Kreisler / Hou - Legend of the Butterfly Lovers - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Nicholson / Brass & Handbell Ensemble - Deo Gratias [COMPACT DISCS] date 08/26/2016

Heirs of the Dog A Tribute to Hair of the Dog is the third in a series of charity oriented tribute albums by Memphis-based band Joecephus and the George Jonestown Massacre. This album is their take on Nazareth's iconic and career-making, best-selling double platinum Hair of the Dog. Anchored and master-minded by co-producers Dik LeDoux and Joey Killingsworth, the band itself features a small cast of rotating characters and the albums feature special guests. In this case the guests include Blaine Cartwright (Nashville Pussy), Ruyter Suys (Nashville Pussy), Greg Martin (Kentucky Headhunters), Eddie Spaghetti (Supersuckers), Jason McMaster (Dangerous Toys, Ignitor), Manny Charlton (Nazareth, and producer of the original album), JD Pinkus (Butthole Surfers, Honky, Melvins), Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Neil Fallon (Clutch) and Harvey McLaughlin. All of JGJM's profits from sales benefit The FSHD Society for FSHD Muscular Dystrophy research in memory of the band's friend and Memphis scene fixture Jonelle Spicer.

Rising star violinist Chloe Chua presents a recording combining Chen Gang and He Zhanhao's Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto with Niccolo Paganini's First Violin Concerto, performed together with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Rodolfo Barraez and Mario Venzago. The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto was written in 1959, and inspired by a tale often called the Romeo & Juliet of ancient China. Chen and He deftly combine a Western classical idiom with elements from Chinese opera, such as grace notes and portamento effects, and the work has become one of the most famous and acclaimed pieces of Chinese classical music. This album also features an interpretation of Chen Gang's Sunshine over Tashkurgan, which adds Central-Asian maqam to the stylistic palette. The programme concludes with Paganini's First Violin Concerto, musically inspired by Rossinian bel canto. The three works share a richness of melodic invention and orchestral colours, as well as breathtaking virtuosic demands for the soloist. The solo parts are in excellent hands with Chloe Chua, who admires the steadfast love and perseverance of the Butterfly Lovers, and feels fully at home in these evocative and exhilarating masterpieces.