Rick Wakeman -
Live In Lugano


(DVD 2014, 91:23, Esoteric Recordings)

The tracks:
  1- The King Arthur Suite
  2- Gone But Not Forgotten
  3- Catherine Howard 2009
  4- Help / Eleanor Rigby
  5- After The Ball
  6- Merlin The Magician
  7- Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
  8- The Jig


Website      Esoteric Recordings
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This DVD features a live concert in Lugano on 2 July 2009 by Rick Wakeman in collaboration with the Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana. The concert was shown live on Swiss television and it received amazing reviews. The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana is one of 13 professional orchestras in Switzerland and it includes 41 resident musicians. This event was the perfect setting for Wakeman's classically inspired songs from albums like The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (1973), Journey To The Centre of The Earth (1974) and King Arthur and The Knights of The Round Table (1975). Mind you, Wakeman only plays the grand piano, so fans of his keyboard work might be slightly disappointed. The DVD features eight songs and after a while (ca. 20 minutes) I found the music - only grand piano and orchestra - kind of boring, but you have to admire the way Wakeman can play. Very surprising were the songs Help and Eleanor Rigby, two The Beatles classics, and for me, without any doubt, the best songs were Merlin The Magician and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. A DVD for Wakeman adepts only I am afraid, so check it out first!

**+ Martien Koolen (edited by Esther Ladiges)

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