Latest DVDs I've watched.

[MISHUGINA]

Suddenly there is so many crazy titles to grab nowadays. There's so many yet so little time to watch:



Mahler 7th, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado

I've only managed to watched the first movement, and will watch the rest later. I haven't heard the famed live Berlin Philharmonic recording but I've heard the Chicago Symphony record on DG and it's my favorite recording. I have a feeling its going to be surpassed, since the first movement thoroughly kicks ass. The tempo transitions are seamless, and every section in the orchestra is top notch. I used to rely on Abbado's Chicago recording for power in brass and Lenny's NYPO Sony recording for virtuosity in the winds and this performance has all of the lot. What surprised me was although Lucerne Festival orchestra is a motley crue of best handpicked musicians, they sound rather like a uniformed, organised ensemble instead a bunch of egos trying to outplay one another. No surprise the Lucerne Festival IS a dream band.



Berlioz Requiem: Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de France, Les Choerus de Radio France, tenor Stuart Burrows, Leonard Bernstein conducting

Recorded live in the Invalides, where Berlioz premiered the work, Bernstein's account has even touch of Furtwanglerian drama. I find this performance more moving than the Beecham/RPO performance on BBC Legends and Stuart Burrows' role in Sanctus is breathtaking. Too bad the sound on this DVD blows ass. I switched to this disc right after the Mahler 7th and it sounded so soft! It's constricted and sounded very dated. Even the sound could not damper the terrifying climax at the Dies Irae, I wonder how much more awesome it was if it was heard live. I have only two speakers, so I don't know if their so-called surround sound for 4-speakers could work for this DVD.



Mahler 1 (CSO) and 8 (LPO) Tennstedt

Whenever mentioned Mahler 8th, Tennstedt comes to mind. I heard the LPO studio recording had reduced forces in chorus, but in this DVD the choirs came in full force - the London Philharmonic Chorus joined by their London Symphony counterparts. I've only heard Part I but the atmosphere for this performance is bloody electric and especially the Eton College boys impresses wonderfully. It seems weird, the chorus including the Eaton boys has great quality but the same cannot be said regarding the singers. Tenor Kenneth Reagal, either he was bloody sick or he doesn't deserve his role in this symphony since "struggle" is an understatement. Many times his attempts to hit the high notes fell off and since he's going to sing Doctor Marianus in part II, I wonder if I can cope listening to his voice  . I think I need to borrow a copy of Solti's CSO recording for a cure tomorrow.

[hornteacher]

Got this one a few months ago and love it.  The concert is in Prague and the video of the hall is crystal clear gorgeous.  The program celebrates the Mozart music that had ties to that city:

1) Overture to Don Giovanni
2) Clarinet Concerto
3) Prague Symphony

The concerto is performed on the period basset clarinet and it makes all the difference in the world.  I especially like how the concert opens with a guy in 18th century garb lighting candles on the stage.  Great DVD.

[uffeviking]

The BBC film Eroica and I discussed it in the Composer section.

Before that it was Rossini's Cenerentola and it's in the Opera section. 

[FideLeo]

The concerto is performed on the period basset clarinet and it makes all the difference in the world.  I especially like how the concert opens with a guy in 18th century garb lighting candles on the stage.  Great DVD.

That's a basset clarinet shown on the cover, but it isn't "period" - not Mozart's period anyway.  Look at its clustered keywork!  Basset clarinets in Mozart's time probably look more like this:

[hornteacher]

That's a basset clarinet shown on the cover, but it isn't "period" - not Mozart's period anyway.  Look at its clustered keywork!  Basset clarinets in Mozart's time probably look more like this:

You are correct.  Oops.  It's essentially a modern version that goes down the four semitones that make it a basset clarinet.

[Iago]

"Concert in Palermo"

On Euro-Arts- great pictures and sound. Only for lovers of traditional romantic music. NOT for Boulezians, Ligeti-ites, or Carterists.
Claudio Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic/ Gil Shaham - solo violin
Recorded while BPO was on tour in Italy

1, Overture to "Egmont" - LvB
2. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra - Brahms
3. Symphony #9 - "From the New World"- Dvorak
4. Overture to "Il Vespri Siciliani - Verdi (played as an encore)

All, superbly performed and recorded

[hornteacher]

"Concert in Palermo"

On Euro-Arts- great pictures and sound. Only for lovers of traditional romantic music. NOT for Boulezians, Ligeti-ites, or Carterists.
Claudio Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic/ Gil Shaham - solo violin
Recorded while BPO was on tour in Italy

1, Overture to "Egmont" - LvB
2. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra - Brahms
3. Symphony #9 - "From the New World"- Dvorak
4. Overture to "Il Vespri Siciliani - Verdi (played as an encore)

All, superbly performed and recorded

YES!  I've got that one too.  Marvellous.

[uffeviking]

Watched Pierre Boulez conducting Mahler Symphony No. 2 and talked about in the Composer section.

[Steve]

Watched Pierre Boulez conducting Mahler Symphony No. 2 and talked about in the Composer section.

That DVD of the 2nd is marvelous. 

[uffeviking]

On my list of Mahler conductors, Pierre Boulez is very fast getting to the top. It was Bernstein who introduced me to Mahler and I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for his 'athletic' performances and am happy to still have the LVD recordings.

Boulez makes me doubt if I really understood Mahler when I learned about the composer with the tutelage of Lenny. There is more to Mahler, isn't there? 

[Iago]

That DVD of the 2nd is marvelous. 

Maybe? But I'll bet it's NOT as good as the Abbado/Lucerne Festival recording.

Pierre Boulez has all the passion of a wet noodle.

[uffeviking]

You can read about this one in the Composer section in Bruckner's Abbey: