Documentary/Music Special Review: 'Great Voices Sing John Denver'
Great Voices Sing John Denver (2013)
Written and Directed by: Kenneth R. Shapiro
Produced by: Elisa Justice, Milton Okun, Rosemary Okun, Peter Primont, Kenneth R. Shapiro, Mark Shimmel
Music Arranged and Directed by: Lee Holdridge
Music and Lyrics: John Denver
Starring: Danielle de Niesse, Placido Domingo, Placido Domingo Jr., Rodney Gilfry, Denyce Graves, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Daniel Montenegro, Barbara Padilla, René Pape,
Matthew Polenzani, Patricia Racette, Shenyang, Stuart Skelton, Dolora Zajick
On October 18, 2013, writer-director Kenneth Shapiro's Great Voices Sing John Denver, a 90-minute documentary about the making of the eponymous tribute album produced by Elisa Justice Holdridge, Milton Okun, and Rosemary Okun, which had been released in June of that year, was first screened. Featuring interviews with the Okuns, Justice Holdridge and her husband Lee Holdridge (who was the arranger and conductor for the musical performances), Great Voices Sing John Denver is the story of how the album came to be, as well as a visual chronicle of the actual recording sessions.
Great Voices Sing John Denver was inspired over a dinner conversation by legendary producer
Milt Okun's wife, Rosemary. From her simple suggestion, this fabulous collection was born. - Great Voices Sing John Denver website, The Album
In the award-winning film, writer-director Kenneth Shapiro mixes interviews with the late Milt Okun, the founder of Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company and John Denver's producer for much of the late singer-songwriter's career, his wife Rosemary, Lee Holdridge and his wife Elisa Justice, and performances by the 15 international artists, all from the world of classical opera, chosen for the Great Voices Sing John Denver project. They are:
- Danielle de Niesse
- Placido Domingo
- Placido Domingo Jr.
- Rodney Gilfry
- Denyce Graves
- Nathan Gunn
- Thomas Hampson
- Daniel Montenegro
- Barbara Padilla
- René Pape
- Matthew Polenzani
- Patricia Racette
- Shenyang
- Stuart Skelton
- Dolora Zajick
Great Voices Sing John Denver features the 15 English-language renditions of such songs as Sunshine on My Shoulders, The Eagle and the Hawk, This Old Guitar, Leaving on a Jet Plane, Like a Sad Song, Goodbye Again, Rhymes and Reasons, and Calypso from the Great Voices album, albeit not in the same sequence. (For instance, the film opens with Perhaps Love, which is the 14th track in the CD/MP3 album. (The extra features section of the disc presents Shenyang's Mandarin rendition of Shanghai Breezes and Matthew Polenzani's Per Te, an Italian version of Denver and Placido Domingo Jr.'s For You.)
My Take
I am not an opera buff by any stretch of the imagination. I have watched only a couple of operas in their entirety, and only one of them - Georges Bizet's Carmen - has resonated with me enough to say I'd buy the Blu-ray or DVD of a filmed performance of it.
I also can't claim that I've been a John Denver fan all of my life. As a boy in the early to late 1970s, his music was part of the soundtrack of my life, of course, but in my South Florida circle of friends (especially when I was in junior high), disco and rock ruled, while John Denver's mix of "middle of the road" pop, folk, and country/Western was not considered "cool." So even though I liked quite a few of his songs (especially the ones in the one album of his that I owned (1973's John Denver's Greatest Hits), I sort of drifted unconsciously into a state of selective "ignorance-is-bliss" and allowed myself to overlook most of his post-1973 career.
Obviously, some part of me held on to memories of Mr. Denver's artistry and popularity "back in the day," and over the past few years, I've been rediscovering his songs and trying to learn all I can about the late singer, songwriter, actor, environmental activist, and humanitarian.
Incidentally, it was by streaming the Great Voices Sing John Denver album on Amazon Prime that made me realize just how universal and artistically relevant John Denver's songs are. After I listened to the digital edition of Great Voices several times last autumn, I went on to buy two compilation albums (The Essential John Denver and John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits) as well as the expanded version of his first "live in concert" recording, An Evening with John Denver.
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| Promotional poster for the film. ©2013 Great Voices Film Company and CDK Productions |
John Denver and opera fans alike have something to look forward to as we go behind the scenes of the creation of the new CD called 'Great Voices Sing John Denver'. Legendary music producer Milton Okun, along with arranger and conductor Lee Holdridge, bring some of the most famous names in opera to sing John Denver's famous hit songs. Featured artists include Placido Domingo, Danielle de Niese, Matthew Polenzani (singing in English and Italian) Patricia Racette, Rene Pape, Nathan Gunn, Dolora Zajick, Thomas Hampson, Rod Gilfry, Denyce Graves, Shenyang (singing in English and Mandarin) Daniel Montenegro, Placido Domingo Jr., Stuart Skelton and Barbara Padilla. Each artist got to select the song they wanted and share with us their reasons. - Publicity blurb on the Blu-ray packaging, Great Voices Sing John Denver
Kenneth Shapiro's Great Voices Sing John Denver is, as I said earlier, a documentary about the genesis of the 2013 album. The masterminds behind its creation, Milt and Rosemary Okun, Elisa Justice Holdridge and her husband Lee, and all of the singers discuss their rhymes and reasons for their involvement in the project.
