The latest releases reviewed

WAGNER: LOHENGRIN
Soloists: Waltraut Meier, Solveig Kringelborn, Klaus Florian Vogt; Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra; Lyon National Opera Chorus. Conductor: Kent Nagano
Opus Arte
****
First produced in Wiemar in 1850, Lohengrinis Wagner's last composition in the conventional form of the period prior to his development of the music dramas that revolutionised 19th-century opera. It represents a considerable advance on Wagner's earlier works and has a continuity of style and atmosphere which anticipates in some ways his masterpieces to come ( Tristan, Parsifal). This new production makes use of a modern set, with imaginative light and shadow, but remains true to tradition in the staging of the action and the presentation of the characters. While the chorus work lacks some of the resonance of other great performances, the soloists are among the finest available today, with both Solveig Kringelborn as Elsa and Klaus Florian Vogt as Lohengrin quite memorable. A fine production. www.opusarte.com
COLMAN MORRISSEY

VARIOUS
All You Need Is Love
Voiceprint
*****
There's no question about it: this is one of the music DVD releases of the year. Originally broadcast in the mid-1970s on prime-time television slots across several weeks, the brief of director Tony Palmer's series was a complete and thorough overview of popular music up to the period of broadcasting. This, then, is everything prior to punk rock: ragtime, blues, jazz, vaudeville, swing, Tin Pan Alley, musicals, country, contemporary rock. Because of its sweep - and due to Palmer's then pre-eminence as an astute director of pop culture documentaries - the great and the good of most genres mentioned are here, including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimi Hendrix, Stephen Sondheim, Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby, The Beach Boys, Tina Turner, Sam Phillips, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Richard Rodgers, Bo Diddley, Phil Spector, Bill Monroe and Frank Zappa. Classic and classy.
TONY CLAYTON-LEA