Customer Reviews

Ozawa and the Vienna Philharmonic: New Year's Concert 2002

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Seiji Ozawa (b. 1935) was the designated conductor for the January 1, 2002 "New Years' Concert from Vienna", beautifully filmed and recorded for DVD by TDK. (I do not associate Ozawa with Johann Strauss I, II and other late 1800s Viennese composers, but rather with Schoenberg, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky.) This was my first DVD, and I still marvel at the clear picture and sound, a beauty to see AND hear at the same time.

Ozawa has been criticized in some circles for rather bland, lack luster music making, but in this concert he is excellent especially in the Marches, Polkas, and incidental pieces, such as the Helmesberger "Dance Diabolique," my first acquaintance with the piece. I would pay the price of this DVD for that work alone! - my favorite piece on the whole program. There are some very familiar and less familiar pieces here, and the Vienna Philharmonic play with total command of these works - they could play them in their sleep, I would presume. But in some cases - the DIE FLEDERMAUS Overture, ON THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE Waltz, and RADETZKY MARCH, Ozawa seems to bend tempos too much, and the musical line sags. In short, I like the Polkas best on this program.

This is worth hearing/seeing, with some reservations. But the sound and picture are very beatiful, even on modest DVD/TV equipment. Widescreen.

Seiji Ozawa, in my opinion, is the greatest conductor ever. His years with Boston Symphony seemed kind of plain, compared with his events guest conducting other great orchestras, in retrospect. I was at this event and the DVD really captured the atmosphere and more importantly, the quality of the sound. It is very fine in picture quality, even compared with today's HD videos. In all, just another great masterpiece for your collection.

The first time I heard the name of Seiji Ozawa was from a friend of mine. We were watching the Vienna Philharmonic New Year Concert and were both very disappointed when the young boys and girls shown up dancing ballet. It was at that time he told me that the best conductor for the New Year Concert he had ever seen was by a Japanese conductor whose last name is Ozawa. Luckily we are able to find the DVD on Amazon. I bought the first copy for him and the second one for my mother. After seeing it, I have to admit that when Ozawa is conducting, it is like there is a string pulling the whole Orchestsra with every bit of his movements. Strauss is not our favorite writer as far as music piece is concerned. However, even my mother has to admit that he did a good job. I like this one much better in the sense that the cameraman capture the beauty of the music hall and their painting collections. Later on I had another chance to visit with my friend and he took the time to explain to me which pieces are Ozawa's specialty. I am surprised that he can do such a good job in conducting different tempo and expression of music. This has to do with the fact that he had been under two out of the three greatest conductors' of the world influcence. This is a very rare combination. We paid more for his DVD, but it is all worthy.

There are so many features here that it's not easy to decide what you might enjoy most, so I'll tell you some of the highlights I found most enjoyable:

The Danse Diabolique, by Joseph Hellmesberger, is so unusual and tantalizing that it should certainly be heard far more often. Of course, there are the usual Strauss favorites like Wiener Blut, die Fledermaus, Kunstlerleben (Artist's Life), the Blue Danube and the Radetzky March, but there are also numerous other waltzes and polkas that you may add to your favorites list.

In a rare occurrence for me, I bought this DVD for one of the special features--the extras--that I knew it included: The Spanish Riding School of Vienna. To the music of two Strauss polkas, we are treated to a display of the marvelous Lippizan stallions being put through their paces in a display of synchronization between man and beast that dazzles us with their beauty. Just watching these beautiful white horses please their riders with their almost "dance routines," will help anyone understand why Leonardo da Vinci spent so much time sketching the musculature of horses.

But there's more. The Vienna Opera Ballet dances to Strauss' Blue Danube in its own synchronized dancing. I thought I didn't care for ballet, but this is beautiful.

In a further salute to Strauss, his Perpetuum mobile--that tune without an end--is the music to an extra they call "Dance of the Machines." This shows the manufacture--by various machines--of Austrian euros, from melting the gold to stamping out the coins. It's so dazzling you grow to see why for centuries, so many people have been attracted to gold.

The extras round out by following a young European couple on a tour of the arts and other attractions of Vienna. This is so much more than just another New Year's celebration performance. Be careful with your heart--this DVD's music and sights of Vienna may just steal away your heart!

Please compare this performance with Carlos Kleiber ones, at the same festival and orchestra, to see masterpieces of Strauss's music.

EXCELLENT MUSIC, SOUND QUALITY GOOD, IMPROVEMENT IN PICTURE QUALITY IS VERY MUCH DESIRABLE IN LIVE SHOWS.