Deep Purple-Concerto for Group and Orchestra (DVD-Audio) (1969) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Main Menu Animation Menu Animation & Audio Featurette-The Best Of Both Worlds
Rating
Year Of Production	1969
Running Time	112:07
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Jon Lord Ritchie Blackmore Ian Gillan Ian Paice Roger Glover Malcolm Arnold
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Jon Lord Malcolm Arnold

    I'm going to presume that if you're reading this review then you already know something of the history of this great band, so I am not going to go into the complexities of the many and varied incarnations this group has seen. There are many detailed sites out there dedicated to that very subject, I'll only say that this recording features what many purists consider to be the definitive line-up of Deep Purple; Gillan, Glover, Lord, Blackmore and Paice.

    In recent years many artists in the rock genre have used orchestral accompaniment to add colour to their live performance, from Metallica to Kiss, and even The Tea Party. The Concerto For Group and Orchestra was composed by Deep Purple's keyboardist, Jon Lord, and marked what was arguably the first combined performance by a rock group and orchestra. Lord has stated in many interviews that it was his intention to compose a piece that almost sounds improvised, like a jam, although the body of work has been meticulously arranged. This effect certainly worked, as many moments during the piece have a very loose feel.

    Recorded in 1969, the entire performance consists of three distinct segments; Malcolm Arnold's 6th Symphony in three movements, a set of three songs by Deep Purple on their own, and the Concerto For Group and Orchestra with encore. The performance itself is continuous, apart from only two fadeouts that exist between tracks three and four, and six and seven.

• 1. Malcolm Arnold's Sixth Symphony, Movement One- Op. 95: Energico (9:16)
• 2. Malcolm Arnold's Sixth Symphony, Movement Two- Op. 95: Lento (8:50)
• 3. Malcolm Arnold's Sixth Symphony, Movement Three- Op. 95: Con fuoco (6:57)

    Ambitious and melodic, Arnold's 6th symphony would have appeared quite contemporary at this time. It certainly suits the occasion, with swooping, gorgeous string arrangements and pompous bursts of brass that sharply counteract and play against the strings. I found the third movement most interesting, with a theme that strangely resembles a western movie - both dramatic and adventurous.

• 4. Deep Purple - Hush (4:44)
• 5. Deep Purple - Wring That Neck (13:22)
• 6. Deep Purple - Child In Time (12:00)

    After a brief introduction by Ian Gillan, the band launch into a classic cover tune that they made their own, a driving rock song with a solid groove. The following title, Wring That Neck, is a bluesy instrumental number, featuring solos for keyboard and guitar. Child In Time closes the band's set and features an inspiring vocal performance by Gillan. This is a seminal Deep Purple tune, which later appeared on their breakthrough album In Rock.

• 7. Concerto For Group and Orchestra, Movement One - Allegro (19:27)
• 8. Concerto For Group and Orchestra, Movement Two - Andante (19:10)
• 9. Concerto For Group and Orchestra, Movement Three - Vivace-Presto (13:07)
• 10. Encore (5:51)

    The concerto is very distinct from movement to movement, showing a developing and often reluctant relationship between the rock group and orchestra. The first movement is predominately taken up by the orchestra establishing itself - in fact, the band doesn't appear until the movement's second half and even then it is a subdued appearance. Movement two sees the orchestra become less aggressive and is at times delicate and wistful, featuring a brief vocal interlude by Ian Gillan. The band begins to make itself a little more known, and by the third movement the two entities are co-existing harmoniously, trading melodies and complementing one another as though they are one cohesive unit. Movement three is highlighted by a great drum solo by Ian Paice, who also features in the bombastic encore.

    This is - according to my knowledge - the first time that the concert has been available in its entirety. The performance of the concerto was aired live by the BBC in 1969, and was subsequently released on album the following year. The band's three song set was later made available on the compilation LP Powerhouse after the band split in the mid 70s, and EMI scoured the vaults for more material suitable for release by the definitive line-up. Arnold's 6th Symphony performance appears to not have been officially released along with the other portions of the concert until now.

