Concert

Borodin Symphony No. 2 and Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

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Borodin Symphony No. 2 and Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition are the main pieces at the 2007 New Year's Eve gala concert by the Berliner Philharmoniker directed by Simon Rattle. Concert also has:

  1. Borodin Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances
  2. Mussorgsky Introduction to  Khovanshchina.
  3. Shostakovich Dance from The Golden Age

Lighting by Björn Breitsprecher; TV director was Elisabeth Malzer. Released  2010, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

Here's a sure-to-please New Year's Eve collection of Russian musical Farbegé eggs. You can show this with confidence to your friends, neighbors, and family members who hate Mahler, Wagner, and Handel. Music is fine artistically and technically.

But . . .

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Berlioz Symphonie fantastique

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Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique. Michael Tilson Thomas directs the San Francisco Symphony in a  performance of Symphonie Fantastique as part of the "Keeping Score" outreach program of the San Francisco Symphony. In addition, Thomas narrates a 55-minute Public Television educational program about Berlioz and the Symphonie fantastique. The TV recording was directed by Gary Halvorson. Released 2009, disc has Dolby TrueHD 7.1 sound. Grade: NA

Thomas is as good a speaker and teacher as he is a conductor. The documentary has all the production values you could hope for like gorgeous shots of Paris and other locations in France and Italy, excellent writing based on careful research, and expert movie making. Thomas tells about the life of Berlioz, and he makes the Symphonie fantastique come alive as he explains the themes and aspects of the music in relation to the dramatic loves of young Hector. So we would give the documentary an A+.

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Beethoven Symphonies 7-9

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Beethoven Symphonies 7-9 concert. Christian Thielemann conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker in Symphonies 7-9 for a total of 157 minutes of music. Soloists (9th Symphony) are Annette Dasch, Mihoko Fujimura, Piotr Beczala, and Georg Zeppenfeld. Michael Beyer was video director for Symphony 7 and 8, both recorded in 2009. Agnes Méth was video director for Symphony 9 recorded in 2010.

Also comes with three Discovering Beethoven documentary films, one for each symphony, with conversations between Thielemann and music critic Joachim Kaiser. The documentaries Symphony 7 and Symphony 8 were made by Christoph Engel. The documentary film Symphony 9 was made by Anca-Monica Pandelea & Christoph Engel. Each documentary lasts for almost an hour for a total of 169 minutes.

The total running time for the music and documentaries is 326 minutes on one disc. Released 2010, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio for the music. Documentaries are in high-definition video with PCM stereo sound. Grade: Blended grade for three symphonies: B-

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Beethoven Symphonies 4-6

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Beethoven Symphonies 4-6 concert. Christian Thielemann conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker in Symphonies 4-6 for a total of 133 minutes of music. Agnes Méth was video director for Symphony 4 recorded in 2009. Karina Fibich was video director for Symphony 5 and Symphony 6, both recorded in 2010.

Also comes with three  Discovering Beethoven documentary films, one for each symphony, with conversations between Thielemann and music critic Joachim Kaiser. All the documentary films were made by Christoph Engel. Each documentary lasts for almost an hour for a total of 171 minutes.

The total running time for the music and documentaries is 304 minutes on one disc. Released 2010, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio for the music. Documentaries are in high-definition video with PCM stereo sound. Blended grade for 3 symphonies: C

 

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Beethoven Symphonies 1-3

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Beethoven Symphonies 1-3 concert. Christian Thielemann conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker in Symphonies 1-3, plus the Coriolan Overture and the Egmont Overture, for a total of 156 minutes of music. Brian Large was video director for Symphonies 1 & 2 and the Coriolan, all recorded in 2008. Agnes Méth was video director for Symphony 3 and the Egmont, both recorded in 2009.

Also comes with two Discovering Beethoven documentary films with conversations between Thielemann and music critic Joachim Kaiser. The documentary film Symphony No. 1 and Symphony No. 2 was made by Christoph Engel. The documentary film Symphony No. 3 was made by Anca-Monica Pandelea & Christoph Engel. Each documentary lasts for almost an hour for a total of 170 minutes.

The total running time for the music and documentaries is 326 minutes on one disc. Released  2010, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio for the music. Documentaries are in high-definition video with PCM stereo sound. Blended grade for 3 symphonies: B-

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Beethoven Piano Concertos 1-5

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Beethoven Piano Concertos 1-5. Daniel Barenboim plays all of the Beethoven piano concertos while conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin at the 2007 Klavier-Festival Ruhr. Directed by Michael Beyer; Director of Photography was Andreas Naumann; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2008, disc has 5.1 hts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B-

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