Customer Reviews

Live Concert from the Church St. Nicolai, Leipzig

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The main item in this concert was Beethoven's 5th Symphony. It was marvellously performed by the Gewandhaus Orchestra with Herbert Blomstedt as the conductor. I had previously not heard of this orchestra or the conductor, so when I first saw this DVD item in the catalog it did not catch my attention. It was from another DVD "The Arthaus Musik DVD Video Sampler" which I first saw a snippet of this performance -- the 1st movement. I was first captivated by the conductor's solemn expression on his face. He conducted ernestly with his whole heart and soul, and maintained good control with the orchestra. The players also played ernestly, as can be seen by their focused attention on the conductor. The whole performance was done with zest and emotion. It was very much different from many other routine performances of Beethoven's 5th which I had heard, even by top-rated orchestras. This preview made me decide to buy this DVD. It turned out as I expected -- the whole symphony was performed consistently well.

The concert also included Bach's famous Toccata and Fugue, several short choral pieces and a violin solo piece. All were performed well.

The recording of the concert was well-done. In particular, the sound was very clear. The ambiance of the Nikolai Church was also good.

The bonus 30-min documentary feature "Protest of Silence" contained footages of the events as well as post-interviews with various people. The programme used Beethoven's 5th Symphony and some other pieces as background music, rather appropriately. You may want to view this documentary first, before you start to view the concert performance. This will put you in a better mood to appreciate this concert which was held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the political events that occurred around this church.

Really, I bought the DVD because my favorite violinist play in it, and her performance was marvellous,simple perfect, but listening all the DVD and Specially the Gewandhaus Orchestra with Herbert Blomstedt, and their sound, be sure that you really will enjoy this work.