Customer Reviews

Herbert Von Karajan - His Legacy for Home Video: Antonin Dvorak - Symphony # 9 "From the New World"

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This another example of fenomenal late Karajan. He really got into the inner aspects of this symphony. My most favorite part is the intentional delay in the low string notes just before the first crescendo in the opening movement. It really gets the american indian spirit like no other version does. The performance is magnificent, almost I would like to see it with the Berliner instead of the Wiener. It seems that at the time Karajan was having problems with the Berliner because of his favoritism to a female clarinetist while the orchestra member said she didn't match (she can be seen performing some Beethoven symphonies in other DVDs of this series). But, coming back to this performance, the Wiener philharmoniker is wonderful and the sound is rich and pure. I you already know this piece, you'll rediscover it in this version. I recommend it.

This DVD should have been made twenty years earlier, with a zesty, energetic Karajan at work. However, it is a great display of his later years, in which he explores more the inner worlds of his composers. The orchestra's sound is fabulous, and the photography, typical great coordinated effort to emphasize the inner works of this great ensemble. A good buy !

The DVD medium and the Dvorak piece serve each other well in this performance. 5.1 sound allows for greater articulation of instruments, despite the 448 kbs bandwidth. The film's editing reinforces this articulation by focusing on individuals or groups of performers during key passages. This is accomplished at the loss of a wider perspective and 'wall of sound' that devotees of a traditional concert might relish. What is gained, in the fusion of audio and video detail, is an appreciation of the roles played by the instruments and a better sense of the structure of the composition.

The power and dynamics of this piece highlight the capabilities of a good system. Properly reproduced, the horn sections are sweeping and the lower register strings and percussion are tightly focused.

This is, hands down, a wonderful and vibrant performance of Dvorak's 9th. Being a musician myself and having experienced many great conductors live, I find it ridiculous how people that really don't know any better think that a conductor must put on a show and flail his or her arms all over to conduct a work. The true greatness of a conductor is in how he can empower and inspire the musicians during rehearsal and then translate that and more during the subsequent performance. Many of the great conductors, past and present, do this with the slightest of gestures. They know too when to step aside when the orchestra take flight....Maestro von Karajan knew when this was happening earlier than any other conductor! And those that believe von Karajan lost his abilities towards the end of his career should know that as august a musician as Sir André Previn himself remarked after seeing von Karajan conduct a Beethoven concert in Berlin in the late 1980s that the old maestro was amazingly still completely in control.

Audio Merits:8/10; Video Merits:8/10; Cinematographic Merits:8/10; Musical Merits:10/10;Overall Artistic Performance:10/10;DVD Extras:10/10;Recording Total Quality:9/10. Professor's Recommendation: Unique reference including Dvorak scores on DVD medium.

This is part of Herbert Von Karajan's legacy series featuring the Weiner Philharmoniker. Recorded in 1985 this DVD has a total running time of just a little over 43 minutes.

First, let me state that Dvorak's 9th Symphony (From the New World) has always been one of my favorite pieces of classical music; with its pulsating opening movement, then the Largo, with its beautifully quiet "going home" theme and finishing up with a driving ending that simply leaves me breathless and in awe of this masterpiece.

The audio is a very solid production of Dvorak's 9th ; my only minor complaint here would be that I found some of the horns a little blaring at times. However, I have several concerns for the video portion of this recording; (not that there was anything technically wrong with the video,) but more specifically, I felt the way it was recorded and then edited into the final product could have been better, much better... let me explain.

-many of the shots of the orchestra were fairly tight closeups of groups of 4 or 5 instruments (horns, cellos or clarinets etc.). The view was from the perspective of looking down an row of musicians with their instruments; the first person was in focus but all the others becoming increasingly out of focus. (this reminded me of a line of Greek columns) This view was repeated over and over throughout the entire work. The camera for these shots (and in fact, all shots) was stationary, giving the video a regimented, detached almost lifeless look.

-although the DVD was in color there was a drab, featureless quality to it; to me, it might have well have been in black and white.

-there were virtually no panoramic views of the orchestra itself. The largest group one got to see was about 10 or so violins in the background (out of focus) with Von Karajan in the foreground (in focus). Again, this was a view that was prominently featured throughout the entire DVD.

-and also I have a couple of "video" concern dealing with Von Karajan himself;

1.) this DVD seemed to me, to be more about HVK than the piece being performed; he seemed to spend an inordinate amount of the time in the camera spotlight.

2.) Von Karajan seems to conduct this energizing, exhilarating symphony with all the vigor of a man scarcely awake; arms and hands barely moving up and down while the orchestra and its rampaging music is pounding all around him. His conducting enthusiasm just did not measure up to the music being performed, and yet the "music" was as good as I could have asked for. I eventually found it was much easier to appreciate this great work by turning off the monitor and simply listening to the audio.

Basically the only reason to put a product like this on DVD is for the visual affect, (the audio could be adequately handled by a CD), and the video in this case falls short. To me, this is a 5 star audio recording of Dvorak's New World Symphony, but the video limitations are significant enough to really hinder the overall enjoyment of this great piece of music. 2 1/2 stars.

Addendum: Dec. 18, 2006

If I had to recommend a DVD recording of Dvorak's Symphony # 9 "From the New World", it would have to be Euroart's magnificent recording, "Claudio Abbado: Europa-Konzert From Palermo" ; this DVD features the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Italy. It has wonderful audio, and as well, is superbly filmed and edited; highlighting the most appropriate individual, group or panoramic view at any given moment in the concert. It's simply 5 Star in all aspects.

A Karajan style. Top quality video and magnificent sound by the ochestra's flawless performance . Technically, this video is void of demerits of concert recordings: audience noise. A good collector's item.