Jason Victor Serinus

Berlin! Berlin! Berlin! Kabarett und Exil
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano; Salon Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, Adam Benzwi
BIS-2827 (SACD; reviewed in its native 24/96). 2026. Markus Mittermeyer, prod., eng.

Founded in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1972, Linn Products Limited is in an elite club whose members have been around for 50 years or more. You're doing some things right if you can prosper in the quirky audiophile marketplace for more than 50 years.

One of audio's great legacy brands, Wharfedale got its start in 1932 when founder Gilbert Briggs built his first loudspeaker in the basement of his Ilkley, Yorkshire, home. The landscape in the valley of the River Wharfe lent the fledgling company its name, and Wharfedale Wireless Works was born.

Stereophile has a new owner. Who is it? It's Stereophile. For 27 years, Stereophile has been led on the business side by Keith Pray. This spring, Keith formed a new company, Pray Media Holdings, for the express purpose of buying Stereophile and related titles.

Holst: The Planets, Bax: Tintagel, London Symphony Orchestra, Tenebrae/Sir Antonio Pappano; Brahms: The Three Violin Sonatas, Andrew Wan, Charles Richard-Hamelin; Jonas Kaufmann: Magische Töne, Jonas Kaufmann, Nikola Hillebrand, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra/Dirk Kaftan; Rachmaninoff: The Bells; Symphonic Dances, Kristina Mkhitaryan, Dmytro Popov, Alexander Vinogradov, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Choir/Karina Canellakis.

T. Rex: Electric Warrior; Tasha Warren & Dave Eggar: MotherLoad; Bruce Hornsby: Indigo Park; Altin Gün: Garip; King Tuff: Moo; Snail Mail: Ricochet.

In 1936, the great blues pioneer Robert Johnson recorded his song "Cross Road Blues," which many interpret as his telling the story of how he went to a crossroads and fell to his knees to make a deal with the devil, selling his soul in exchange for musical genius.