Playmate Full

The first fully-staged productions of the LA Opera House groundbreaking Recovered Voices project, highlighting the works of composers affected by the Holocaust. A double bill of one-act operas: Viktor Ullmann's Der zerbrochene Krug, taken from a comedy by the Romantic German poet Heinrich von Kleist, and Alexander Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg, based on Oscar Wilde's powerful tragedy The Birthday of the Infanta. The music of Alexander Zemlinsky and Viktor Ullmann remained buried for decades in the wake of the destruction wrought by the policies of the Nazi regime. Dozens of composers and thousands of compositions are still largely unknown to musicians and lovers of classical music and opera.

Despite the departure of organist Matthew Fisher, Procol Harum survived, and this album is ample proof. Fisher was one of the prime architects of the Harum sound, and his work on such classics as "Shine on Brightly" and, of course, "Whiter Shade of Pale" underline that. Procol continued as a four-piece, and it was indeed a good thing that they decided not to replace Fisher. The sound of the band on this album is a bit sparser, but definitely not without dimension and dynamics. "Simple Sister," one of the finest Gary Brooker/Keith Reid compositions, is truly glorious, with Robin Trower's frightening lead guitar work juxtaposed nicely against a wonderful string arrangement. Several other tracks are first rate, including "Power Failure" and "Playmate of the Mouth."