A debut classical album from Mike Oldfield. In a word, STUNNING October 6, 2007
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If there is one musician in this world who was born to write a classical work, then it has to be Mike Oldfield. His most successful works have been those that combine real instruments with a compositional style that is not too far removed from classical music (i.e. Tubular Bells, Hergest Ridge, Ommadan etc) and after over 30 years in the music industry he has composed possibly his finest work since the 1970's. I am able to make this claim because i have a promo copy which has now been played countless times, and i want to pass this message on to as many people as possible- you will be presented with a 45 minute work in two movements, and within these movements you will hear the unmistakable style of the man himself, who also appears on most tracks, with his lyrical classical guitar. The work opens with HARBINGER, and the strings performing a very familiar musical pattern! THE TEMPEST is probably the most experimental and unconventional of the tracks, with a minimalist/ Steve Reich-like display from the strings/piano etc but at 3"45 there is an almighty build up, with an explosion of passion and thematic beauty. Influences of Karl Jenkins (the arranger and conductor on this album) can also be heard in SHABDA which towards the end features a beautiful chorus that raises the roof, and in my view is a homage to ADIEMUS. The song ON MY HEART is performed by Hayley Westenra and is so beautiful it will not fail to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. This closes part 1, and with AURORA we are treated to a virtuosic display from the strings in a very joyful passage, with choir singing the title 'Au-ro-ra!' THE OTHER SIDE is very filmic, whilst EMPYREAN reminds me of early Oldfield works with it's aggressive brass lines. This leads us into the closing track, MUSICA UNIVERSALIS which reprises the grand section of THE TEMPEST and we finish on a (perhaps cliched but nevertheless fantastic) rousing crescendo and an almighty cymbal crash. At the end i am left thinking to myself, there is no one quite as diverse, quite as creative, and quite as unmistakable in style as Mike Oldfield. Enjoy!
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