Excerpt: Celebs' Moms Dish on Life Lessons & other

Reviews of new classical music CD releases

2008-09-10T18:05:00.001-07:00

Strauss
Four Last Songs
Ren�e Fleming (soprano), M�nchner Philharmoniker/Thielemann
(Decca 478 0647 - 2CDs) �12.99
Following performances in Munich with its Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann, another leading Strauss translator, the American soprano Ren�e Fleming was moved to make another recording of these wizard late songs, so wistfully redolent of love and death. Her voice is perfectly suitable to their demands, less of range than of tender, expressive feeling. Throw in quatern other Strauss orchestral songs and four-spot of his operatic arias and you have a must for more than merely Straussians.
Anthony Holden
Beethoven
The Complete Piano Concertos
Evgeny Kissin, piano; London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis, conductor
(EMI Classics 50999 2 06311 2 3 � troika CDs) �24.99
Evgeny Kissin has come in from the cold. The technically brilliant Russian is often criticised for his dourly clinical playing, merely his Barbican Beethoven series last year with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis displayed a playful, warmer performer, more quick to unbutton, as in the closing curtain of the First, or in the friskiness of the Fifth. Davis and the LSO answer in kind, loaning these studio recordings a freshness which demands we listen afresh.
Stephen Pritchard
Schubert
Lieder
Bernarda Fink (mezzo), Gerold Huber (piano)
(Harmonia Mundi HMC901991) �16.99
Few composers of songs have captured the delicate nuances of pleasure and hurting more persuasively than Franz Schubert, world Health Organization also chose masterful poets to set up, from Goethe to Schiller, R�ckert to Shakespeare. Here is a generous selection of 25 of his lieder, geological dating between 1814 and 1826, exquisitely performed by the Argentine-born mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink, who brings refinement and purity of tone to such favourites as 'An die Musik' and 'An Silvia', with sympathetic livelihood from the German piano player Gerold Huber, a Schubert specialist.
Anthony Holden

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Metallica - Metallica Rage Slipknot Honoured By Kerrang

2008-08-31T18:10:00.001-07:00

METALLICA, SLIPKNOT and RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE accept been honoured in London at the 2008 Kerrang! Awards.

Metallica were handed the night's Inspiration Award for their contribution to heavy metallic element at Thursday's (21Aug08) prizegiving, while reunited rockers Rage Against The MAChine took home the Hall of Fame Award.

Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor dedicated the band's Icon Award to drummer Joey Jordison, wHO is convalescent from a broken ankle joint. The injury forced the group to pull taboo of this weekend's (23-24Aug08) Reading and Leeds Festival in England.

In accepting the award, Taylor aforesaid, "I wish well there was more of us here."

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Pain Mediation By Innocuous Sensory Afferents

2008-08-21T18:16:00.001-07:00

�Expression of protein kinase C? (PKC?) in interneurons of lamina II of the spinal anaesthesia cord dorsal horn is thought to be crucial for mechanically skillful allodynia, a painful response to usually innocuous stimuli. Nonpeptidergic nociceptors were ab initio assumed to innervate PKC? interneurons, because they can in the same sublamina.

Neumann et al. now show that the terminals of nonpeptidergic nociceptor afferents terminate abaxial to the PKC? interneurons, with only when minimal overlap. In contrast, the terminals of metier and large-diameter myelinated afferents overlapped extensively with PKC? neurons, and electron microscopy showed direct synapses between terminals of largediameter, medullated afferents and PKC? interneurons.

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Francesco Renga

2008-08-11T18:09:00.001-07:00

Artist: Francesco Renga

   Genre(s):
Pop

Discography:

Ferro e Cartone

Year: 2007
Tracks: 11

Before embarking on his solo vocation, singer/songwriter Francesco Renga spent 13 days with the band Timoria, whose first personification had formed when the members were noneffervescent in high school. After releasing seven albums with them, Renga decided he cherished to strickle out alone, releasing his solo debut -- self-titled and on Universal, the mark that similarly housed Timoria -- in 2001, that same form incoming ane of its songs, "Raccontami," into the San Remo Festival, where he north Korean won the critics' newcomer award (alongside Roberto Angelini), thanks in contribution to his inspiration live performance. The next course Tracce came out, followed by Camere con Viste in 2004. In 2005 Renga in one pillowcase again appeared at San Remo, this time to tied more than prosperous results: his outspoken, "Angelo," took offset blank space at the entire festival, prompting a re-release of Camere con Viste with the incentive comprehension of the fetching conciliate. In June 2007, Renga issued a single, "Cambio Direzione," in anticipation of the coming full-length, Ferro e Cartone, jell to appear in October of the same year.

