James Galway: At The Waterfront

James Galway is perhaps the best known musician whose tool of choice is the famous 'golden flute'.

His website is: http://www.jamesgalway.com

His ability to interpret and make classical pieces his own has made his recordings best sellers.

'At The Waterfront' is a 1999 Belfast recital partly to celebrate his sixtieth birthday and his return to playing in the British Isles after an absence of over a decade.

This is the concert in full:

• Sonata – Reinecke
• Sonata – Prokofiev
• La Flûte de Pan – Mouquet
• Fantaisie – Taffanel

• Andante et Rondo – Doppler
• Jeanne’s Song – Overton
• Il Pastore Svizzero – Morlacchi
• Danny Boy – Traditional
• The Flight of the Bumble-bee – Rimsky-Korsakov

This disc is split in two parts - the 90 minute recital and the 50 minute documentary. The recital is 1.85 anamorphic. The documentary is also 1.85 but non-anamorphic.

The recital is fairly one-note; that is, the camera is in a fixed position facing the stage with Galway and his pianist. The background is black, so is the piano and the tuxedos. Black detail is unimpressive however. There are limited views of the crowd. 90 minutes of this might get repetitive for some. Galway looks ok with reasonable skin tones but his trademark gold flute is not well served by the video medium. It lacks the 'sparkle' that is present in the Bragg interview. Overall, adequate but not for a 90 minute stretch.

The Melvin Bragg interview is actually quite good. Very good colour, contrast and smoothness. It looks a bit like the ABC/BBC documentaries on TV except for the 1.85 aspect and the excellent display quality.

The entire disc is Dolby Stereo. I'm in two minds about this - undoubtedly Linear PCM would be preferred yet the recital is such a simple affair that some would argue that 192k/s Dolby is all that is required.

Undoubtedly simple toned instruments like the flute and the piano are not greatly diminished by Dolby compression yet PCM would obviously be better. Perhaps the extended play time (142mins) has something to do with this.

There are no problems with intelligibility or overall music fidelity however this 2.0 track is simply uninspiring and not up to CD standards. Dynamic range is limited but that is normal for this style.

Even though it is a live recording, I never felt part of the audience which other music DVD's (with better technical attributes) have no problems conveying. The piano sounded especially lifeless and dull. If you've heard a good recording of a grand you'll know what I mean.

There are no 'extras' like many music DVD's, however in this case I'll let it pass because the whole Melvin Bragg documentary is an 'extra'.

Melvin Bragg has the sort of personality and presence that tends to make for some relaxed yet indepth interviews. His personal style extracts memorable moments from his guests and this case is no different.

If you're a fan, this is it. Personally I find the pieces a bit 'spare' or 'sparse' but that's just my tastes.