Vangelis' first release on his new label, Sony Classical is indeed as one might expect, more classical than ever before. One might think of it as a more elaborate continuation of El Greco, or a more traditional take (in the orchestral sense) on some of 1492's passages. Whatever one might feel the need to compare it with, prepare to find the album to be something else all together.
It's commendable that Sony put their commercial faith in a work with so little easy hit potential, relatively speaking. The strenght of this work will not be found in accessible sing-along melodies and recognizable tunes. However, anyone who's looking for more than that will find everything he hopes for. With amazing grace Vangelis leads an orchestra, a large mixed choir, two amazing sopranos and of course his own synthesizer setup through a world of Greek mythology and outerspace Mars exploration. After an introduction with electronic sound effects, the bombastic opening theme uplifts the spirits to prepare for the more sedate and reflective parts that occasionaly build up to the album's dynamic highlights. The sopranos enter somewhere during the fourth track and sing beautiful, slow but also surprisingly complex duets throughout most of the work.
Choirs, opera vocals, strings, windblown instruments and orchestral percussion dominate the sound, but some of those parts are still played on synthesizers. The style is pleasently consistent, often slightly "Greek", always very serious but warm and full. Sometimes dark, sometimes light and bright. But always in tune with the rest of the music.
The music is based on a concert that Vangelis peformed with choir and harpists at the Herodium theater in Athens, 1993. For this release the work was revisited, certain tracks and cues added and many of the parts rerecorded, this time with the full London Metropolitan Orchestra, using the efforts of orchestrator / conductor Blake Neely. Amazingly enough the result sounds as "Vangelis" as ever in both peformance and sound, so that any sour memories of previously orchestrated cover versions are swiftly forgotten after hearing this particular recording.
Both sopranos, Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman - true divas in all senses of the word - give the album extra momentum, performing with all the sensitivity and power they could draw on.
The release of this album was preceeded by a new live performance: a spectacular show at the Temple of Zeus in Athens, with the entire orchestra and choir present, fronted by Vangelis, Battle and Norman. The show will be used in Sony's promotional campaign, by means of television broadcasts, and a release on DVD / VHS.
Both the concert and the album are closely tied with a mission the NASA is currently undertaking to Mars. The music is planned to be used by NASA in their educational program, and NASA's Mars imagary was used at the concert, combined with elements of ancient Greek mythology, resulting in a surprisingly focussed combination.
The album has now been released in most parts of the world, with only a few countries (Belgium, Japan, etc) waiting for it to appear.