Cathrine Palmer

"Alexander Balus" has a poor reputation that is at least partly undeserved. Although the plot is adapted from Macabees, the title suggests its basis in history. This makes it an anomaly among Handel’s dramatic oratorios, whose sources are usually Greek myth or the Bible. The title also makes it easy to confuse it with one of the operas. What sticks most in memory is that it’s not supposed to be very good, and for that reason I ignored it for a long time while building my Handel collection. When I finally decided to check it out I was pleasantly surprised.

Though no one talked about it at the time of its release, this album reflected a growing split within the group. Originally, the trio's members, tired of sublimating their musical identities within the context of ELP, each intended to do a solo album of his own…

Legendary progressive rock giants Emerson, Lake & Palmer were formed in 1970 by the brilliant keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson, gifted singer / composer / guitarist Greg Lake and dynamic drummer / percussionist Carl Palmer. Torchbearers of the progressive rock sound, ELP jointly created the super-group concept and are among the most important bands in the history of rock music…

In august, 1970, 600,000 people, the largest audience in the history of pop music, attended the Isle of Wight Festival and experienced the debut performance of a new "supergroup," Emerson Lake & Palmer. With a spectacular stage show that included real cannons being fired over the heads of the audience, they became overnight stars with the press raving about their virtousity and daring. Intercut with the live footage from the show, this film also features brand new interviews with Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer, as well as their then-manager John Gaydon and creates a vivid portrait of the birth of a band.