THE PARIS SYMPHONY

The Paris Symphony contains the first material ever recorded by Russian outfit Little Tragedies. The main composition, divided into 6 parts, makes up the most of this production, while three bonus tracks recorded in 1996 has been added as bonus material.

What we're dealing with is music pretty much in the realm of ELP. Bombastic symphonic rock with a big emphasis on the b-word and the s-word, while the rock as such takes a back seat. Lartge, dramatic synth cascades and flurries mix with organs of various types - all emulated presumably - while bass and drums set up the basic foundations for the bursts, flurries and overall bombastic keyboards.

Technically it sounds dated, with a highly synthethic sound, and the recording quality leaves a lot to be desired as well. Especially on the main portion of the CD, where the music actually breaks in the loudest, busiest segments. Still, in despite of this The Paris Symphony is an intriguing affair. The compositions are pretty strong, and the main negative part of this venture is due to the recording quality rather than the compositional or performance aspect present.

Wwll worth investigating for fans of the genre, as long as they can tolerate the technical weaknesses.

Fans of ELP rejoice. This Russian trio, Little Tragedies, has crafted a very fine album rooted strongly in the tradition of they that created a "Karn Evil 9." The keyboards have the greatest presence, sometimes recreating harsh string melodies, but the bass and drums do more than merely provide a steady backbone. As musicians, they are excellent, executing several complicated passages, sometimes one directly after the other. As composers, they are questionable. The big downside of the album is the scarcity of musical themes that anchor the performances, which range from rigidly structured works to seemingly improvised jams. That said, this album is highly recommended to those craving symphonic progressive rock music in the purest sense- classical-sounding pieces interpreted through rock instrumentation.

"Notre Dame de Paris" Bright cathedral organ begins this pompous ride. It does not adequately prepare the listener for the bombastic bomb of sound that follows- barrages of drums, synthesizer, and bass. The only respite permitted was in the beginning- everything else about this piece is harsh, frantic, and unrelenting synthesizer magic.

"Montemartre" Further church organ ensues, but stops abruptly to allow for a dark jazz rock excursion- something completely unexpected. The latter part of the piece is laden with overwhelming synthesizer leads, which are quite astringent at times.

"Hotel des Invalides" After an eerily childlike introduction, warlike music begins, boasting drums and dark strings. Lively bass dances in, but generally speaking, the atmosphere remains thick and menacing. Were it not for the instrumentation, I might mistakenly believe I was hearing a lost Igor Stravinsky piece.

"Napoleon" Perhaps the most difficult of all the pieces to follow, this one begins with a long, soaring synthesizer note, which screams over heavy chords, and soon a volley of keyboard notes crash in from all directions. Stark drumming interrupts the piece, but is soon joined by strings. It is all over the place- I can't really say that I enjoy the constant dissonance and intensity, but I refuse to go so far as to condemn this work as uncreative. The squealing synthesizer lead is rather annoying, however.

"Jardin Du Luxembourg" Bass and strings open this rather brief piece before ominous organ and drums join it.

"Arc de Triomphe" Airy, almost windy keyboards usher in a screeching, malevolent synthesizer lead- what I imagine the wretched denizens of perdition would sound like if momentarily set loose from their prison. When the piece proper begins, it possesses a fuller sound, yet that wailing lead guides the listener through the cacophonic journey to a radiant conclusion.

"Moonlight People" More delicate fare arises here on this transitorily ethereal track, which has only keyboard instrumentation- a simply beautiful, almost nostalgia-inducing affair.

"Romantic Walz" Percussive organ is joined by percussion to create a flighty piece that is chock full of runs and solid bass work. Wailing synthesizer enlists in the fray, sometimes feeling out of place. The build toward the end is magnificent, even if the lead instrument must spoil it.

"Relayer" As with much of the rest of the music, the constant torrent of keyboard runs can be wearisome to endure, and this problem drastically worsens in several places here. Incidentally, some of their most amazing work can be found here though- it's just a matter of bearing with the deluge to enjoy the gems.

The first ever compositions from this Russian band.

