Search - Victor Borge :: Victor Borge Live!

An Experience Not To Be Missed

3rdeadly3rd | Brisbane, Queensland Australia | 02/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've always enjoyed Victor Borge for as long as I can remember and it was thus a considerable blow to me when he died on Christmas Eve 2000 (not just because I was going to see him when he came to Australia).Victor Borge didn't know any English when he arrived in the USA and thus appreciated all the silliness of the language as he was learning it - this really shows through in his patter from this concert recording.The CD begins with the "Comedy In Music" concerts he did in the 50s. Here, it is possible to understand the lively wit and sense of timing he had throughout his life as he calmly sends classical music up. He begins with a "request number" and just as quickly dispenses with it before a wonderful discourse on the merits of an intermission ("We're going to have an intermission of one and a half hours tonight"). After much discussion on such topics as Rachmaninov's domestic situation; why his second piano concerto was written in 4 flats; the number of pedals on a grand piano and so on, we are ready for him to play some music. Following the "excerpts from Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto" (I won't give away the punchline), he then admonishes an audience member for being late before launching into the "variations on a theme" routine. Most of this sequence can be understood by people with little classical music knowledge, although some of the more obscure composers are not ones I'm familiar with.Following this, he then launches into two "medley" routines. The first one (Comedy In Music Part 2) derives a lot of the humor from the arguments he has with the audience ("Don't you know it? If you don't, why should I?") about the tunes. The second one (3 Borge Favorites) is punctuated with Borge's silly observations about the music.Borge then turns his hand to the opera by sending up Mozart in his hilarious "Mozart Opera". These are followed by "Family Background", a riotous account of the Borge family history (it is neccessary to remember that "Borge" was Victor's original first name in order to get one of the jokes) and "Phonetic Punctuation". The less said about the Punctuation the better - as it would spoil the listening pleasure.In short, if you enjoy seeing how the language can be misused, this is the album to get. The jokes will never get old, they'll just seem cleverer. After all, it's not every day you have "Brahms" spelled backwards for you."

Comedy in music by the funny Victor Borge

maelstrom1 | 06/07/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After having seen a television special featuring Victor Borge many years ago, I wanted to hear more of his comedic music routines. I was unable to find a videorecording at my local public library, but I did find this live audio recording. All six routines on this album are well done by Borge, successfully incorporating his sharp and witty sense of humour into each piece. In particular, I enjoyed Comedy In Music (Part I), especially the variations on "Happy Birthday". Borge shows his great skill at the piano as well as his admirable ability to incorporate the styles of many different composers into the music. His playing is spirited and playful, accompanied by his well-timed jokes and plays on words (e.g. "You want to hear Bach? Which one -- Johann Sebastien or Offen?) The reason I only give this recording 4 stars instead of 5 is because not every listener will get the jokes and his music variations. You need to have listened to a relatively wide range of classical music and composers before you can truly appreciate his humour. As well, since this is only an audio recording, the listener misses out on the visual antics of Borge, which is why I had first looked for a videorecording to see and hear the whole experience. Nevertheless, Victor Borge Live! is a delightful album for any classical music fan and I recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour."

Victor Borge is great! Makes you laugh every moment

maelstrom1 | 09/07/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Victor Borge takes me back when my father would play piano...He loved Victor and now I know why...Laughter is the cure for everything that is sad in the world...thank you Victor Borge. Great CD!"