T4P
I have had a similar occurrence as well and found a programme called "spinrite" at http://www.grc.com/spinrite.htm to be on one occassion very good. I too was told the data was gone, I guess the guy trying to recover it just doesn't have the same enthusiasm as the owner to recover lost work.
When all fails sometimes its worth a shot.
Best of luck
PS Presentation 100% up shame there was no soundtrack.