skeeter Davis – Singin’ In The Summer Sun (1966/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 27:39 minutes | 917 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RCA – Legacy

Skeeter Davis never received much critical attention, but in the ’50s and ’60s, she recorded some of the most accessible crossover country music, occasionally skirting rock & roll. Born Mary Penick, Davis took her last name after forming a duo with Betty Jack Davis, the Davis Sisters. Their 1953 single “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know” was a big country hit; its B-side, the remarkable “Rock-a-Bye Boogie,” foreshadowed rockabilly. That same year, however, the duo’s career was cut short by a tragic car accident in which Betty Jack was killed and Skeeter was severely injured. Skeeter did attempt to revive the Davis Sisters with Betty Jack’s sister but was soon working as a solo artist.

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Skeeter Davis – My Heart’s in the Country (1966/2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Skeeter Davis – My Heart’s in the Country (1966/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 29:28 minutes | 674 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RCA – Legacy

The cover art, with Davis fondling farm animals in front of the barn and extolling the rural life in the liner notes, makes a pretty determined effort at presenting Davis in as much of a pure country light as possible. The actual music, by and large, follows suit. Produced by Felton Jarvis in Nashville, it’s plainer and more traditional in mood than her work with Chet Atkins and Anita Kerr. The strings are banished and the guitar picking and fiddles are at the forefront, although the vocals are still double-tracked. It’s kind of an average effort, without any particular flaws or standout material. Includes compositions by Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, as well as Davis’ rendition of the traditional “Goin’ Down the Road (Feelin’ Bad).” ~ Richie Unterberger

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Skeeter Davis – Hand in Hand with Jesus (1967/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Skeeter Davis – Hand in Hand with Jesus (1967/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 32:20 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RLG – Legacy

Mary Frances Penick, better known as Skeeter Davis, was an American country music singer who sang crossover pop music songs. She started out as part of the Davis Sisters as a teenager in the late 1940s, eventually landing on RCA Victor. In the late 1950s, she became a solo star. One of the first women to achieve major stardom in the country music field as a solo vocalist, she was an acknowledged influence on Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton and was hailed as an “extraordinary country/pop singer” by The New York Times music critic Robert Palmer.

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Skáld – Vikings Memories (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Skáld – Vikings Memories (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 36:19 minutes | 400 MB | Genre: World
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Division Decca Records France

The new album is about the importance of ancestral heritage. It is an invitation to listen to messages from the past to build the future. SKALD is inspired by the Doggerland, which is an island that disappeared 20,000 years ago following various natural disasters (tsunami, long winter…). The Vikings tell here the history of the people who preceded them and question the role of Man for saving the planet.

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SKÁLD – Vikings Chant (Alfar Fagrahvél Edition) (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

SKÁLD – Vikings Chant (Alfar Fagrahvél Edition) (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:01:47 minutes | 702 MB | Genre: World, Nordic Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Division Decca Records France

KÁLD is a unique project in music inspired by Nordic mythology. Developed over time by a group of enthusiasts, the project originated when producer-composer Christophe Voisin-Boisvinet encountered a trio of talented singers whose voices had atypical timbres. Together they decided to breathe new life into the poetry of the ancient skalds, whose ancient language – Old Norse – told stories of the Vikings and their gods.

In the early Middle Ages, the skalds of Scandinavian society were storytellers, poets and musicians. In the same way as the bards of the Celts, they sang the praises of their bloodlines, narrating the epic feats of heroes or the exploits of their Gods in times when the oral tradition was sovereign.

Blending chanted narratives with rhythmical song — in a combination carried by music that often led to a state of trance — the skalds captivated their listeners with the power of the images they evoked. Skaldic poetry is extremely strong, with a rich vocabulary and often complex verses that confer a mysterious aura on the meaning, conferring the status of an initiate on the author of such works. It can also be noted that this narrative role was not reserved for men alone, as the names of several female skalds are known to us.

