Rossen is far from the best Anatoly. David Carroll, Tommy Körberg and Rein Alexander was all leagues ahead of his performance.

As for Zubin Varla, he did good, but not as good as Phillipp Casnoff, Adam Pascal, or even Murray Head.

The Arbiter had the wrong type of voice, I think. He should have more edge in his voice, and also flow better on "The Arbiter's Song". If you want a brilliant performance of The Arbiter, try to get hold of the 2006 Chess in Moster Amfi performance on DVD. It is not the best production I've seen of Chess, but Espen Hana, The Arbiter, was perfection!

I still maintain that Raul Esparza is the best I've seen as the arbiter.

To Cadriel in particular but also anybody who's interested - I wish they didn't still use the "You and I" theme for Florence and Anatoly in their hotel early in Act II. Having them sing it to each other as a straightforward love theme devalues rather than increases the pathos when the same tune is used as "Yet we go on pretending / Stories like ours / Have happy endings" which is genuinely poignant.

Personally I'd have Anatoly leave the hotel room for his TV interview at the point where "You and I" starts, and instead have Florence, left on her own, singing "Heaven Help My Heart" - rather than shoehorn that song into the end of Act I.

I guess the reason why it's the way it is is that they need some sort of love duet for Florence and Anatoly, otherwise Mountain Duet is their first and last musical moment together where it's all going well - and the relationship hasn't even started at that point.

Also I'd love to see the "Argument" from the concept album reinstated. I know it's the same music as Anatoly and Molokov but it's even more dramatic in the Anatoly/Florence context. It also nicely foreshadows their final separation.

Jack, I am totally in agreement with you on the "You and I" thoughts (though I find the entirety of Act 2 in its Concept/London form difficult to stomach on account of it being nothing but a tangled mess of coincidences and contrivances, but that's beside the point). I rather enjoyed how they worked it in Sydney, with one chorus of "You and I" working as Svetlana's fantasy of what Anatoly and Florence's relationship must be like, then being used in the "You knew better than me..." scene, and never actually being sung between Anatoly and Florence until the finale. My only problem with it, really, is that for that final scene, Tim Rice stuck with the hackneyed Broadway lyrics of the song.

Props also go to the Stockholm production's version, because whether "Drömmar..."'s use outside the finale was extraneous or not, that trapeze scene was just sexy.

The above is agreed on all points. My own personal "If I ever win the lottery and buy out Richard Nelson and Trevor Nunn's contracts" script has "Heaven" in Act II, as well as the concept album "Argument" in place of the London or Broadway "You and I." "You and I" is such a beautiful song (listen to the vocal harmonies in the chorus!), and the fact that it is introduced when they are breaking up is heartrending. "Heaven" in Act I is just silly. Although there are really too many solos that belong in Act II - "Heaven," "Pity," and if you give it to Svetlana also "Someone Else's Story."

Here are my views on the concert and its cast:

Josh Groban - oh Josh, you could tell he was working his little socks off trying to do the material justice, but he's just not an actor. He looked adorably befuddled the entire time. His singing was good. Not great, but very good. I think he is far too young to be a good Anatoly, and his 'Anthem' was... difficult. When listening to David Carroll sing it, I felt excited, it was something magic, something amazing. Groban's was pleasant and enjoyable, but I didn't feel the spark.

Adam Pascal - While Pascal's voice served the score quite well throughout the concert, I always feel that he's playing the same character - this was just 'Roger in Merano'. That said, his 'Pity the Child' was excellent.

Idina Menzel - Horrendous casting there. Florence should be hard-edged, smart, almost sarcastic and cynical. Menzel seemed like a sulky teenager for most of the performance. Vocally, she strained and struggled (visibly - she makes singing look the opposite of effortless). Interestingly, I thought she sounded better on bootlegs, before pitch-correction compressed her voice into a whine. A much fuller tone, certainly. And her diction was poor throughout. I will say this, though. I love her voice, I just love it. And I love Chess. That voice singing those songs is a winner for me, despite how poor she was, so I'll keep listening to them because of that combination. While 'Heaven' was sung quite well, that number always feels like a bit of a time-waster to me. I would give it to Svetlana (though that runs the risk of her just having two so-so ballads).

Kerry Ellis - Flawless. It's a rather underwritten part, but I thought Ellis knocked it out of the park. Her 'Someone Else's Story' was perfect for me. 'Mildly pissed' seems to be an emotion she does quite well, so the role was perfect for her. Unlike some people, I would not like to have seen her as Florence - I don't think she's right for it at all. However, were Chess ever to be revived, I would be more than happy for her to be onboard as Svetlana.

Marti Pellow - Horrendous. Charismatic but a mess. And vocally negligible.

Soloists - Many of our American users might not know, but many of those soloists were actually leading men and ladies (Jon Robyns and Aofie Mulholland, for instance) and I think you could tell they were making as much of their parts as possible. I enjoyed them.

The production itself was interesting. The big screen was cheesy, the cheerleaders diabolical and the staging of 'The Deal' exquisite.

One last thing - if you thought any of this production was bad, go and watch Elaine Paige's music video for 'Nobody's Side' and you will come out the other side thinking this concert to be divinely created. That video always reaffirms my faith that Chess is slowly improving.