Okun, who was one of the biggest impresarios in the music industry for over 50 years, had his feet both in the pop music world and the more eclectic world of classical music and opera. And as John Denver's original producer (first when Denver was a member of the Chad Mitchell Trio, and later when John struck out on his own in 1969), Okun realized that albums such as 1981's Perhaps Love (and its eponymous hit single) were a natural bridge to both genres.
Lee Holdridge, who had worked on various concerts and albums with Denver, explains early on in the film that he realized that John's songs, stripped of their pop elements, are so artistically sound that they can be performed by classically-trained opera singers and still hold their own as musical compositions. This is a view that is shared by many of the singers, some of whom had never recorded a pop song in their professional careers.
John Denver died in a plane crash nearly 20 years before the album was recorded, but he is seen and heard (through the clever use of archival footage) in two particularly moving segments. In addition, the film is dedicated to his memory.
I am not ashamed to admit that this is a deeply moving film that made me weepy-eyed throughout the 90 minutes of its total running time. Not only do I love Denver's music and lyrics, but each singer brings something to the table with his or her performance. One singer says that she heard her song for the first time when her mother sang it to her and a sibling as a lullaby. A tenor born in what was then East Germany (René Pape) says that he only discovered John Denver's songs at the end of the Cold War and explains why he chose to sing Follow Me in the album. And of course, director Shapiro shows a clip from the original Perhaps Love video from 1981, which is a throwback to the origins of Great Voices Sing John Denver.
As I wrote in my recent review of the Great Voices Sing John Denver album:
You don't have to be an opera fan to enjoy Great Voices Sing John Denver, and you don't necessarily have to be a John Denver fan, either. This is one of those rare instances where the music is simply so beautiful and emotionally raw that it touches your heart. This is also an album that is best listened to with a glass of wine and several handkerchiefs close at hand; it's extremely well-done and all of the songs are lovely and have an emotional resonance that lingers long after the last notes fade out.
The same goes for Kenneth Shapiro's film.
About the Blu-ray:
The home media version of Great Voices Sing John Denver was produced by Great Voices Film Company and CDK Productions. And for the most part, the Blu-ray experience is pretty good, although the disc I have gets a mixed review due to some issues I have with playback.
In one of our Blu-ray players - a Sony Blu-ray player connected to our house's Samsung 1080p high definition set and a home theater sound system - the Great Voices Sing John Denver plays well and without hiccups of any kind throughout the main feature. The images shot by cinematographer Matt Bass are always compelling to watch, and the sound recording by Josh Morton is both crystal clear and without flaws.
However, I had to resort to going to IMDb.com to look up the cast and crew of Great Voices Sing John Denver because once the main feature ends, the credits freeze when the list of producers comes on the screen. This happened the first time I played the disc, so I ejected the Blu-ray, examined it, noticed it had a fingerprint smudge (probably mine), and carefully cleaned it with a soft non-abrasive cloth. I put the disc back in the player, skipped to the credits, and lo and behold! It froze at that point again even though the disc was clean and had no smudges or scratches. I tried again earlier this morning - the disc's playing surface looks fine to the naked eye, but it still freezes at the same spot in the credits rollup.
In my other player, a Samsung Blu-ray player that's connected to my Samsung smart TV and a soundbar, the playback is, well, spotty. The sound and image are fine, but it tends to skip and even freeze at odd times. Maybe it's because I rarely use that TV/Blu-ray player combination, or maybe it's the HDMI cable acting up, but playback was not as good in this setup as it was in the main TV's.
I'll try cleaning the Blu-ray again later. I'll also try to figure out if it's the HDMI cable or another connection issue with my office TV/Blu-ray connection. If nothing solves the playback issues with this TV, then I'll just have to watch it on the set where Great Voices Sing John Denver plays 99% well.
Update, January 29, 2020:
After leaving an abbreviated version of this review (and the link to this post) at the Great Voices Film Company website (https://www.gvsjd-thefilm.com/) in which I mentioned the playback issues I had with my Blu-ray, I expected nothing more than a polite message with instructions on how to get a replacement from an anonymous service representative. So imagine my surprise when, a few hours after I had left my feedback on the site, I found this email in my inbox:
Great Voices Film Company & cdk films gvsjd.thefilm@gmail.com
To alexfardreamer (my email address)
Hi Alex,
I was quite moved by your review of my film, Great Voices Sing John Denver, and I was happy to read that you enjoyed it so much. I am sorry to hear about the issue you are having with the blu-ray disc you recently received. We are sending you a replacement so you can enjoy every moment.
Best wishes and keep spreading the word.
Best regards,
Kenneth Shapiro
The Great Voices Film Company
CDK Productions
And sure enough, yesterday I received my replacement Blu-ray, and it played perfectly without getting "stuck" in the credits sequence.
I also bought the movie on DVD and on Amazon Prime Video (for streaming on my computer or tablet). As a matter of fact, I'm playing the DVD as, in the words of my Significant Other, "background." It has the same content and subtitles options as the Blu-ray, just not presented as a high definition film.
Extra Features:
- Shenyang's performance of Shanghai Breezes in Mandarin
- Matthew Polenzani's performance of Per Te (For You) in Italian
- Six Featurettes
- Trailer
- English subtitles (main feature only)
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