William T. Stromberg - Grand Canyon Suite / Mississippi Suite - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

A nephew of legendary soul man Sam Cooke, R&B singer InchR.B.Inch Greaves III had built a career both in the Caribbean and in Great Britain, where he performed under the name Sonny Childe with his group the TNTs. His debut single InchTake a Letter MariaInch, released in 1969 under the name R.B. Greaves, rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the charts for 15 weeks, selling a million copies in the process. In 1977 he released the fine R&B solo album presented here which contained the charting single InchWho's Watching the Baby (Margie).Inch the album remains a cult favorite with fans on both sides of the Atlantic. All selections newly re-mastered.

Mario Lanza was one of the finest tenor voices of the 20th century, respected and admired as much by his peers in the world of opera as by his millions of fans around the world, who were introduced to him by his succession of Hollywood movies in the post-war years. Having been tempted into movies, he never enjoyed an illustrious career in opera to match the likes of predecessors such as Caruso and Gigli, or indeed those that followed like Domingo, Carreras and Pavarotti, but those more recent stars were the first to acknowledge the inspiration Lanza had given them. This great-value 92-track 4-CD set selects tracks from across his all-too-brief career, which ended with his premature death in 1959 aged just 38. It includes many of the best-known songs from his movies, which provided the rare achievement for an operatic tenor of three million-selling singles as well as several other hits, along with most of the A and B sides of his singles for RCA, plus a selection of album tracks and performances from his hugely successful radio shows sponsored by CocaCola. It provides a fabulous showcase for his unique voice, as well as his versatility in delivering powerful performances of opera favourites along with lighter show tunes and standards

The Lucerne Festival Orchestra brass players perform a broad spectrum of brass music. The ensemble's repertoire includes early polyphonic and Venetian antiphonal masterpieces, Classical and Romantic works, and pieces from the 20th and 21st centuries by composers such as Sofia Gubaidulina, Wolfgang Rihm, Galina Ustwolskaja, and Einojuhani Rautavaara. The group also performs arrangements of well-known piano or orchestral works, often transcribed especially for them. The forces of the ensemble vary according to the demands of the pieces, ranging from solos and duets to a full wind ensemble. The group is also regularly augmented by other members of the festival orchestra, particularly the percussionists. The concerts of the Brass Ensemble of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra are a popular and indispensable element of the festival's summer programs.