SPIRITS OF MUSIC - PART 1 (PAL)

Bobby McFerrin
Nigel Kennedy

Picture Format: 16:9 anamorphic
Sound Format: LPCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
Running Time: 73 mins
Region Code: PAL All
Booklet Languages: GB, F, D
Recording Date: 15 June 2002
Cat no.: DV-COSOM1

TDK presents a very special night on DVD: On 15 June 2002 over 20,000 spectators witnessed a unique encounter of classical, jazz and world music on Leipzig's city centre market square. Musicians from Britain, Bulgaria, Cuba, Germany, Norway, Poland, Syria and the USA took an enthusiastic audience on an unusual musical journey through the centuries and over continents, a journey ranging from spirituals to Ravel, from Bach to Klezmer, from African folk music to Mozart. The evening's success can be gauged from the present DVD, which documents the first half of the evening (the second part will also be released by TDK).

The event took place under the guiding hand of Bobby McFerrin. His name stands like no other for the reconciliation of two musical worlds that are not so different from one another as they might seem. The "wonder voice" from New York is admired and adored for his virtuoso vocal talents, his worldwide hit Don't Worry, Be Happy was pop music at its best, he is a brilliant jazz musician who has won ten Grammy Awards, and his conducting talents have inspired many of the world's leading orchestras. Alongside his remarkable solo improvisations he brought a charming and unconventional manner to his conducting of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, one of Germany's most renowned orchestral ensembles.

McFerrin is supported by the second great genre migrant of the evening: Nigel Kennedy. The versatile British violinist, just as much at home with pop or jazz as with the classics, sees himself as a commuter between different musical styles. Kennedy surprised his Leipzig audience with his performance as a virtuoso Klezmer artist. He was accompanied by the Polish Klezmer trio Kroke, internationally known since their contribution to Steven Spielberg's worldwide success Schindler's List.