James Last
In Concert

More than a review, this writing is meant to be a tribute to an artist, composer, and especially a musical arranger who passed away in 2015. His production and contribution to the diffusion and appreciation of Music are beyond any discussion, as is undoubtedly his commercial success, assessed in the sale of about 100 million records based on a vast production that began back in 1963.

I have taken the vinyl "In Concert" as a reference both because it remained his most successful album and for the exemplary nature of its content. Released in the fateful '69, a year of great musical and other upheavals, given its evident classical imprint, it should have disappeared in the face of events. Instead, it determined the definitive consecration of its author, who practically "invented" a genre: that of orchestral arrangements of famous Classical Music pieces. A purely commercial operation, thus blasphemous for the purists of the time, and perhaps they weren't entirely wrong, but neither was James in seizing the opportunity that had the enormous merit of bringing millions of listeners closer to Classical Music, significantly elevating their cultural understanding of the subject.

It is not at all excluded that some of our progressive heroes, starting with Keith Emerson, listened to the notes of his albums and wanted to give a different twist to the rediscovery of musical classicism, producing albums themselves of undeniable value, an example for all is: "Pictures at an Exhibition" from 1971.

But let's return to our protagonist, who surely had a difficult childhood in Bremen, a port city in northern Germany, during the peak of Nazism and its fall, with the tragic end characterized by horrific bombings of his city, totaling 173... culminating in the one on August 19, 1944, with the dropping of over 10,000 (ten thousand) bombs. Once the storm had passed, Last immediately entered the industry, distinguishing himself primarily, believe it or not, with appreciated jazz compositions that were very fashionable in the post-war period, this side of the Iron Curtain.

His compositional qualities did not escape what we would today call the "talent scouts" of the English record label Polydor, looking to break Deutsche Grammophon's dominance on one side of the Channel and Decca's on the other, and the beauty is that thanks to Last, they indeed succeeded! Last was hired as an "arranger," a fairly vague term that, however, is very well realized throughout his over fifty-year recording career. In addition to arranging classical pieces in an "easy listening" key and having somewhat exhausted his vein, James turned to a comprehensive reissue of famous tracks, producing editions sometimes better than the original or simply more successful. But that's not all because Last was also a composer of soundtracks, for example: "Kill Bill" by Quentin Tarantino, containing famous tracks like "Lonely Shepherd" and "Biscaya," and he was involved in countless prestigious collaborations, the one with Pavarotti above all.

"In Concert" features a barrage of famous arrangements, among them the "Aria" from Suite No. 3 by J.S. Bach, BWM 1068, taken by Piero Angela, his deep admirer, for the jazz part, as the theme of the popular scientific program "Superquark." Personally, however, I prefer the "Presto" from Symphony No. 7 by L.V. Beethoven, op. 92, if only because during that era of musical "discovery," it facilitated my approach to Classical music: perhaps to hear the difference between the two styles... Activity continued later with the above-mentioned masterpiece by E.L.P.

I finally conclude by highlighting the remarkable technical quality of Polydor's reproduction: we are in '69, and half of the musical production back then was still released in monophony while compact cassettes were taking their first steps.

No judgment is needed. Enjoy your listen.