Published on Jul 17, 2000
The first non-Christmas album from Trans-Siberian Orchestra
(TSO) is even
more ambitious than anything that has come before. (Let’s
hear it for ambition.)
TSO, the rock opera project headed by songwriter and producer
Paul O’Neill and including several members of progressive metal
group Savatage, has finally released their first “secular” album.
Beethoven’s Last Night is a full rock opera with multiple
voices, a libretto, and a full orchestral score. Loosely explained,
it is the story of the composer’s last night on earth and his
confrontation with both Mephistopheles and his own failures and
triumphs. This theme is…well…
big. Really big.
Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-would-choke-on-this-puppy big.
And let’s face it, for every good rock opera there are four or
five overblown guitar-leaden (no, that’s not a misspelling) wastes
of time. When rock opera is good, it’s
really good, but it’s so, so rare that it is.
Invariably, works such as this become a struggle between the
creator and the sheer weight and effort it takes to achieve
something this grandiose. So the question is, to paraphrase “Iron
Chef,” “Who wins it? Whose musical impact reigns supreme?” Paul
O’Neill, or the sheer inertia of a project like this?
And now, the verdict: O’Neill.
Beethoven’s Last Night is a magnificent piece of work. It
has a few flaws, but on the whole it’s more than worth the time,
effort, and sheer sweat. O’Neill had the sheer testicular fortitude
to take on Beethoven and the talent to make it work.
He gets varying levels of help from his performers. Jody
Ashworth singing Beethoven, is…okay. No more. He’s not
bad, but he’s not great, either, except on his final solo,
“Mephistopheles’ Return”, where he seems to finally let go. As a
contrast,
Beethoven’s Last Night features the magnificent power of
Patti Russo as Theresa, Beethoven’s former love, and the sheer
sneering malice of Jon Oliva as Mephistopheles. The background
vocalists and supporting vocalists (including Sylvia Tosun as Fate
and varying Muses and Ghosts) are excellent as well.
The production and engineering by O’Neill, Robert Kinkel, and
Dave Wittman are more than listenable, even handling full orchestra
and chorus. The songwriting is sheer genius – O’Neill has a way
with words that leaves you breathless and bruised from the impact,
and neatly switches back and forth between rock and Broadway
lyricism.
From the opening bars of “Overture”,
Beethoven’s Last Night keeps you held fast. Certain tracks
need to be highlighted for special notice, including
“Mephistopheles”; Patti Russo’s double dose of passion and power on
“I’ll Keep Your Secrets” and “After The Fall”; the metal-laced “The
Dark”; “Mephistopheles’ Return”; the infernal cruelty of “Misery”;
and the ultimate fall and rise of “A Final Dream”.
Beethoven’s Last Night is a magnificent defiance to the
conventional wisdom that says that rock opera is dead and a waste
of time. Kudos to O’Neill and his Orchestra. Let’s hope there’s
more gold to be mined in Siberia.