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Sir Roger Norrington, Zürcher Kammerorchester – Haydn: The Paris Symphonies (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Sir Roger Norrington, Zürcher Kammerorchester – Haydn: The Paris Symphonies (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 02:44:41 minutes | 2,68 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

The conductor Roger Norrington remains the bad boy of historically informed performance, which is noteworthy for a man 81 years old when this box set was released in 2015. With this set of Haydn’s so-called Paris Symphonies, composed in 1785 and 1786 and first conducted by the sensation of black Paris, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Norrington lives up to his reputation with unorthodox readings that are either brilliant or perverse, depending largely on your own individual reaction. A balanced account might point to several factors. Most prominent is an idiosyncratic approach to tempo, particularly in the slow movements. Before you shell out the price of this three-CD set, try to sample the “Allegretto” movement of the Symphony No. 85 (CD one, track six) to see what you’re getting into: Norrington and the admittedly brilliantly compliant strings of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra blaze through it in a mere four minutes and 51 seconds, including all repeats. Several (although curiously not all) of the other slow movements and slow introductions are comparable. Norrington perhaps puts too much stock in Haydn’s tempo markings, which in an era before the standardization of the metronome were notoriously subjective and variable. The flat, vibratoless strings that are Norrington’s trademark are here throughout, creating a standard sheen into which Norrington injects crescendos that are nowhere to be seen in Haydn’s scores. It’s tempting to conclude that those scores serve merely as a starting point for further creative work in Norrington’s hands, but in other respects the performances do catch lots of detail that others miss. The wind instruments are deployed to the rear of the divided strings, and their parts emerge nicely in a kind of sinfonia concertante-like texture, especially the oboe in several places. Norrington’s control over his orchestra is unquestionable, and his concept is both original and executed in a thoroughgoing way. It’s just a question of whether you accept it.

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Severin von Eckardstein – Schumann & Chopin: Davidsbündlertänze and Polonaise-fantaisie (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Severin von Eckardstein – Schumann & Chopin: Davidsbündlertänze and Polonaise-fantaisie (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:04:25 minutes | 529 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ARTALINNA

A formidable interpreter of the works of Robert Schumann, the German pianist Severin von Eckardstein here offers an intense version of rare narrative force of one of the most complex cycles of the 19th century, the Davidsbündlertänze Op. 6. This dazzling kaleidoscope of moods is embedded with works by Chopin and Tchaikovsky, of particularly passionate resonance. Great musical moments that confirm Severin von Eckardstein’s status as one of the most poetic musicians in the world of the piano.

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London Symphony Orchestra & Sir John Barbirolli – Vaughan Williams: Oboe Concerto & Tuba Concerto (Remastered) (1956/2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

London Symphony Orchestra & Sir John Barbirolli – Vaughan Williams: Oboe Concerto & Tuba Concerto (Remastered) (1956/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:02 minutes | 618 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

Born in London of Italian-French parents, Sir John Barbirolli (1899–1970) trained as a cellist and played in theatre and café orchestras before joining the Queen’s Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood in 1916. His conducting career began with the formation of his own orchestra in 1924, and between 1926 and 1933 he was active as an opera conductor at Covent Garden and elsewhere. Orchestral appointments followed: the Scottish Orchestra (1933–36), the New York Philharmonic (1936–42), the Hallé Orchestra (1943–70) and the Houston Symphony (1961–67). Barbirolli guest conducted many of the world’s leading orchestras and was especially admired as an interpreter of the music of Mahler, Sibelius, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Delius, Puccini and Verdi. He made many outstanding recordings, including the complete Brahms and Sibelius symphonies, as well as operas by Verdi and Puccini and much English repertoire.

