sound. Indeed, Madonna may well be a MOZART: The Abduction from the female Frankie Valli for the Eighties, Seraglio.Valerie Masterson (soprano), and I mean that as a compliment. We Constanze; Lillian Watson (soprano), would do well to remember, though, Blonde; Ryland Davies (tenor), Bel- that Frankie and the rest of the Four monte; Willard White (bass), Osmin; Seasons went from sublime silliness to James Hoback (tenor), Pedrillo; Joa- Las Vegas glitz in fairly short order, and chim Bissmeier, Pasha Selim. Glynde- on the basis of this new video, I'd say bourne Festival Chorus; London Phil- Madonna has already made a similar harmonicOrchestra,Gustav Kuhn transition. cond. VIDEO ARTS INTERNATIONAL What's on display here is indistin- 69023 VHS Hi-Fi $69.95, 29023 Beta guishable from the kind of club acts Hi-Fi $69.95. purveyed by such luminaries as Cheryl Ladd and Raquel Welch. For most of it, Performance: Appealing the once and future Material Girl is Recording: Good accompanied by a brace of obnoxious This video cassette is characterized by chorus boys (one of whom is named, so twoparticularlyattractivequalities. help me, Lyndon B. Johnson). She First, the two pairs of lovers around changes clothes a lot (in Like a Virgin whom the opera's action revolves are she wears what a character in Who's played by engaging young people who Afraid of Virginia Woolf refers to as a act well and are therefore believable in "Sunday -go -to -meetingdress") and their roles. Second, the five singing dances with all the professional aplomb parts of the opera (the role of Pasha of your next-door neighbor's kid sister. Selim is spoken) are enhanced by true, She also indulges in some shameless pure, fresh, and unforced voices. cornball show -biz emotionalism ("cry- Valerie Masterson copes with Con- 11//)/////e/Y.1l/IY ing" for joy at being back in Detroit, stanze's wicked tessitura and ornamen- where this was shot) and turns the act of tation with ease; there is no shrillness or Tom Petty (vocals, guitar); the Heart- tossing a tambourine into an exercise in forcing. Lillian Watson is a pert and breakers (background vocals,instru- suspense worthy of Hitchcock. charming Blonde. The two tenors, Ry- mentals); the Soul Lips Horns (brass); To be fair, the show moves along land Davies and James Hoback, as mas- theRebelettes(backgroundvocals). smartly, the boys in the band sound ter- ter and servant, respectively, are warm, American Girl; You Got Lucky; It Ain't rific,and Pioneer's digital audiois winning, and musically satisfying. In Nothin' to Me; Don't Do Me Like That: extremely impressive. L.M. Willard White we have at last an Osmin The Waiting: I Need to Know; Don't who can call up some sympathy, for he Come Around Here No More: Spike; MOTOWN TIME CAPSULE: The plays the part as a rather pleasant, blun- Southern Accents; and eightothers. 60's. The Four Tops: I Can't Help dering bully who provides some genu- MCA 80328 VHS Hi-Fi and Beta Hi-Fi Myself The Miracles: Shop Around. inely funny moments; his rich bass is $29.95. Marvin Gaye: Pride and Joy. The ideal for the role. Temptations: The Way You Do the The chorus and orchestra under Gus- Performance: Cookin' Things You Do. Stevie Wonder. For tav Kuhn sing and play with verve and Recording: Average remote Once in My Life. And five others. Mo- style. The recorded sound is well bal- Like the live album of the same name, TowN/MCA 80395 VHS Hi-Fi $29.95. anced and clear. The action of Mozart's Pack Up the Plantation is a compilation Singspiel is made plain by subtitles that of two Tom Petty performances re- MOTOWN TIME CAPSULE: THE are neither so lengthy nor so literal that corded at L.A.'s Wiltern Theatre last 70's. The Jackson Five: Dancing Ma- they detract from the proceedings. The August. Six of the songs represented on chine.SmokeyRobinson:Cruisin'. size of the opera is scenically well suited the LP are not included here, but the Marvin Gaye: What's Going On. The to the small Glyndebourne Festival video offers seven other tunes not on Commodores: Easy. Stevie Wonder: stage. the double album, including the Top- Living for the City. And five others. Granted that Mozart and his librettist Ten hit Don't Do Me Like That. Petty is MOTOWN/MCA 80396 VHS Hi-Fi created someratherheavy-handed not the most mesmerizing showman, $29.95. comedy that is difficult to lighten, this but he does have a presence, and when Performances: Engrossing production by and large succeeds. I did that begins to wear thin he always has a Recordings: Very good wonder why the camera was allowed to great band behind him in the Heart- dwell on Constanze at close range dur- breakers,particularlyguitaristMike It would be difficult to review the Six- ing her very difficult first aria; no singer Campbell and keyboard player Ben- ties and Seventies, from an American can look beguiling while executing that mont Tench. For this tour, Petty added point of view, without somewhere along music. I also question having her most back-up singers and a horn section, the line bringing in the unique Motown demanding scene (ending with "Marten which give the songs more bite and add beat. It is therefore quite appropriate for aller Arten" played in a room distract- an urgency to the overall, brooding Motown Productions to dip into its ingly and exclusively furnished with sound. This is pretty much a power- vaults, extract choice morsels, and mix caged birds-granted they are "sym- house performance, weakened only a them well with visuals of the day. That bols," though rather obvious ones. And couple of overlong vamps and by the is precisely the recipe for these two new why is Pedrillo gratuitously given spec- dark, available -light shooting. A.N. fifty -minute videos. The visual material tacles to wear when they add nothing to comes mainly from television commer- his character? But I really liked the stag- RUSH: Through the Camera Eye.Rush cials and stock footage, but there are ing of the quartet of the reunited lovers, (vocalsandinstrumentals).Distant also some Monty Pythonish animated an extended passage that is sung and Early Warning; Vital Signs; The Body collages. acted with joyous fervor. I can recom- Electric: Afterimage; and four others. There are ten segments in each video, mend this cassette to those who admire PIONEER PA -85-112 LaserDisc $19.95. one for every year in each decade, and Mozart's delicate score and who will each has a Motown hit single as its enjoy a tasteful dramatic presentation Performance: Has its moments foundation. We've seen this kind of of the opera's occasionally silly but Recording: Very good montage before and,indeed,you'll winning story. R.A. Rush has gone from mediocre heavy- probably recognize some of the footage, metal to a not inestimable mixture of but the editing keeps the images moving TOM PETTY & THE HEART- Police -styleatmospherics,old -school at a brisk pace. Recommended. C.A. BREAKERS:Pack Up the Plantation. Seventies art rock, and social comment,

130 STEREO REVIEW SEPTEMBER 1986