Album review : NIKOLO KOTZEV – Nostradamus, The Rock Opera – studio album version and Live In Sofia version

Frontiers [Release date : 19.07.24]

Writing and producing Nostradamus, the Rock Opera, was a hugely ambitious undertaking and took its architect, Nikolo (Brazen Abbot) Kotzev, 3 years to complete.

Released in 2001, it sold 50,000 worldwide. A significant achievement for niche musical art.

As the title tells us, it is based on the life of Frenchman Michel De Nostradamus, a 16th century medical scientist, family man and later best known for his prophecies, catching the attention of Henry II and Catherine de Medici, King and Queen of France.

As with all operas, it has multiple moving parts, not least the vocalists. Glenn Hughes, Thomas Vikstrom, Goran Edman, Joe Lynn Turner and others were used by Kotzev on his band’s albums, and this experience laid the foundation for his Opera.
Sass Jordan, Jorn Lande and Alannah Myles were added to this already impressive list.
The Sofia Symphony Orchestra played an important role too, as did old colleagues from Europe’s rhythm section.

As advertised, the music is operatic, and as a drama set to music, the man’s life and times could not be a better theatrical fit.

In 100 minutes of music, there are many highpoints. Glenn Hughes digs deep into his emotional range on ‘Pieces of a Dream’.
Joe Lynn Turner’s version of ‘Henriette’, Nostradamus’s love song to his wife, is genuinely moving.
JLT and Jorn Lande handle the hooky, orchestral ‘Inquisition’ with care, and the soundtrack peaks with the magnificent Goran Edman singing ‘Desecration’.

The second CD continues the story in the violent aftermath of The Reformation in Europe.
As you might expect, the songs are much darker.

Darker, yes, larger than life too of course, more than the sum of its parts. This is theatre, telling a story theatrically.

Picking two songs almost at random, ‘Chosen Man’ and ‘I’ll Remember You’ are great examples of how the songs support and intensify the story, creating greater emotional impact. That’s their job (a gospel choir helps, too).

‘Nostradamus’ hit the stage of the Sofia State Opera House in 2017, with an entirely different cast, mainly the cream of Bulgarian music, plus well known Swedish Rock vocalists, Bjorn (Baltimoore) Lodin and Thomas Vikstrom, with scenic designers, costume designers, choreographers, a ballet troupe, and Shakespearian actor Ben (Chariots Of Fire) Cross as the Narrator.

It was a 120 minute performance from a team of 120 people … actors, musicians, technicians and so on. A neat coincidence of numbers.

Universal acclaim led to 3 more showings in Bulgaria later that same year. ****

Review By Brian McGowan

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REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

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