Joe Jackson drops more 'Rain' dates on US

2008-08-06T01:17:00.001-07:00

Singer/songwriter Joe Jackson [ ] returns to the US this fall for another round of dates behind his most late studio record album, "Rain."

The veteran British performing artist kicks off the black market Oct. 15 in San Francisco, the first of 18 cities lined up for the month-long outing, which concludes Nov. 15 in Miami Beach, FL. Details are below.

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Jackson will once once more hit the road with a pair of original Joe Jackson [ ] Band members, bassist/vocalist Graham Maby and drummer/vocalist Dave Houghton, both of whom helped the singer record "Rain," which hit stores in January.

"It's so gravid to go out and play with guys you know so well," Jackson said in his online bio. "Apart from the fact that we have fun on the road, that we're friends, the shows ar very spontaneous. We're capable to give and take because we know each other so well. We make our shows different every night, which is great."

"Rain" follows Joe Jackson Band's modish studio album, 2003's "Volume Four," which originally reunited Jackson with Maby and Houghton, along with some other original bandmate, guitarist Gary Sanford.

"I've always been pretty diverse," Jackson added. "If you go back and listen to the first album, you might discover that it's pretty eclecticist. I think that artists, especially raw ones, let slotted into one motion or musical genre or some other. People were so dying to put me in a certain category that they didn't notice how eclectic [his first album, 1979's] "Look Sharp!" was, so they acted surprised a bit later. It's kind of ironic."

[Note: The following tour dates have been provided by artist and/or go sources, world Health Organization verify its accuracy as of the publication time of this story. Changes may occur before go on sale. Check with official artist websites, ticketing sources and venues for late updates.]

October 200815 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield17 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove18 - Henderson, NV - Ovation @ Green Valley Resort21 - Boulder, CO - Boulder Theatre23 - Santa Fe, NM - Lensic Performing Arts Center24 - Telluride, CO - Michael D. Palm Theatre27 - Columbus, OH - Southern Theatre29 - Portsmouth, NH - The Music Hall30 - Troy, NY - Troy Savings Bank Music HallNovember 20081 - Providence, RI - Lupo's2 - New Haven, CT - Schubert Theatre5 - Tarrytown, NY - Tarrytown Music Hall7 - New York, NY - Grand Ballroom @ Manhattan Center8 - Atlantic City, NJ - Xanadu @ Taj Mahal10 - Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre12 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues14 - Orlando, FL - Plaza Theatre15 - Miami Beach, FL - The Fillmore @ Jackie Gleason Theatre

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Barack Obama Praises Jay-Z

2008-07-01T04:15:00.001-07:00

Barack Obama has praised Jay-Z, whilst also talking about some of his favourite bands.

Talking to The Telegraph, the potential next US President says, "If I had one musical hero, it would have to be Stevie Wonder."

"When I was at that point where you start getting involved in music, Stevie had that run with Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Innervisions, and then Songs in the Key of Life."

Elsewhere in the interview, he went on to reveal he was a fan of Sheryl Crow and Howlin' Wolf. Obama then went on to discuss rapper Jay-Z (who is headlining the Glastonbury Festival this weekend), praising him for having the ability to break down barriers through his music.

Although Barack did question some lyrics found in hip-hop: "I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics but I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music."

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Minds In Motion

2008-07-01T03:19:00.001-07:00

Artist: Minds In Motion

   Genre(s):
Ambient
   Electronic

Discography:


Evolution 1 and 2 Cd2

   Year: 2001
Tracks: 5


Evolution 1 and 2 Cd1

   Year: 2001
Tracks: 5


Lebenszeiten Cd2

   Year: 1999
Tracks: 4


Lebenszeiten Cd1

   Year: 1999
Tracks: 4


Horizonte

   Year: 1996
Tracks: 8


Horizonte 3 Reflection

   Year:
Tracks: 5


Horizonte 2

   Year:
Tracks: 6

Illdisposed

Mr. Blonde Gets Red With Anger

2008-07-01T02:25:00.001-07:00

Michael Madsen's tough guy movie persona isn't just in the movies.

We tried to ask Michael Madsen about that alleged bust-up with his wife in a British hotel room earlier this month. Bad idea.

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Anthony Hopkins - Hopkins Confirmed As Lear

2008-07-01T02:05:00.001-07:00

SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS has been confirmed as the latest actor to play KING LEAR in a big screen adaptation of SHAKESPEARE's great tragedy.

American newcomer Josh Michael Stern has assembled an all-star cast for the ambitious film, which will start shooting in Britain or Ireland early next year (09).

Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Watts and Kiera Knightley will play the tragic king's three daughters, and director Stern insists there will be many more suitable big-name surprises in his blockbuster.

