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This is one
of four titles that Sony began releasing late last year, bringing
to DVD some of the visual recorded legacy of the great Austrian
Maestro, Herbert von Karajan. It was Karajan's own pet project
to film as much as his repertoire as possible and he was the
undisputed guiding artistic force, overseeing these productions
with a rare passion.
The Beethoven,
along with the Dvorak Symphony No. 9, Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"
and the 1987 New Year's Day Concert in Vienna, were recorded
in Karajan's twilight years with his two favourite orchestras,
the Berlin Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic.
I was already
familiar with the New Year's Day Concert from a Sony laserdisc,
but as the Beethoven turned up first, this became my first
encounter with Sony's DVD productions. And, I must confess
that surface impressions were ̀ and remain ̀ very negative.
The leaflet inside the Amaray case is nothing more than a
cheap advertising blurb for other Sony DVDs. It tells you
nothing about Karajan or the music. For that, you have to
access what (to me) is a very unattractive menu that provides
the information which should have been in the cover notes.
The other two DVDs that I have seen in this series are the
same. Just pathetic!
But on to
the music. The Beethoven 9 was recorded in 1983, obviously
in multi-track audio, in Berlin's Philharmonie concert hall.
And, all things considered, the sound is quite thrilling.
The dynamic range is more than adequate for the music and
few, if any, details go unnoticed. The tympani in the 2nd
movement are just wonderful and it is really uplifting to
hear a choir well balanced with the orchestra and without
limiter distortion. The 5.1 DD remix doesn't do a great deal
with the rear channels except to give a richer ambience. It
does not distil the magical ambience that Delos has been able
to do on its DVD releases and, to a more limited extent, Telarc,
on its DTS ventures.
Visually,
the image is very clean. This recording was made over an 8-day
period (with a totally silent audience present) and Karajan's
team manipulated the hell out of the images. The great photographer,
Ernst Wild, worked on this and other Karajan film sessions.
But ultimately, it is the video aspect that's the one disappointment
and for this, I'm sure, Karajan has to take the blame. Not
once do you see the entire orchestra ̀ only sections. You
do get to see the full choir and all the soloists together,
but never the full Berlin Philharmonic. Whereas in the Dvorak
Symphony 9, filmed two years later, you do see the full orchestra
on stage before anything else, in the Beethoven, you are left
somewhat disconnected from the totality of what was/is the
world's greatest orchestra. This didn't worry me on the second
and third playing. But be warned.
But, at
the end of the day, one for music lovers to consider ̀ not
just for the music, but also the recorded legacy of one of
this century's most controversial musicians.
Dvorak
Symphony No. 9 in E Minor Opus 95 - Vienna Philharmonic
This is
another of the four Karajan DVDs that Sony began releasing
towards the end of last year. Unlike the Beethoven, done two
years earlier, this recording was with the Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra. But, once again, it was recorded in front of an
audience over a number of days. Very silent there are, too.
However, unlike the Beethoven, the Dvorak does at least let
you see the whole orchestra before things get under way. Then,
you do at least get some very long shots of the various sections,
but never again the whole band.
There is
a very wide dynamic range on this very bright recording and
it certainly belies its age. Once again, the 5.1 DD remix
has benefited ambience, which is a particularly lovely aspect
of the acoustic of Vienna's Gro´er Musikervereinssaal.
Visually,
nothing to mark down, with the great photographer, Ernst Wild,
once again in attendance.
I've heard
better performances of the Dvorak and the 2nd movement, Largo,
did seem in rather a hurry. Nevertheless, it's a DVD that
will remain in my collection. But, at a playing time of 43.30,
couldn't Sony have been a bit more generous with its audience?
1987
New Year's Day Concert - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
This is
a very famous recording, marking Karajan's very public return
to the music of the waltzing Strauss family. The details of
the event ̀ once you find them in Sony's very uninviting menu
layout ̀ tell viewers of the difficulties Karajan was going
through at this time. In fact, he was to live only another
2 years (see here
for details) after many years of poor health.
Nevertheless,
this concert was a triumph for Karajan who permitted the usual
ballet sequences to overlay some of the music (wish he hadn't)
and in fact insisted on the participation of the horses of
the Spanish Riding School.
This is
a recording of a single concert and so the audience is very
vocal and joins in at the very end ̀ even conducted by Karajan.
And, as befits such an occasion ̀ and given the nature of
its recording ̀ the screen is replete with image after image
of the full orchestra, and not just groups of players. The
5.1 DD remix adds nice reverberation to the Gro´er Musikervereinssaal
and overall adds more presence to the sound than heard on
either the Sony LD or the earlier Deutsche Gramophon CD. This
is a wonderful recording of wonderful music-making, the highlight
of which, for me, was the performance of "Voices of Spring,"
performed by Kathleen Battle and adoringly accompanied by
Karajan and the orchestra.
Visually,
this DVD is let down a bit by the fact that the image was
a result of Karajan's own cameras and those of Austrian television.
Some shots are fine, others not so - just average television
images. You wonder, therefore, why the hell Sony put a quite
nonsensical (and very obvious) layer change is such a short
concert. The increased bit rate, in my opinion, has done nothing
to improve the quality of the image. But this is a small caveat
set against the overwhelming success of the event.
One to have.
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