The drama of 'Gemma di Vergy', like that of 'Anna Bolena', 'Maria Stuarda' and 'Roberto Devereux', unfolds at court, where reason of State interwines with sentiments of passion and love. Gemma is repudiated by her husband, the Count of Vergy, baritone, while the "antagonist" is Tamas (tenor), the Arab slave, locked in unrequited love. The vocal composition for the role of Gemma moves with sudden jumps between the central and the high regusters. "It is as difficult as three Normas put together", maintained Montserrat Caballé.

Reduced to a quartet for the most part, with Barry Adamson joining Nick Cave, Blixa Bargeld, Mick Harvey and Thomas Wydler on only a couple of tracks, the Bad Seeds turn from the interpretive triumph of Kicking Against the Pricks to another strong high, the mostly-original Your Funeral…My Trial. The one cover is a sharp, unsurprisingly dramatic version of Tim Rose's "Long Time Man." As for the rest of the album, Trial shows the Seeds working as, again, a remarkably accomplished and varied act, ever available and ready to explore a wide range of musics distilled into Cave's often dark, always passionate vision. Arguably Cave and company have by now so clearly established their overall style that Your Funeral…My Trial is much more a refinement of the past than anything else, but so good is their work that resistance is near impossible. If anything, the brooding power of the Seeds is more restrained than ever, suggesting destructive endings and overwhelming love without directly playing it.

Bedrich Smetana was the first major nationalist composer of Bohemia. Probably best known for his opera The bartered bride and of course The Moldau (from ‘My homeland’) most of his orchestral music is rather neglected by the average symphony orchestra.

Jethro Tull was very much a blues band on their debut album, vaguely reminiscent of the Graham Bond Organization only more cohesive, and with greater commercial sense. The revelations about the group's roots on This Was – which was recorded during the summer of 1968 – can be astonishing, even 30 years after the fact. Original lead guitarist Mick Abrahams contributed to the songwriting and the singing, and his presence as a serious bluesman is felt throughout, often for the better: "Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You," an Ian Anderson original that could just as easily be credited to Big Bill Broonzy or Robert Johnson; "Cat's Squirrel," Abrahams' big showcase, where he ventures into Eric Clapton territory; and "It's Breaking Me Up," which also features some pretty hot guitar from Abrahams.

Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to achieve international commercial success. They were headliners at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967), Woodstock (1969), Altamont Free Concert (1969), and the first Isle of Wight Festival (1968) in England. Their 1967 break-out album Surrealistic Pillow ranks on the short list of the most significant recordings of the Summer of Love. Two songs from that album, "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit", are among Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Donna Summer's title as the "Queen of Disco" wasn't mere hype. Like many of her contemporaries, she was a talented vocalist trained as a powerful gospel belter, but she set herself apart with her songwriting ability, magnetic stage presence, and shrewd choice of studio collaborators, all of which resulted in sustained success. During the '70s alone, she topped the Billboard club chart 11 times with high-quality, often-high concept material that included the rapturous "Love to Love You Baby," the innovative "I Feel Love," and a radically transformed "MacArthur Park." These crossover hits embodied the disco era with audacious musicality and uninhibited eroticism. After her subgenre was declared dead, Summer was very much part of the evolution of dance music. Through the feminist anthem "She Works Hard for the Money," she became an MTV star, and she continued to top the club chart with disco-rooted house singles through 2010, 35 years after her breakthrough. Indeed, she was the ultimate disco diva.

The Essential Heart is a compilation album released by the American rock band Heart in 2002, part of Sony BMG's The Essential series. The album was officially certified gold and platinum on June 11, 2011. The collection spans the band's history from 1975 through 1995 and the package includes two compact discs. Essential Heart is the only compilation that covers the group's tenure at both Epic and Capitol. All the hits of the '70s are featured on the first disc and include "Crazy on You," "Magic Man," "Barracuda" and "Straight On." The second disc includes all of their comeback material recorded in the '80s such as "What About Love?," "These Dreams," and "Nothin' at All."

For the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the performances on November 26 and 27, 2021 in the Isarphilharmonie marked the beginning of a new chapter in its Mahler interpretation: with its designated new principal conductor Simon Rattle, the orchestra is now headed by a Mahler admirer every bit as ardent as his predecessors Jansons, Maazel and Kubelík. The musicians dedicated the benefit concert on November 26 to the memory of conductor Bernard Haitink, who died in October 2021 and was associated with the renowned orchestra for 61 years. The very long silence after the final chord was one of those “goosebump moments” that one goes to concerts for – and for which music is made in the first place.

In celebration of composer Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 70th birthday, Milan Records announced A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto: To the Moon and Back, a collection of songs from Sakamoto’s vast catalogue newly reworked and remodeled by contemporary artists and collaborators.