Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concertos 1-6. Claudio Abbado conducts the Orchestra Mozart in 2007, using some period instruments, at the Teatro Municipale Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia. Directed for TV by Andreas Morell; photography directed by Andreas Naumann; produced by Paul Smaczny and Maria Stodtmeier. Disc has 5.1 PCM sound. Grade: A

This was released in 2008 by medici arts. It was re-released in 2022 by EuroArts. I believe the music on the two releases is identical. If you have the slightest interest in instrumental music, you will be thrilled by this disc. A combination of seasoned veterans and beautiful young protégés go after these 6 concertos like foxes after a hare. And seeing this performance of these (so often-heard) pieces was a revelation. I had no idea how small the forces were that Bach had or how different the ensembles were for each number. These pieces were for Bach a bit like a jazz jam session— for whatever forces were available, Bach would just whip up a masterpiece . . .

A Romantic Take concert with pianist Martha Argerich and violinist Guy Braunstein. Performed 2020 at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin. Here is the program:

• Schumann Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor

• Prokofiev Sonata for Violin and Piano in D Major

• Franck Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major

• Kreisler Liebesleid

• Kreisler Schön Rosmarin

Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Here’s a trailer from EuroArts:

Berliner Philharmoniker Dances & Dreams 2012 New Year's concert (performed December 31, 2011.) Sir Simon Rattle conducts. Here is the program:

• Dvořák - Slavonic Dance No. 1

• Grieg - Symphonic Dance No. 2

• Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor (Evgeny Kissin on piano)

• Ravel - Alborada del gacioso

• Strauss - "Dance of the Seven Veils" from Salome

• Stravinsky - The Firebird (Danse infernale, Berceuse, and Finale)

• Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 1

• Dvořák - Slavonic Dance No. 7

Directed for TV by Henning Kasten; Executive Producer was Bernd Hellthaler. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

We exclude most of the New Year's galas for having trivial (waltzes and polkas) content. But Dances and Dreams is an exception with 7 masterpieces by famous composers, Evgeny Kissin on piano, and our favorite Chancellor, Frau Merkel, in the audience. We start with maybe the prettiest image of the Brandenburger Gate we’ve seen

Beethoven Complete String Quartets. All 16 of the string quartets performed 2012 over 12 days (Große Fuge not counted separately) by the Belcea Quartet at the Wiener Konzerthaus. Quartet members were Corina Belcea, violin; Axel Schacher, violin; Krzystof Chorzelszki, viola; and Antoine Lederlin, cello. 4-disc set has a 47-minute documentary "On the Paths of the Beethoven String Quartets." Music recording directed for TV by Frédéric Delesques. Released 2014 and 2020, discs have 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

We have not had much chamber music published in Blu-ray. This Beethoven Complete String Quartets has been the most important exception. The original version came in a fancy box in 2014. It sold fairly well and

2019 New Year's Concert a/k/a An Evening with Broadway Melodies by the Berliner Philharmoniker (Berlin Philharmonic) conducted by Kirill Petrenko at the Berlin Philharmonie. Features soprano Diana Damrau. Here is the program:

• Gershwin, Girl Crazy Overture

• Rodgers, “If I Loved You” from Carousel

• Bernstein, “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story

• Bernstein, West Side Story: Symphonic Dances

• Weill, “Foolish Heart” from One Touch of Venus

• Weill, Lady in the Dark - Symphonic Nocturne

• Sondheim, A Little Night Music: Send in the Clowns

• Arlen, Over the Rainbow

• Gershwin, An American in Paris tone poem.

Released 2020, the disc has 5.1 dts sound. Grade: NA

2019 Europakonzert: Daniel Harding conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker this year in its traditional “Europakonzert” on May 1 celebrating the founding of the orchestra on May Day. Normally this event occurs in a different European city in a beautiful venue of historical significance. Performed 2019 at the Orsay Museum (Musée d'Orsay) in Paris. Here’s the program:

• Wagner “Good Friday Spell” from Parsifal

• Wagner '“Wotan’s Farewell” and “The Magic Fire” from Die Walküre (Concert Version)

• Wagner “Liebestod” from Tristan und Isolde

• Berlioz “Royal Hunt” and “Storm” from Les Troyens

• Berlios “Love Scene” from Romeo et Juliette

• Debussy Pelléas and Mélisande Concert Suite (Suite by Claudio Abbado, based on the Orchestral Suite arranged by Erich Leinsdorf)

• Debussy Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

2018 New Year's Concert a/k/a Silversterkonzert by the Berliner Philharmoniker. Daniel Barenboim conducts and is piano soloist at the Berlin Philharmonie. Here is the program:

1. Mozart Piano Concerto No. 26 “Coronation”

2. Ravel Rapsodie espagnole

3. Ravel Alborada del gracioso

4. Ravel Pavane pour une infante défunte

5. Ravel Boléro

6. Bizet Carmen Suite No. 1 (excerpts)

We only cover gala and New Year’s concerts if the program is substantial (not just pops, marches, polkas, and waltzes). This program is attractive, and we are also encouraged in that the sound file was recorded with 96kHz/24 bit sound sampling. Directed for TV by Torben Jacobsen. The official video trailer below has several nice whole-orchestra and multi-section shots that suggest that Jacobsen has tried to reduce the amount of DVDitis in his video content. Released 2019, the disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Stravinksy Petrushka concert. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker for the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden. Features Mezzo-Soprano Elīna Garanča. The entire concert is as follows:

1. Strauss Don Juan

2. Berg Sieben frühe Lieder

3. Ravel Shéhérazade

4. Stravinsky Petrushka

Released 2018, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

2018 Europakonzert: Program includes:

• Beethoven Leonore Overture, No. 3 in C major, Op. 72

• Beethoven Symphony No. 4

• Beethoven Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43

• Wagner Wesendonck-Lieder (Westbroek)

Played and recorded at the the Markgräfliches Opernhaus in Bayreuth, 2018. This was the traditional Europakonzert performed on May 1 each year by the Berliner Philharmoniker in a special venue, usually in a different European city. Paavo Järvi conducts; features soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek. Directed for TV by Henning Kasten. Released in 2018, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3 and Stravinsky Le Sacre du Printemps concert. Performed 2009 at the Waldbuhne, Berlin. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker. Features soloist Yefim Bronfman (piano). Here’s the program:

• Tchaikovsky “Overture,” “The Christmas Tree,” March,” and “Pas de deux” from The Nutcracker

• Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3

• Stravinsky Le Sacre du Printemps

Released 2009, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA