One is asked here to pay something in the region of £25·00 for a pair of CDs that essentially commemorate a spectacle at which one ideally needed to be present to appreciate it fully. A substantial part of the proceeds will go towards providing a new spire for Salisbury Cathedral (outside which the event took place). Under the circumstances, the 60-minute video which includes the visual effects—son et lumiere, fireworks and staging—would seem a better investment, if you want to contribute to the Spire Appeal. It is certainly a star-studded event, but suffers, like most such recordings, from musical defects which would only pass muster if one were there. For instance, when the organ enters at the beginning of the exciting finale of Saint-Saens's Third Symphony, the tuning with the brass is less than perfect (to say the least) and in the Aida Grand March the Kneller Hall trumpets bring problems, not only of pitch, but of inaccuracy of articulation—something which does not grow on one on subsequent hearings.
However, the concert gets off to a good start with a resplendent account of the favourite Parry anthem, and one realizes that the recording is technically very well managed considering the problems involved. Ofra Harnoy is the star of the first part and her fabulous performance of the very entertaining Popper pot-pourri, Hungarian Rhapsody, is quite breathtaking in its bravura; she is most naturally caught by the recording, too. Charlton Heston then comes on and offers the usual embarrassing ''I'm proud to be here'' etc., followed by two poems. The first, about American names, is spoilt somewhat by the resonance round his voice, which means that his projection does not come over clearly, and it is not easy for Anglo-Saxon ears to determine what some of the names actually are! Peter Donohoe's very spirited Rhapsody in Blue is enjoyable, with an agreeably jazzy feeling in the accompaniment.
Of the four Strauss songs sung by Jessye Norman, the gentle Morgen! and eloquent Cacilie are quite memorable. (They are both included on the video, as is Harnoy's account of the Hungarian Rhapsody.) In the second part, after Phil Collins's curiously out-of-place contribution (which in itself is not ineffective), Kenneth Branagh stirringly acts out the Agincourt sequence from Henry V with orchestral backing; Heston only gets the 'bit' parts. The music has a choral ending and there is no doubt that Branagh's passionate histrionics are very involving. Then Domingo follows with two operatic arias and after the Royal Fireworks finale, with a few thuds included, the occasion ends with Jerusalem.'