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Review:
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We all know Sir Christopher for his work with Rhapsody,
and the older ones amongst us will remember The King of
Elflands Daughter, so this is the logical next step, to
makChe a full blown rock opera with him in the starring
role as Charlemagne, the King of the Franks, a part he can
really sink his teeth into with his big rich baritone. By
coincidence, Sir Christopher is a real descendent of the
great king, making this doubly appropriate. Charlemagne
was born around 742, and went on to create an empire that
covered most of Western Europe. This massive project, with
100 piece orchestra, choir and metal band, is the brainchild
of Marco Sabiu, who has worked with Kylie Minogue, Take
That, and one of my great heroes, Ennio Morricone (The Good,
the Bad and the Ugly?). This is grandiose orchestral rock
on a massive scale, a soundtrack to an aural film of epic
proportions. It is divided up into 5 acts in two parts;
the first part of each is an orated introduction, narrated
by Sir Christopher’s daughter Christina, so you skip it
and move onto the music if you so wish.
We start with Charlemagne on his deathbed at the age
of 72, an incredible age for those days, surrounded by the
great and the good, as he begins to recount the story of
his life. ‘King of the Franks’ tells of his rise to power,
with his father, Pippin (or Pepin) the Short (his great
grandfather was Pepin the Middle, honestly!), played by
Phil S.P. We then move on to the wars fought on behalf of
Pope Hadrian, portrayed by Mauro Conti, against ‘The Iron
Crown of Lombardy’, with Christi Ebenhock as the singing
storyteller. Charlemagne then meets his younger self, performed
by Vincent Ricciardo, in the attempt to reconcile his actions
in the long wars against the Saxons, in particular the most
notorious episode in his long reign, ‘The Bloody Verdict
of Verden’, when Charlemagne ordered the decapitation of
4000 Saxons who refused to give up their culture (world
first headbangers?). ‘The Age of Oneness out of Diversity’
covers the growth of his empire, and finally we meet his
wife in ‘Starlight’, the nubile Swabian Princess Hildegard,
starring Lydia Salnikova. There is a bonus track about the
wars in ‘Iberia’, but strangely we are left just as his
army is about to be attacked by the treacherous Gascons,
but no outcome. In case you’re wondering, the baggage train
was raided, and Roland, the famous chivalric knight, was
killed. Although not as metal as Rhapsody, this is mighty
powerful, stirring stuff, and will appeal to all lovers
of symphonic rock and metal, as well as musical theatre.
A project of this scale and ambition does not come along
very often, making it a rare and precious treasure, yet
it is available for less than a king’s ransom from most
merry merchants of musical merchandise. Check out more info
at their (My Space Page):
http://www.myspace.com/charlemagnemusical
(Christopher's
Home Page)
http://christopherleeweb.com/
9/10 (Reviewed by Phil)
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