It’s a fascinating story of ’70s prog-rock indulgence: Rick Wakeman was a very good session keyboardist with a stint in The Strawbs and a comparatively recent addition to progressive rock giants Yes when his record label asked for a solo album. He found an el cheapo airport book on Henry VIII and his six wives, and wrote a piece on each to form the basis of ‘The Six Wives Of Henry VIII’, the album. This instrumental album, released in 1972, became a million seller.

But he never performed it live, because the petulant Wakeman would only do it at Hampton Court Palace, which turned him down flat. Thirty six years later, they said yes and Wakeman (with the English Rock Ensemble, Orchestra Europa, the English Chamber Choir and others) finally did his duty on the 1st and 2nd of May earlier this year.

Here’s the evidence on DVD (there’s also a CD) and it’s not pretty. While the original album featured stellar support from prog-rock musos of high calibre, in 2009 the music is performed as if it’s TV theme music with a little bit of Andrew Lloyd Webber for theatrical effect, with Wakeman popping up to solo inanely on synthesiser and piano. It’s pretty torrid and tasteless, but then good taste was never Wakeman’s forte. There’s certainly a sense of fun to all this, and I’m sure fans of the original album will get a nostalgic glow while watching it (and the ragged but still be-caped Wakeman) perform it.

The DVD is well produced, with crystal-clear camera-work and excellent sound (the usual Dolby and DTS surround options apply and I would suggest potential buyers think about getting the Blu-ray rather than the DVD), and both the bonus ‘behind the scenes’ featurette and the quite bulky DVD booklet make this a great souvenir for those misguided souls who consider this worth their while. But who am I to quibble? I like Emerson, Lake & Palmer. GARY STEEL

Sound 4

Vision 3.5

Overall  2.5