Surely I can't be the only one who thinks that the DVD cover and packaging is absolute rubbish? Just the Chess logo on the front and a tracklisting on the back. It's the kind of packaging I would expect from a bootleg DVD, not from an official release. Considering that Josh Groban and Idina Menzel were picked for this project on the strength of their star pulling power (they obviously weren't cast for their acting ability), then surely photographs of them should be adorning the cover in an attempt to draw in people who are unfamiliar with the show???? And would it be so much trouble to come up with a blurb for the cover??? The people who put together the DVD packaging have pretty much guaranteed that only pre-existing fans of the musical will buy this. "Chess" has always been marketed badly, but this kind of incompetence still astounds me.

Play-readings and concert versions of musicals generally aren't to my taste. Even if they are done extraordinarily well, in the back of my mind I can't help but think I'd rather be watching a proper, full staging of the show. Hence, I was gratified to see that there was some limited dancing, props, costumes etcetera... that the cast weren't just walking up to a mic stand at the front of the stage and performing these songs. It wasn't the "real thing", but it felt close to it. And with one exception the cast were really trying to act the roles as well as sing them (note I said they tried, not all of them succeeded). It certainly had more verve and energy than the lifeless "Les Miserables" anniversary concert at any rate, and of that I am truly thankful.

I'm inclined to be sceptical of Tim Rice's statement that this is the final, official version. He has said such things before and I have a feeling he'll say so again the next time "Chess" is rewritten. If this is really it, the final official version, then the song-sequencing and placement are among the best in this show's turbulent history..... I think that "Pity The Child" does work better in the second act than the first, "Someone Elses Story" does work better when performed by Svetlana rather than Florence, the new dialogue does do well in clarifying certain bits.... but I dislike the way that Florence cuts into certain songs (though my opinion on that might've been different if they had cast a different actress in the role) and the way that Walter's CIA connections are downplayed in act one (meaning his spooky scheming in act two isn't foreshadowed and sorta comes out of nowhere).

Josh Groban... I felt he adequately conveyed Anatoly's emotional turmoil and his singing was beautiful. But his boyish good looks and American accent stopped me from really believing in his character.

Idina Menzel.... why the hell was she cast in this again? At times she struggles to reach notes and seems out of breath... at other times she's overextending vowels and riffing outrageously all over these songs... her diction is totally off, she mangles certain phrases horribly....she's constantly bugging out her eyes or her mouth is hanging open distractingly. I can only assume she was cast for her name recognition value, but she's not really all that famous. They could've put some pop-idol finalist in as a piece of stunt casting, it probably would've pulled in more punters than Menzel... although really, wasn't Groban stunt casting enough for one production????

Menzel and Groban have absolutely zero chemistry together, and I am inclined to blame Menzel. I get the impression from interviews that Groban is a "Chess" fanboy and although he's miscast, he gives a performance that seems to indicate he really cares about the material and has a vision of who this character is.... I get the impression from Menzel that she's confused and doesn't know what she's doing, so she just flails about in the hope that her diva-ish schtick will be enough to carry the day. It doesn't.

Thank the lord for the presence of Adam Pascal. He now takes the crown as my all time favourite Freddie....though I admit I haven't heard very many... I like Pascal because his voice has a rock n' roll grit to it (unlike Philip Casnoff's polished vocals), and he actually sounds like a real American (unlike Murray Head and Zubin Varla whose accents were incredibly fake). His tour de force performance was the main reason I kept watching.

Kerry Ellis outacts and outsings Menzel by a baker's dozen country miles, and really does seem wasted in such a minor role... but like Groban, she looks too young and pretty... and just like every other actress I've heard play Svetlana, she's too lazy to attempt a Russian accent. So despite the passion she puts into her performance and the beauty of her singing, I couldn't really believe in her character.

David Bedella's Molokov sticks out like a sore thumb in this regard, as he's the only performer who can be bothered acting Russian. I thought he did a more than credible job in this respect - thus making the laziness of Groban and Ellis even more obvious. That said, his performance does take on cackling villain airs in act two and his dancing in "The Soviet Machine" only serves as an unwelcome reminder of what a "Fiddler On The Roof" knock-off that song is.

Marti Pellow and Clarke Peters surprised me by underplaying the roles of The Arbiter and Walter... that guy who played the Arbiter on the Swedish DVD overacted like crazy, as did the guy who played Walter on the Danish Cast Recording.... so I was just relieved that I didn't have to put up with that level of hammery again.... I thought Pellow and Peters did a good job in bringing some personality to two very thin characters - but I can't say they blew me away either.

The DVD served to remind me why I love "Chess" - I love it not so much for what it is, as what it has the potential to be. It's weird... there is not a single version of "Chess" out there that attains masterpiece status, but each version seems to hint that there is a masterpiece buried within somewhere, trying to get out.

For all it's flaws, I'm glad I bought the DVD, it is consistently entertaining (though not always for the right reasons)... and I'm sure "Chess" will continue to delight and infuriate me in equal measure to the end of my days...

I agree with most of what you said, but I will say this - Ellis and Groban didn't use their own accents out of laziness, it was direction. Same as in the 2003 concert, only Molokov (Norm Lewis) used an accent.

which is always a poor. choice.. EVERY russian character should speak with a russian accent.

HAAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!! Norm Lewis DID NOT use an accent.

My apologies - I just went back and checked, and you are of course right. I could have sworn someone in that production did...

I meant to add - if they must use Anthem as the ending, I much prefer the 2003 concert version, ie the brief reprise of I Know Him So Well and then Anatoly and Florence duetting on Anthem. Much more affecting.

Well Anatoly and Florence still kinda dueted in the new one, plus the ensemble came in for the last words. I liked it. If only it was Kerry Ellis or someone else as Florence. Seriously. I introduced my friends to Chess and all they could say through the whole thing were jokes about how big Idina's mouth was or how she sounded so whiny.