LATEST ADDITIONS

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto; Andrew Staples, tenor. Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth, cond.
Harmonia Mundi HMM 902740 (CD; reviewed as 24/96). 2026. Jiri Heger, prod., eng.
Performance *****

Erin Morley & Lawrence Brownlee: Golden Age; Elena Firsova & Dmitri Smirnov: Love And Loss; Ben-Haim: Symphony No.2, Israel Philharmonic/Lahav Shani; Mahler: Symphony No.7, National Symphony Orchestra/Gianandrea Noseda.

Roy Brooks: The Free Slave; Amanda Monaco: Deathblow; Timo Vollbrecht: Bremen New York; Sun Ra And His Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra: Sleeping Beauty & On Jupiter.

For a lot of bands, the second album is intimidating. There are numerous examples of sophomore slumps, which sometimes lead to a band's quick end. Talking Heads didn't just avoid a sophomore slump; they scored their first top-40 hit and put their career on solid, sky-is-the-limit footing.

After I reviewed NAD's Masters Series M10 streaming integrated amplifier in January 2020, I bought the review sample to use as my daily driver . . . In 2022, NAD replaced it with a revised version, the M10 V2 . . . I never tried the V2, but when NAD introduced the M10 V3 ($2999) in late 2024, I felt a follow-up review was appropriate.

"The term 'sales' is an anachronism. Today, it's about streaming and ancillary income."—Randall Grass, general manager at Shanachie Entertainment.

There's widespread consensus that Shohei Ohtani's performance in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series was the greatest in baseball history: at the plate, 3 for 3 with three home runs; on the mound, six innings with 10 strikeouts and only 2 hits allowed. That defines double threat. Almost seven decades earlier, jazz's original triple threat made his first record—Triple Threat—for the King label.