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From Amazon.com: One of the most remarkable things about this recording of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Prom at the Palace--quite apart from the musical goodies on offer--is the opportunity to glimpse inside the royal garden, and see what Her Majesty's principal home looks like from the back. Voyeurism aside, director Bob Coles also catches the palpable sense of occasion and excitement that surrounds the concert, with some swooping camera angles and exciting crowd shots. The music is a mix of classical favorites (Zadok the Priest, "Jupiter" from The Planets, Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks) and a few lesser-known items. The outdoor acoustic is generally handled well, and the soloists all sound wonderful; Angela Gheorghiu stops the show with a passionate account of "Vissi d'Arte" (from Tosca) and 13-year-old clarinetist Julian Bliss gives a remarkably assured performance of Messager's Solo de Concours. Occasionally the BBC Symphony Orchestra loses concentration, but overall this is a fine souvenir of a historic concert. All profits from the sale of the DVD will be donated to the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Trust. --Warwick Thomson
Interesting music, fascinating look at the Palace: I got this one mostly for a look at the Palace and grounds, haven't listened to all of the program yet. The music is pretty much classical, seems well done, if you like that sort of thing you should find a lot to appreciate here. I found it interesting that a couple of selections were by a black choir (The London Adventist Chorale?), spirituals, I guess favorites of the Queen. I liked seeing inside, and out, of the Palace (unlike Elton John's Party at the Palace selection you could tell that these were live performances by seeing the crowds outside the windows), Swan Lake was done in the Ball Room and Bachianas Brasileiras no.1 was performed in The Music Room, my greatest complaint was that the cameras seemed to spend a lot of time examining the ceilings. If you buy both Prom at the Palace and Party at the Palace I think that you'll find this one to be the better arranged program although I think news reports said that the Party concert itself was actually better organized.
| Actor: | Queen Elizabeth | | Binding: | DVD | | Director: | Bob Coles | | EAN: | 0809478000464 | | Format: | Classical | | Format: | NTSC | | MPN: | 856 | | Release Date: | 2002-07-02 | | Theatrical Release Date: | 2002 | | UPC: | 809478000464 |
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