... Das Rheingold ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC AN invitation to witness a performance of Wagner's Das Rheingold by students of the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, aroused a great deal of preliminary speculation. now lar wouia young voices oe able to cope with the demand of the Wagnerian idiom, for example? How would the stage facilities of the col lege's Opera Theatre be able to ...

... DISC DATA Josef Locke Sings Favourite Irish Songs (One-Up OUM 2204) Beloved of impressionists a few years ago, the exaggerated style of Josef Locke is toned down in the direction of sincere interpretations of sentimental Irish songs on this album, the recordings, one would guess, being made way back in the fifties. The Whale John Tavener (Ring O'Records, 2320 104) An odd choice for a pop label ...

... John Renbourn and Stefan Grossman (Kicking Mule SNKF 139) Two of our leading guitarists in double harness in a set which shows that although both are associated with what is known as folk, their tastes are much more varied. All the tracks are originals save for Charles Mingus' The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife and some might be surprised and even shocked to find Grossman playing ...

... DISC DATA Introducing Neil Martin (EMI EMC 3235) There are strong chances for this young man, who has theatre ex perience and a high, light voice cur rently to be heard in summer season His is a style particularly appreciated by British audiences, deployed here in a cheerful selection of numbers of the Happy Heart and 1 Write the Songs type. (Producer, Norman Newell). Zaragon John Miles ...

... Afrovision Manu Dibango (Decca SKL-R 5296) Just to prove that funk can thrive in France, as elsewhere, here comes the West African musician, Manu Dibango, with funk with a difference, a driving, intensely African sound, strong on percussion, and Dibango himself wailing away on vocals, saxes, synthesizer and marimba. Voyage Brian Bennett (DJM DJF 20532) Ex-Shadows drummer Bennett has become ...

... Nashville Album Sydney Devine (Philips 9109 224) Playing the Americans at their own game, Scotland's greatest country singer comes up with a first-class album, aided by veteran producer Don Schroeder. top arranger Bergen White and a flock of Nashville session men including Reggie Young and Bobby Emmons. Dream Dancing Ella Fitzgerald (Pablo 2310 814) This Norman Granz album was released for a ...

... The Last LP John Spencer's Louts (Beggar's Banquet BEGA 3) It is to be hoped that the title of this album is not to be believed, because Spencer, a somewhat eccentric graduate of the folk scene, mainly at the Half Moon, Putney, is a remarkably facile songwriter and performer, seemingly able to find himself in any style, from rockabilly to country to satirical rock. His equally versatile ...

... DISC DATA Greatest Hits -Steely Dan (ABC ABCD6I6) An excellent two-record compilation of what can now be seen as one of the most significant bands of the present decade, built around the very considerable songwriting and vocal abilities of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Judged in total, one can appreciate the careful merging of influences to produce something individual in rock and also ...

... THE SINGERS COMPANY La Perichole LAST JUNE a new, small-scale opera touring ensemble made its debut with a bright production of Cosi fan tutte at Riverside Studios. It has now acquired a name as well as a new production. The Singers Company and founder-singer-director-librettist Peter Knapp in particular has mined its way into Offenbach to come up with a gleaming La Perichole. This has ...

... Alicia Bridges (Polydor Super 2391 364) It comes as something of a sur prise to discover from the album sleeve that Alicia Bridges is white, for her style is strongly black. Even more surprising is to find that her ability does not end with that great disco track I Love the Nightlife, for the songs, all by herself and Susan Hutcheson, are of exceptional quality in a raunchy, semi-feminist ...

... DISC DATA Mike Harding's Komic Kutz (Philips 6625 041) Harding has now earned his place alongside Connolly and Carrott as a folk comedian and some might think he has more warmth than either of the other two. A lot of his material is not intrinsically funny, however, obtaining laughs by recognition of anecdotal circumstances rather than wit. Four sides, all recorded on loca tion, are an over ...

... Otello COVENT GARDEN THE PASSIONS and tensions of Verdi's Otello came over powerfully in another revival at Covent Garden, conducted here for the first time by Carlos Kleiber. He gave the performance an authoritative vibrancy and sweep, producing wonderful richness of orchestral sound, from tender to tremendous, and driving the tragedy forward with throbbing inevitability. Strong casting ...