He says, "It's going to be really good... The one thing that I'm staying away from is stunt casting, so there won't be the American comedian, but there will be some really great actors playing smaller roles that will make a lot of sense."

Stern also plans to stick to Shakespeare's dialogue in the film in a bid to make sure the movie is as authentic as possible: "I'm not very fond of the modern adaptations... It's pre-Roman, Celtic, very raw.

"It's a period in British history, from which (Lord of The Rings author) Tolkien took a lot of his inspiration, where there were thatched-roof roundhouses and fortresses."

Stern's new Lear will give Hopkins the chance to revisit a character that won him acclaim on stage - the Oscar winner played the king in revered playwright David Hare's King Lear production at the National Theatre in London in the late 1980s.

The director adds, "Hopkins is thrilled."

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Angel Forrest

2008-07-01T02:02:00.001-07:00

Artist: Angel Forrest

   Genre(s):
New Age

Discography:

Here For You

Year: 2005
Tracks: 11

Winston Soso

2008-07-01T02:00:00.001-07:00

Artist: Winston Soso

   Genre(s):
Other

Discography:

Simply Sweet

Year: 2004
Tracks: 12

Concert review | Crosby, Stills & Nash treat fans to laid-back, nostalgic (and dry) night

2008-07-01T01:57:00.000-07:00

Concert Review |

It was a cold start to the Chateau Ste. Michelle summer concert season. But chilly weather and the threat of rain didn't stop more than 4,000 Crosby, Stills & Nash fans from celebrating the start of the winery's 25th season with the legendary folk trio.

Luckily the rain never came. But even under clearing skies, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash played two sets and 24 songs suited to an overcast day: low-key and laid back.

On CSN's last tour with Neil Young, the group was passionately political and electrically charged, each of their songs resonating anew. The vibe Friday night in Woodinville was decidedly different. There were a handful of digs at President Bush, and Nash's "Immigration Man" was perfectly biting — but the focus was more on the music than the message.

For a relaxed outdoor concert with free-flowing wine, that wasn't a bad thing. It's been nine years since the folk-rock group's last studio album, but the sold-out crowd Friday was amped for the classics: "Wooden Ships," "Southern Cross" and a singalong "Teach Your Children," which served as the one-song encore.

A cover of Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth" also brought the crowd to its feet, but this version, with Stills on lead vocals, felt more like a chipper pop number rather than the rallying protest song it originally was.

"Our House" was the perfect song for the night — sweet and nostalgic, even after a sassy introduction: a University of Washington study, Crosby quipped, found 30 percent of girls in 1969-73 lost their virginity to the song.

After 40 years of playing together in various combinations — most recently, Nash and Crosby released a duo record — the three have a convivial, unpretentious stage presence. Crosby joked that Nash should go on "American Idol"; Stills commented on his own slimmed-down physique, saying that last time the others made him wear a fat suit.

And Nash was the only one who even looked remotely rock star-esque, clad all in black. The other two were Seattle-appropriate in jeans and sweat shirts.

For a group made famous for their tight-knit harmonies, strangely, Friday's stand-out moments came solo, such as when Crosby nailed the gut-wrenching wail of "Almost Cut My Hair." But together their harmonies were often just a tad off or unbalanced.

But when they did gel, on "Guinevere" and "Déjà Vu" in particular, it was possible to forget the cold — and even the decade.

Joanna Horowitz: jbhorowitz@gmail.com

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The Dark Knight Credits Honor Heath Ledger

2008-07-01T01:54:00.001-07:00

Warner Bros. has paid tribute to Heath Ledger in the final credits of the new movie ‘The Dark Knight’, in which the late Aussie actor plays The Joker.
Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in January, reportedly gives a brilliant performance playing opposite Christian Bale’s Batman.
The tribute, which also pays tribute to a special-effects technician who died last September, was uploaded onto the Warner Bros. media website on Thursday (June 26) saying. “In memory of our friends Heath Ledger & Conway Wickliffe.”
Watch the trailer for ‘The Dark Knight’ below.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

CNN, Fox News Return Freebees

2008-07-01T01:51:00.000-07:00

A report by Condé Nast's Portfolio magazine last week that both CNN and Fox News, among other news outlets, had allowed its reporters to go on an all-expense-paid junket to Las Vegas has resulted in the two cable networks reimbursing the expenses to the junket's sponsors, JetBlue Airlines and the quirky local-news website Thrillist, Portfolio reported Monday. The reporters, who were unnamed, are also being required to return "swag bags" that included hundreds of dollars of gifts including Zune video players. Both CNN and Fox News said that accepting invitations for such junkets is against company policy when travel and accommodations are paid for by the sponsors.

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