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Sir John Barbirolli – Sibelius: Symphony No. 4, Rakastava & Romance in C Major (1970/2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sir John Barbirolli – Sibelius: Symphony No. 4, Rakastava & Romance in C Major (1970/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 55:05 minutes | 1,98 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

Born in London of Italian-French parents, Sir John Barbirolli (1899–1970) trained as a cellist and played in theatre and café orchestras before joining the Queen’s Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood in 1916. His conducting career began with the formation of his own orchestra in 1924, and between 1926 and 1933 he was active as an opera conductor at Covent Garden and elsewhere. Orchestral appointments followed: the Scottish Orchestra (1933–36), the New York Philharmonic (1936–42), the Hallé Orchestra (1943–70) and the Houston Symphony (1961–67). Barbirolli guest conducted many of the world’s leading orchestras and was especially admired as an interpreter of the music of Mahler, Sibelius, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Delius, Puccini and Verdi. He made many outstanding recordings, including the complete Brahms and Sibelius symphonies, as well as operas by Verdi and Puccini and much English repertoire.

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Serhan Erkol – Melting Pot (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Serhan Erkol – Melting Pot (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 40:46 minutes | 866 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Lin Records

“Melting Pot” orijinal consisting of original compositions with elements such as jazz, electronic Turkish Folk and Classical Music.

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Evelyn Rothwell, Hallé Orchestra & Sir John Barbirolli – Haydn, Corelli & Pergolesi: Oboe Concerti (1958/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Evelyn Rothwell, Hallé Orchestra & Sir John Barbirolli – Haydn, Corelli & Pergolesi: Oboe Concerti (1958/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 41:54 minutes | 1,29 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

Born in London of Italian-French parents, Sir John Barbirolli (1899–1970) trained as a cellist and played in theatre and café orchestras before joining the Queen’s Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood in 1916. His conducting career began with the formation of his own orchestra in 1924, and between 1926 and 1933 he was active as an opera conductor at Covent Garden and elsewhere. Orchestral appointments followed: the Scottish Orchestra (1933–36), the New York Philharmonic (1936–42), the Hallé Orchestra (1943–70) and the Houston Symphony (1961–67). Barbirolli guest conducted many of the world’s leading orchestras and was especially admired as an interpreter of the music of Mahler, Sibelius, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Delius, Puccini and Verdi. He made many outstanding recordings, including the complete Brahms and Sibelius symphonies, as well as operas by Verdi and Puccini and much English repertoire.

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Sergio Monteiro – Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 23 (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Sergio Monteiro – Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 23 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:10:49 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Naxos

Domenico Scarlatti’s distinguished career included a royal post in Rome where he competed against Handel, the latter being declared the better organist and Scarlatti the better harpsichordist. Written for his pupil the Infanta Maria Bárbara, Scarlatti’s legacy of hundreds of single-movement keyboard sonatas forms a valuable resource for performers today. This collection includes a wealth of Spanish dances with virtuoso leaps, unusual modulations, flourishes and ornamentation, as well as Scarlatti’s irrepressible verve and energy.

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Sir John Barbirolli – Elgar: Symphony No. 1, Op. 55 (1963/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sir John Barbirolli – Elgar: Symphony No. 1, Op. 55 (1963/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 54:03 minutes | 1,96 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

Sir John Barbirolli heads the Philharmonia Orchestra in this performance of Elgar’s First Symphony. Sir Edward Elgar’s Symphony No. 1 in Ab major, Op. 55 is one of his two completed symphonies. The first performance was given by the Hallé Orchestra conducted by Hans Richter in Manchester, England, on 3 December 1908. It was widely known that Elgar had been planning a symphony for more than ten years, and the announcement that he had finally completed it aroused enormous interest. The critical reception was enthusiastic, and the public response unprecedented. The symphony achieved what The Musical Times described as “immediate and phenomenal success”, with a hundred performances in Britain, continental Europe and America within just over a year of its première.

Warner Classics releases this stunning recording as part of a brand new series, The Complete Warner Recordings.

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Sir John Barbirolli – Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36 – Purcell: Suite (1957/2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Sir John Barbirolli – Elgar: Enigma Variations, Op. 36 – Purcell: Suite (1957/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 42:17 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warner Classics

Sir John Barbirolli heads the Hallé Orchestra to present this legacy programme of works from English composers Sir Edward Elgar and Henry Purcell.

Warner Classics releases this stunning recording as part of a brand new series, The Complete Warner Recordings.

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