Product Details

• Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: December 19, 2000
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000051S7B
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #123,043 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #14 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Composer > Mendelssohn, Felix
  #21 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Composer > Shostakovich, Dmitri
  #28 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Performer > Solti, Georg

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
For all the legitimate complaints about overexcited tempos and rushed- over subtleties that were brought against Georg Solti, the fact remains he had few peers who could generate the same sizzling energy he took for granted. These two 1992 performances, recorded with the Bavarian Radio Symphonic Orchestra, ably demonstrate that Solti's driving manner was, despite the claims of his detractors, wedded to a superb attention to the music. Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 ("Italian") receives a delightful reading; Solti and the Bavarians sprint through the score in rousing fashion, yet remain always alert to the gentle flow that underpins such speed. The warm call of the horns in the third movement, in particular, are neither rushed nor overlooked.

The same qualities that make for a spirited Mendelssohn contribute to a nearly overwhelming version of Shostakovich's tragic, often manic 10th. Solti came to conduct the music of Shostakovich only late in life; and while he never became a definitive interpreter of the composer, his take on the 20th-century's greatest symphonist is definitely worth hearing. The first movement, rising grimly from mordancy to terror, is rendered with chilling persistence, though perhaps a touch too much impatience. But that's precisely the quality that makes for a hair-raising rendition of the second-movement Allegro, a frantic burst of furious scurrying that practically cries out for the Solti treatment. The remainder plays out with the passion and intensity that one would expect from watching Solti at the podium, his eight decades belied by abrupt, kinetic gestures and a singularly penetrating gaze as he drives his musicians ever harder, ever faster, ever onward. --Bruce Reid

Product Description
One of the world's greatest conductors interprets two classic symphonies. In a live recording from the Philharmonie concert hall of the Gasteig-Kulturzentrum in Munich, Sir Georg Solti conducts the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 in A Op. 90, a piece first performed in London in 1934. This is followed by Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10 in E minor Op. 93, a work widely considered to be the finest and deepest of the composer's 15 symphonies. 86 minutes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent playing, photography, and sound, April 9, 2007

By	A. Yen "cellist" (MA, USA) - See all my reviews

I own a different release of this concert which pairs it with Shostakovich's 9th, and as such I cannot rate the Mendelssohn. However, the Shostakovich is gripping, done with a mostly good sense of tempo throughout with excellent playing from the players.

The video is very well done, with cleverly shot solos. The camera pans out for the many tutti sections of the hair-raising Scherzo, just as it should, and the various shots of Solti are quite interesting to see.

There are a few problems...the first being that the first movement is slightly too fast at the climaxes, even though it is convincing. I just don't feel enough weight sometimes, which is a questionable thing to do to
a dark symphony, I think.

True, Solti is not a name often paired with Shostakovich. I have heard that Pavel Kogan's 10th on DVD beats this one, but even if that is so, this is a great DVD, if the reviews on the Mendelssohn are to be trusted.