Customer Reviews

Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in E flat minor LIVE

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I`ve always thought Yngwie`s style and technique would blend well with a symphonic arangement. Though I enjoyed the Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in E Flat Minor Op.1, I felt the overall production was a little dense and Yngwie`s guitar was a little buried in the mix. That`s why I like this live version with the new japan philharmonic so much more. Even though it`s live, the Orchestra performance is cleaner and more powerfull, yet it never over powers Yngwie`s guitar. His playing on this night was fantastic as well as flawless. You can clearly every note and the two encores(Blitzkrieg, Far beyond the sun)hold up pretty well with a symphonic arangement.This CD is more for a big fan of Yngwie`s Neo Classical Style than of casual fan more familiar with his Rising Force CD`s.

To me, the CD done with the Czech Philharmonic is superior to this one with the New Japan Philharmonic because of the audio mix. I feel the Czech one is more balanced whereas this one has Yngwie's playing mixed a little too strongly and occasionally overshadowing important aspects of the orchestra. However, if you are more interested in hearing his guitar work, then you would probably prefer this version. Actually, since the only DVD of this work is of this performance with the New Japan Philharmonic, I got it on DVD and got the Czech version on CD.
(NOTE: For those interested in the DVD, it is quite hard to find since it comes out of Japan, but can usually be found on Ebay.)

First of all, I'm a major fan of Yngwie's music both as a joy to listen to, and exciting to use as a teaching tool (I'm learning guitar and my teacher uses a lot of Yngwie's stuff to demonstrate ideas in Classical playing and obscure bits of theory), and I loved the original studio version of the Concerto Suite. I think that this new version is as good, but certainly not better than the studio cut.

This could have been an absolutely awesome CD, but instead it is mearly a pretty good one. The main problem is the acoustic and volumatic problems, that the other reviews have mentioned. When this was recorded at the Shibuya Orchard Hall in Tokyo, it had to be done in a slightly different matter than a normal orchestrial concert.

In order to get the volume and tone he wanted Yngwie had to use more amplification than the orchestra itself could overcome. So as to not have the orchestra drowned out, the engineers working on the show cleverly filtered and amplified the orchestra using the Halls state of the art PA and speaker system. However by doing this they created a different type of acoustic dynamic and enviornment than a standard classical concert setting. Because it was different than a normal concert's acoustics it caused problems when it came time to mixing it using the classical standard 24-bit recording. This type of recording is best when done in a completely acousitc manner, when any amplification takes place it must be acounted for and balanced out in the mixing. With all the types of amplification going on, it is quite obvious that they overcompensate in spots, and mixed it too low in others. It is a glaring error on their part for not recording in the manner of a more traditional high volume concert, but overall it doesn't hurt the overall quality of the CD as much as you would think.

Overall its a decent CD, but if your going to import look for the DVD the sound mix is much better, especailly if you have a decent Dolby Digital system and there is another extra track on it. Not to mention the piece has more impact seeing it performed, as opposed to just hearing it.

I am a fairly avid Yngwie fan. I love his instrumentals, especially the concerto with the Czech orchestra. This recording with the Japanese orchestra is unnecessary because it sounds like a replica of the studio recording with minor differences. The main minor difference is poor quality recording. On some songs the volume swells. Some tracks are louder than others. Yngwie and the orchestra make rhythmic mistakes. Don't get this cd only for the extra encore tracks Blitzkrieg and Far Beyond the Sun. I imagine the DVD might be worth purchasing because there is novelty in seeing. C'mon, seeing yngwie shredding with an orchestra would look so cool. I really enjoy watching his fingers move. But, this CD provides no novelty compared to the Czech studio release. It's just worse quality. I highly discourage you from buying it.

Yngwie is amazing as always. He is definitely in his element with an orchestra behind him. There are a few places where I believe he plays too many notes too fast, but thats just my taste.

I've just owned the japanese DVD a year ago and the classical version of this original guitar genius has written with the advise and cooperation from one of his very closer friend and keyboardist, Mats Olausson. All the music is inspired in all his career as guitarist and frontman of the "Rising Force" early proyect. He made a great modern masterpiece with a very original composition, all the variations, arrangements and classical touches has his personal taste and musical charisma. As a very big fan of this heavy metal guitar god, I'm pleased to heard him in all his works and no longer any other musician can do the same as a great contribution for the rock genre. Thanks Yngwie for giving us (all the metal fans)your well done and masterpiece works, I hope you do something similar next time. Yngwie rules!!!

As in all concerto suites, there is a soloist. I believe that this is the first time a rock guitar player has done this. Malmsteen wrote and performed this live in Japan with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. It is truly a classical revolution. The bottem line is that Yngwie is one of the only real vituosos on heavy rock guitar, and his classical style works perfecly in their arena. I am not sure wheather to review this from a classical view or a rock view. Either way, the combination is perfect. The music is beautiful. Malmsteen gives his heart and soul in his best and most unique work ever with an unforgiving one time, do or die, live recording.

There are moments here in which Yngwie Johann Malmsteen plays so fast that the strings don't have time to resonate. His guitar sounds like a washboard.

While I admire his skill, I think his vision falls a little short and doesn't do the washboard justice.

A true washboard player can keep going for hours and hours. Getting those clothes clean, as anybody who's been in rehab knows, is spiritual training. Wherever they're from, the great washboard players have mountain eyes.

One-handed stroking, a cello player or two, Tokyo, and in-law problems might be the beginnings of wisdom, but not if pride--"showing off," as Ritchie Blackmore said of Yngwie--keeps rearing its head.

A sense of humor wouldn't hurt. Or a pilgrimage to the hills of Caroline.

Given the many rock-band-with-symphony-orchestra pairings of late, it's about time that Jim Dandy Mangrum took what remains of Black Oak Arkansas and showed young Yngwie how to do it right.

From idiot to savant is sometimes only a motion away.

This cd takes Malmsteens own music to a whole new level. It has its flaws like all LIVE cds do, but this cd is diiferent. I guarantee it will put a chill down your spine by the time you hear the first kettle drums roll. This is album is definately better than his first orchestral attempt.

Made in JAP in 2002, Serial# PCCY-01551, Playing Time 73:27

Recorded in Tokyo (probably at Bunkamura Orchard Hall on June 17,2001), this disc features Yngwie performing his "Concerto..." in its entirety, along with 4 other tracks accompanied with a Philharmonic Orchestra.

Even though this performance is well recorded, one has to wonder if there's any interest in capturing this event (3 concerts were performed) for posterity on CD (and, believe it or not, a DVD also exists!)

Somehow the studio version of this Concero didn't especially captivate me, and the live performance doesn't change my opinion (except that the acoustics are better in the studio!)

If you're a completist of Yngwie, perhaps you can't resist; but if you're a "regular" fan (or a casual listener), wait and see if a North-American pressing will see the light of day...