Product Details

• Actors: David Oistrakh, Igor Oistrakh, Colin Davis
• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English, French, German, Spanish
• 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: EMI Classics
• DVD Release Date: May 6, 2003
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000092T5L
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #102,948 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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

  #58 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > Violin
  #76 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Composer > Bach, Johann Sebastian
  #80 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Composer > Beethoven, Ludwig van

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 75 Minutes is Not Too Short, May 27, 2003

By	BLee "bpslee" (HK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

75 minutes is too short?

Well, yes and no. Yes, who wouldn't like more? And no, because we are almost given everything we could possibly expect from any DVD.

The photography of this DVD is most excellent, even better than the Menuhin issued in the same year. The crews here obviously knew a lot about music: how we play a violin and the piano. It's filmed from an angle that is most natural. The studios in Paris were so homely. In Spring Sonata, the room was well furnished, decorated with one or two portraits of Beethoven, and there was even a vase full of blooming flowers in the background!

There are also reasons to believe that this was filmed not only for amusement but also as a teaching aid. Very often , we can see Oistrakh's fingerings, phrasings, vibratos, bowings sometimes at the same time and occasionally from a most illuminating angle!

The photographer obviously understood that it's a Sonata for both the violin and piano. There are also close-ups of the pianist ( sometime including and sometimes just his hands and fingers like doing the staccatos, legatos and legatos on repeated notes etc) wherever appropriate. The pianist was Lev Oborin, the first Chopin Competition gold medalist and teacher of Ashkenazy. Both played beautifully and poetically. Every minute is enjoyable, no matter it was the painist or the violinist or both. It's so close to Rachmaninoff/Kreisler, and any difference is really marginal (I mean both parts, and the latter was recorded in 1930's and we only have audio CD.) To those who have been listening to Oistrakh's Beethoven Sonatas for years, it would certainly be a joy to see him playing it. Spring Sonata alone is worth every cent of the money, the rest is gratuitous!

Their Schubert is likewise superb. I am enchanted by Busch/Serkin's Schubert and also by Cortot/Thibaud. This one is no less enjoyable, particularly so when we can see exactly how they're playing it. And Oistrakh's Clair de lune and Prokofiev's Melodies are all wonderful stuff: they are each a jem in their own right. The latters were accompanied by Bauer instead where we scarcely have any close-ups of the accompanist: quite right. For his Bach and Brahms Concerto, he was supported by different English Orchestras, under different conductors, the first one under Sir Colin Davis.

I don't exactly like his son's playing: the difference is just too obvious even though his son also became a professor in violin in a renowned Russian Conservatory. Fortunately, it's very short, only a few minutes. The rest of the repertiore is very enjoyable too.

My real complaint about this DVD being it's sound. It's exactly like Oistrakh's audio (EMI) Beethoven Sonatas: nothing less and nothing more. Why aren't they redigitalised? The result, we hear a voilin sound that is so opulent that almost borders upon the sound of a viola. But look, the balance between the violin and the piano is so perfect, so much so that we wonder if that is, as a whole, part of the later Russian style. It's quite different from Busch, Szeryng, Milstein or Heifetz. But I do remember Heifetz's sound wasn't so lean in the LPs. It was rather different from the CDs.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not as good as other Oistrakh anthologies, June 4, 2004

By	Nabih B. Bulos (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One can't help but feel somewhat tricked with this DVD. Why? Simply because there are far more clips of Oistrakh that were worthy of inclusion, including the entire Brahms concerto, Locatelli Labyrinth, Sibelius Concerto, Khachaturian Concerto, numerous Kreisler pieces, etc... Those clips were, to my mind, a good deal more interesting than most of the offerings on this well-photographed, well-restored, and all-round decent DVD. Nonetheless, it is always a pleasure to see Oistrakh, as his artistry is truly wonderful. Not just for die-hard Oistrakh fans, but also not my first choice for videos of him.

5.0 out of 5 stars Oistrakh a legend, February 11, 2004

By A Customer

We are talking about David Oistrakh here who is one of the very best violinist ever.
In this DVD you can still enjoy the warmth of his sound.
It's a must buy for any violinists out there!!!
And check out Rudolf Schwarz (He conducts the Brahms concerto).
He has the funniest baton works ever...