Latest Music DVDs reviewed
LOVE
The Forever Changes Concert Snapper Music
****
Fact: Forever Changes is Ken Livingstone's favourite album of all time. Other fact: Forever Changes is, at the very least, one of the top three albums ever recorded - coming out of nowhere in the 1960's to irrevocably change the musical landscape. Arthur Lee and Love never scaled a creative summit like this ever again; it is so enduring that Lee and a new backing band can tour just this album all around the world. This DVD is taken from the band's Royal Festival Hall's date in London last year. It's magnificent: a live orchestra provide the lush strings and that amazing Tijuana Brass-style horn sound. From the sublime Alone Again Or to You Set The Scene, this is just sheer musical quality. No matter if Arthur has all the social skills of a Brian Wilson - we're not here for the person, just his music.
Brian Boyd
TCHAIKOVSKY: MAZEPPA
Soloists: Nikolai Putilin, Sergei Aleksashkin, Larissa Diadkova, Irina Loskutova, Viktor Lutsiuk. Kirov Orchestra & Opera Chorus & Ballet; conductor: Valery Gergiev. Universal Classics
****
Though written some five years later than his masterpiece Eugene Onegin, Mazeppa is not well known outside Russia despite it also having a libretto based on an epic poem by Pushkin. It lacks the universality of Eugene Onegin but does contain some very powerful and moving scenes, particularly the more intimate ones. When sung and conducted with conviction by a Russian cast, as here in live performance from the Mariinsky theatre, the work as a whole comes together, and the weaker scenes and music seem to become an integral part of the composer's conception. The staging is conventional but lavish and Gergiev conducts the music with real passion. The result is a highly persuasive account of a fine, if uneven work.
www.universalclassic.com
Colman Morrissey
