Music DVDs

The latest releases reveiwed.

VERDI: IL TROVATORE, Soloists: Raina Kabaivanska, Fiorenza Cossotto, Placido Domingo, Piero Cappuccilli, Jose Van Dam, TDK, *****

Splendid music and a ludicrous plot caused Enrico Caruso to observe that "all you need for a successful performance of Il Trovatoreis the four best singers in the world". This marvellous live performance from Vienna in 1978 (never available before) has that. Placido Domingo, substituting for Franco Bonisolli (who had walked out in a tantrum), sings with heroic tone and effortless ease. Cappuccilli, Cossotto and Van Dam, all then in their prime, match Domingo for excellence and commitment. Raina Kabaivanska, though not a natural Verdi singer, sings Leonora with enough style and conviction to invite comparison with the greatest. Staging is lavish and traditional. Von Karajan shapes the score with commitment and authority, resulting in a performance to treasure from a cast that could not be equalled today. www.tdk-mediactive.com

COLMAN MORRISSEY

ROXY MUSIC, Roxy Music, Weinerworld, ***

There are several moments in the televisual history of rock music that stand out as pivotal. For this writer it was the cumulative effect of seeing the New York Dolls on The Old Grey Whistle Test, and David Bowie and Roxy Music on Top of the Pops. While the Dolls were clearly deranged and Bowie most certainly not of this world, Roxy Music was something else altogether: a fusion of style, content and Brian Eno. Eno was the weirdo glue that held early Roxy Music together. This DVD is comprised of clips from the German TV show Musikladenand bridges the gap between the departure of Eno and the arrival of Eddie Jobson. It highlights how important it is to have not just sound retro-futuristic fashion sense but also an idea of what makes essentially experimental music work. Which is probably why Eno went on to carve out a fine eclectic multimedia career and Ferry to model clothes for Marks & Spencer. Extras include live clips from the 1980s, when all pretence at avant-pop had well and truly stopped.

TONY CLAYTON-LEA