    The concerto was re-recorded by Deep Purple in 1999 with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paul Mann and makes for a slightly different performance with Steve Morse on guitar, rather than Ritchie Blackmore. This 1969 performance is my preferred of the two, as it contains a different energy and somehow feels less clinical than the 1999 rendition.

    It's satisfying to see titles such as this arriving on DVD-Audio, and I for one am looking forward to the future of this format, for both historical and contemporary releases.

Video

    The disc contains some brief video content in the extra features and is satisfactory in quality, considering the age of this performance. As with most DVD-A discs, all video content is NTSC, and presented without 16x9 enhancement.

Audio

    There are four audio options to choose from on this release. If you are using a DVD-Video player, you can select either Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 Kb/s) or Dolby Digital 2.0 (448 Kb/s), while those bestowed with DVD-Audio hardware can access MLP 5.1 and MLP 2.0 tracks, both of which are sampled at 48Khz / 24bit. The 5.1 audio option is default on both DVD-Video and DVD-Audio players.

    I began with the DVD-Video portion of the disc, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The use of the surround channels appeared minimal at first, with only slight echoes and a little panning directed to the rears. As the horns made themselves more known, I realised how encompassing they were in comparison with the strings which seemed to be situated to the right of the mix. Crowd cheering and the like is very prominent from all angles.

    All facets of the orchestra come across crystal clear and although I haven't heard any such music on DVD-Audio before, it is plain to hear that this kind of recording benefits from an immersive surround mix. As the band begin their set some flaws in the recording made themselves known, such as distortion to the vocal which can be heard during Hush and similar distortion and crackling on the odd cymbal hit. Blackmore's guitar has been given a similar enveloping feel to that of the orchestra's horns, spilling slightly from the rear channels and dominating the front soundstage at times. Gillan's vocal is situated in the front centre speaker, while the keyboard stays slightly to the left, with the bass guitar.

    Very little response is noted from the subwoofer. It appears that most of the lower end of the mix is being reproduced by the front left and right speakers.

    The Dolby Digital stereo track has a slightly lower volume level and appears to suffer a little more from the distortion issues. It's possible that this is the original stereo mix that was produced back in 1970, but I cannot be certain. The stereo mix lacked the depth and clarity of the surround mix and at times sounded like a bit of a mash, much too busy for two channels.

    I was surprised by the DVD-A content of the disc, and first listened to the 5.1 mix. The clarity and brightness of this track is striking - you can literally hear a pin drop in the orchestra and I noticed many more coughs and the like during the recording that I did not hear in the Dolby Digital tracks. The extra brightness inherent in the MLP audio is very easy to hear, particularly in the third movement of Arnold's symphony which features several big cymbal crashes and a very sharp tone from the snare drum. The brass sections of the performance are similarly sharper and come across in a much more dominating manner when they intend to. The distortion is still present in Gillan's vocal delivery during the band's first song, but to a slightly lesser degree. I didn't notice any distortion issues related to the percussion or cymbals.

    The MLP 2.0 track is similar to the Dolby Digital 2.0 effort, in that it seems to suffer more heavily from distortion to the vocals and drums. It is also of a similarly busy nature compared to that of the surround mix. My preferred of all the audio tracks is without a doubt the MLP 5.1 track, for its clarity and crisp, lightly enveloping delivery.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Featurette - The Best Of Both Worlds (3:31)

    This brief featurette contains some hilarious pompous voiceover by a British journalist, and includes some interesting background info on Malcolm Arnold's career, as well as an intimate conversation between Lord and Arnold. The NTSC transfer is presented in 1.33:1 and contains some minor videotape artefacts, but is generally easy to watch.

    The DVD-Video release of this title has a relatively brief runtime of only 59 minutes because it is missing the first three movements of orchestration by conductor Malcolm Arnold. It is authored on a single-layered disc, and contains:

• PCM 48/16 2.0 soundtrack
• Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
• dts 5.1 soundtrack
• Feature commentary by Jon Lord
• Photo Gallery

    I haven't personally seen the photo gallery, but if it is anything like the stills that accompany the DVD-Audio there is not much worth seeing.

    This is a great value DVD-Audio disc from a legendary band, and well worth checking out.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall