Luciano Pavarotti's career began at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, playing Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème in 1961. It ended at the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006 where, before a live and televised audience of millions, he delivered one final rendition of his signature aria, "Nessun dorma," from Puccini's Turandot. In those 45 years, he was inarguably the world's most beloved operatic tenors, crossing over on a level few international stars of any genre had ever
THE SECOND DISC'S 2017 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!
We wouldn't want you to be left out in the cold today for Cyber Monday, so we're proud to present our annual Holiday Gift Guide featuring more than 50 essential selections for the music enthusiast in your life! We've filled the guide with box sets (such as the Bob Dylan title to your right!) as well as archival releases and holiday music favorites that make great stocking stuffers. So just click here to access this year's top picks, reflecting the diversity of music released this year in
If You Just Believe: Josh Groban Expands Hit Holiday Album for 10th Anniversary
The Christmas season is almost upon us, and classical crooner Josh Groban is celebrating with an expanded edition of Noël, his best-selling holiday album. Released in the fall of 2007, a holiday record was something of an inevitability for the lyric baritone, who at the time had spent the better part of the previous decade becoming an adult contemporary sensation. At 19, he stepped in for opera singer Andrea Bocelli during a rehearsal for the Grammy Awards in 1999, where he sang "The Prayer"
Release Round-Up: Week of October 27
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Who, Maximum As and Bs: The Complete Singles (Polydor/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Who's complete singles from 1964-2015 are collected on a new 5-CD box set, which also contains a 48-page booklet featuring track-by-track annotations on each single. Read more here! Willie Nelson, Teatro: The Complete Sessions (Modern Classics Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Willie Nelson's
Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" Opera Adaptation Comes To CD From Kritzerland
The Kritzerland label has been on a roll in recent weeks, broadening its purview beyond its typically excellent array of soundtracks and cast recordings to offer such worthwhile reissues in the classical realm as Rachmaninov Symphony No. 2 and Robert Russell Bennett Violin Concerto with illustrious conductor Leopold Stokowski and renowned film composer Bernard Herrmann at the podium; and Claus Ogerman's Symphonic Dances/Some Times (Ballet) from the composer/arranger who famously collaborated
Release Round-Up: Week of March 31
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring some of the most hotly-anticipated sets of the year! Fleetwood Mac, Tango in the Night [Various Editions] (Warner Bros./Rhino) 3CD/1DVD/1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Fleetwood Mac's 1987 album featuring "Little Lies" and "Everywhere" returns in a variety of formats including a 3-CD/1 DVD/1 LP version (with the original
Something's Coming: "The Composer" Collects Bernstein's Musicals and More In Massive Box
On March 31, a lavish new box set from Sony Classical will celebrate the legacy of one of America's greatest composers - the late Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990). The LP-sized Leonard Bernstein: The Composer contains 25 CDs of the maestro's most enduring compositions including his Broadway musicals, all of the original stereo "Bernstein Conducts Bernstein" recordings made for Columbia Masterworks, new compilations, and more. Nine discs have been newly remastered from the first-generation analog
A Groovy Kind of Love: Ace Collects Classical-Inspired Pop Songs on "Classical Gassers"
Classical music has long been a source of inspiration for pop. Just ask Barry Manilow ("Could It Be Magic"), Eric Carmen ("All By Myself," "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again"), Billy Joel ("This Night"), or Walter Murphy ("A Fifth of Beethoven"). Ace Records has recently collected 24 of these classical "crossovers" on the aptly-titled Classical Gassers: Pop Gems Inspired by the Great Composers. These tracks date between 1960 and 1971 and feature such hitmaking artists as Lesley Gore, Jay and the
Release Round-Up: Week of October 28
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Roy Orbison, The Ultimate Collection (Roy's Boys/Legacy) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Legacy Recordings and Roy's Boys, LLC deliver a newly-remastered, career-spanning anthology for the late Roy Orbison. The Ultimate Collection has 26 tracks drawn from The Big O's halcyon years at Monument and MGM as well as his final solo recordings and collaborations with The Traveling
The Second Disc's Week In Review
For today's special feature, we're taking a look back at the big stories we shared with you over the past week at The Second Disc, just in case you missed 'em the first time around! Review: Fleetwood Mac, Mirage: Deluxe Edition Joe takes a look at Rhino's 4-CD/1-LP/1-DVD Deluxe Edition of the Mac's 1982 pop gem! This Could Be the Night: Shout! Factory to Release T.A.M.I. Show and The Big T.N.T. Show on Blu-ray Two classic concert films - featuring a galaxy of stars including The
New 200CD Box Set is the Last Word on Mozart
How much do you love Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? A mammoth box set from Decca is celebrating the composer this fall. The Austrian composer lived just 35 years, from 1756 to 1791, but his impact on Western music is hard to deny. An acclaimed keyboardist and a composer from age five, Mozart's body of work--which spanned from symphonies to concertos, chamber and sacred music, and even operas like The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute--remains the most influential of the classic period. It's a
Genesis' Tony Banks Goes "A Chord Too Far" On Career-Spanning Box Set
It's been a pretty great year for fans of Genesis. This morning, the news broke of upcoming reissues from Phil Collins. Earlier this year, reissues arrived from Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips, and Steve Hackett released his latest solo album. (A reissue of the 1986 album by Hackett's band GTR is on the way, and a box set of Hackett's Charisma recordings is due later this year, too.) All has been fairly quiet on the Peter Gabriel front, but even Gabriel has some vinyl remasters on the
Release Round-Up: Week of June 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, headlined by the long-awaited return of The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers in a variety of formats and editions! The Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers (UMe) 3-CD/1-DVD Super Deluxe Edition Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-CD/1-DVD Deluxe Edition Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-CD Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1-CD Standard Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-LP Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Digital Download:
Cherry Red's él Label Mines Jazz and Beyond with Django Reinhardt, Grant Green and More
Cherry Red's él label is in a jazz mood with three recent releases from two late legends of the guitar, Django Reinhardt and Grant Green, and one fondly-remembered group, The Temperance Seven! Though Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) lived to just 43 years of age, the Belgian-born French guitarist of Romani descent invented a wholly new vocabulary for jazz guitar, sometimes referred to as "gypsy jazz." Able to use just two fingers on his left hand, he created a singular style of swing thanks to
Release Round-Up: Week of February 10
Mike + The Mechanics, Living Years: Deluxe Edition (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) This Deluxe Edition of Mike + The Mechanics’ 1988 album arrives in the U.S. with a second disc featuring “The Living Years 2014″ and live tracks culled from the band’s 1989 tour. Read our full coverage here. Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Complete Columbia Singles (Friday Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Friday Music has repackaged Collectors’ Choice Music’s 2010 three-disc collection of the
Release Round-Up: Week of September 16
Jimi Hendrix, The Cry of Love and Rainbow Bridge: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Experience Hendrix/Legacy) Legacy and Experience Hendrix have reissues of Jimi Hendrix's first two posthumously-released albums, both from 1971; The Cry of Love is long out-of-print on CD, while Rainbow Bridge makes its first authorized appearance in the CD format. Both titles have been freshly remastered by Bernie Grundman from the original analog masters. The Cry of Love: Amazon U.S. / Amazon