Deep Purple with Orchestra: Live at Montreux 2011

Deep Purple with Orchestra seems designed to appeal to the veteran band's older or more conservative fans, presenting orchestrated versions of selections from their hard rock catalog, recorded at the 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival with the Neue Philharmonie of Frankfurt under conductor Stephen Bentley-Klein. As singer Ian Gillan notes, Deep Purple (and Montreux) were both celebrating their 45th anniversary. While the group still rocks hard, the additional instruments smooth over some of the sharper edges, although the results never fall down the lounge rabbit hole. Since Deep Purple has always been a keyboard-heavy band, the songs in which keys feature prominently come across better than guitar-oriented numbers, like “Highway Star,” which opens the show (although the hard-driving “Woman from Tokyo” works better than expected). One highlight is Don Airey's solo, in which his synth and Minimoog playing dominates, although he leaves room for some violin contributions from Bentley-Klein. Other notable numbers include “Hush,” “Space Truckin',” and the perennial crowd-pleaser “Smoke on the Water.” The other players include Ian Paice on drums, Roger Glover on bass, and Steve Morse on guitar (Airey and Morse replaced original members Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore). Presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, and LPCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include band member interviews. A strong optional purchase. (K. Fennessy)