Jon Lord: Concerto for Group and Orchestra Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Jon Lord: Concerto for Group and Orchestra Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 1, 2013

The melding of jazz and classical music is usually credited to the so-called Third Stream, a term formulated by Gunther Schuller which attempted to concretize a movement which was already well under way. For some reason the term Third Stream has entered the public lexicon, as have subsequent terms like jazz-rock fusion and the like, but one of the first—if not the first—combinations of rock with classical music seems to have become largely forgotten, at least by the general public if not by the musical cognoscenti. Deep Purple was barely a year old when its keyboard player Jon Lord premiered Concerto for Group and Orchestra with the London Symphony in late 1969 with the redoubtable Malcolm Arnold conducting. The piece had one more public performance, in 1970 in Los Angeles, and then the score and parts mysteriously disappeared, never to be found again. While there was a recording and a videotape of the original performance, it seemed that Lord’s Concerto would be lost to the mists of time.

Through the efforts of Dutch composer Marco de Goeij, the score was reconstructed, and was actually performed about a decade ago. Lord and conductor Paul Mann later decided it was time for full fledged studio recording, and this Blu-ray offers a documentary depicting that process, one made bittersweet by the revelation that Lord had contracted terminal cancer part way through the recording process. While the documentary is often fascinating, I personally wish it would have gone more into the history of the piece (there’s one brief snippet of Arnold interviewing Lord and an equally brief moment from the original concert), at least enough to give some context. But this is a fitting tribute to Lord, who sadly passed in 2012, and the copious supplemental material makes this a must buy for Deep Purple fans and those who are interested by the cross cultural currents Lord sought to explore with this piece.

Jon Lord: Concerto for Group and Orchestra Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jon Lord: Concerto for Group and Orchestra is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision (an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment) with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This is a nicely sharp and well detailed presentation that suffers only minimally from some inadequate contrast and lighting in some of the darker studio moments. Fine detail is quite commendable, especially in close-ups. The archival footage culled from the actual performance looks pretty ragged, as should be expected.

Jon Lord: Concerto for Group and Orchestra Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While the sole option of DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 on the documentary might seem limiting, it really isn't, for the bulk of the piece is talking heads rather than actual music. The chief allure in the audio department is the beautifully realized 5.1 audio on the audio only supplement of the full Concerto. This supplemental feature boasts really impeccable fidelity and nicely nuanced separation. Despite some of Lord's tendencies to mass his rock voicings in the mid to low ranges, things sound remarkably clear and well detailed.

Jon Lord: Concerto for Group and Orchestra Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Conductor Paul Mann (1080i; 43:54)


• Interview with Marco de Geoij (1080i; 15:16)


• Up Close and Personal (Orchestral Recording Sessions) (1080i; 20:10)


• Concerto For Group and Orchestra (5.1 Audio) (46:48)

Jon Lord: Concerto for Group and Orchestra Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The documentary on this Blu-ray may actually be its least appealing element, despite being quite enjoyable in and of itself. The supplementary features, though, are outstanding, with much fuller and in depth interviews and a really stunning new recording of Lord's legendary Concerto. Highly recommended.