The mainman in Little Tragedies, Gennady Ilyin, has a degree in music from a Russian university and is classically trained. That is pretty evident here and on all their albums. Little Tragedies comes into progressive rock from the classical side of scene. Well, approaches progressive rock, that is. Rock, this is not.

What we get here is cascades upon cascades upon cascades of church organs and other tangents. It is like sitting in a cathedral and listening to the organist there playing a symphony. This kind of symphonies. Unfortunate for me, I am sitting in a half decent office and is staring at this monitor. I wish I was in a cathedral though because that would had enhanced this experience/piece of music x amount of times.

The music itself is good. Most of it is brooding passages and melody lines which captures the subjects brilliantly. There are some lack of good melody lines. But I am coming back to this cathedral thing where this music should be enjoyed and not in a grubby office in the middle of nowhere. This is music to be experienced. Not to be listened to. Fetch me a cathedral and I will give this a four star rating. Without it; three stars will have to do.

3 stars

"The Paris Symphony" is in my opinion the weakest effort from this excellent Kursk-based band. It is obvious that Keith Emerson is some kind of role model for Gennady Ilyin, who doubtless is a very skilled musician - but when it comes to composition The Paris Symphony lacks the confidence of the bands later efforts and the distance to Keith Emerson is in this case obvious. It is however interesting to follow the bands progress; from this bud to later beautiful flowers and as such, this album deserve a three star rating. Gennady Ilyin is the main musician on this album - and he definitly know how to play his keyboards! All musicians on this album are good - and that is not the problem. No; the problem is rather that the music drowns in all keyboards. I however like the idea to make a concept out of the perceptions and and emotions related to Paris - and in some respect I would say that Gennady and co- musicians have succeeded. How about the music then? Basically it is very obvious that Gennady, who is the main composer, is classically trained both as concert pianist and as classical composer. On this album, he mixes quite gothic type organs with jazz, classical music and some rock - and he does it with a twist (I like the surprising "Paint it black" reference at the end of "Montmatre" - how on earth did that end up there?). The production could however been better. Don't get me wrong: I am a big fan of Little Tragedies - but I would rather (and highly) recommend their later albums, where the bud really have evolved into the most beautiful flower. I would give this album a 2.6 star rating.

The Russian progrock formation Little Tragedies was founded in 1994 by composer Gennady Ilyin, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Between 1995 and 2000 Little Tragedies was a trio that consisted of Gennady Ilyin on keyboards, Yuri Skripkin on drums and Oleg Babynin on bass (what a wonderful genuine Russian names!), after a visit to Paris keyboard wizard Gennady got inspired by the awesome Parissian architecture and cultural heritage and started to work out a tribute with Little Tragedies, recorded in 1996 and 1997 and in 2009 released on CD by the French progrock label Musea.

On Little Tragedies their wonderful website I read: "After visiting Paris in April 1995, which impressed Gennady very much, he started working on The Paris Symphony. The climax of this almost 45-minute work is the three-part opus Napoleon which, in a way, is the heel post of the 'symphony: it determines the structure and intonation of the other parts: House Of Invalids, Notre-Dame De Paris, Luxemburg Garden, Montmartre and Triumphal Arch. The major themes of The Paris Symphony are based on the tunes of and allusions to the Catholic Easter worship service in the Notre-Dame Cathedral. The Paris Symphony was played a few times in music schools and concert halls of Kursk, the city were Little Tragedies was born."

The album contains 9 tracks (between 2 and 11 minutes, total time around 56 minutes) delivering mainly bombastic atmospheres, loaded with dazzling and spectacular synthesizer flights and Emersonian Hammond organ runs, supported by a tight and energetic rhythm-section. Only the short composition Moonlight People contains a more mellow atmosphere: dreamy with orchestral keyboards but finally also culminating in bombastic with sensational keyboards. But in general Little Tragedies their music is a winner for the fans of ELP, Trace and Gerard. I am blown away by the majestic church organ in Notre Dame De Paris and Montmartre and the exciting duels between Hammond organ and synthesizer in Romantic Waltz and Relayer, this is virtuosic keyboard driven progrock!

My rating: 3,5 star.