Mahler Symphony No. 2

a terminal case of DVDitisMahler Symphony No. 2. Pierre Boulez conducts the Berlin Staatskapelle and the Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin in 2005. Soloists are Diana Damrau (soprano) and Petra Lang (mezzo-soprano). Released 2011, this disc has 5.1 dts Master Audio sound. Grade: D

This was recorded in Berlin at the home of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Pierre Boulez was guest conductor for this performance honoring his 80th birthday. If it turns out that God is a woman, then She will probably look like Petra Lang singing here. This is the Blu-ray version of the same title that came out on HD DVD back in the days when the "format war" was still going on.

This was the first symphony disc to come out in HDVD. In the early days, you could make a case that this was among the best classical music records ever made. But we watched it again in December 2017. The resolution is soft, Sa terminal case of DVDitisQ is weak with tubby base and other deficiencies in making and mixing,  the performance was a bit wooden, and the Blu-ray version is missing subtitles for the singing. The worst defect, however, is a terminal case of DVDitis with a fast pace, few large-scale shots, a huge number of shots of Boulez (the birthday boy), many instrument-only shots, etc. So today this title is not competitive in any way. Except maybe one: when you see Lang and Diana Damrau singing here, you will be convinced that these gals will make to heaven for sure.

Below is a YT clip with Lang and Damrau singing a bit:

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Beethoven Piano Concertos 1-5

Beethoven Piano Concertos 1-5. In 2011, Rudolph Buchbinder plays piano and conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker in all 5 Beethoven piano concertos at the Vienna Musikverein. The concerts were recorded live over 4 days. There are 186 minutes of music plus a bonus 30-minute documentary with a conversation between Buchbinder and music critic Joachim Kaiser. Directed for TV by Karina Fibich; video editing by Thomas König;  audio by Martin Gamperl. Released 2012, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

This title competes with the Barenboim 5 Beethoven Piano Concertos, which was recorded 4 years earlier in 2007. As you might expect of something recorded more recently, the picture quality is better than in the Barenboim issue. The sound quality is also better than the competition even if it is not audiophile sound beginning with 96kHz/24 bit sound sampling, etc. Finally, we think Buchbinder outplays Barenboim in these concertos. Buchbinder is a highly esteemed musician and scholar who has specialized in Beethoven; this qives him an edge here even over universal genius Barenboim.

It may have been the dream of a lifetime for Buchbinder to record these concertos at the Musikverein with the Wiener Philharmoniker for HDVD. If so, the dream collapsed into a bit of a nightmare due to worse than mediocre video content. This title was published simultaneously in DVD and HDVD.  And, alas, subject HDVD has a harsh case of "DVDitis."

DVDitis is a disease that affects HDVDs when the show was shot to be published as a DVD as well as in high-definition. The low resolution of DVD requires the TV director to rely primarily on close-up shots where the lack of resolution will not be noticed by the customer. So if you have to shoot for DVD, you can't use many shots of large sections of the orchestra or the whole orchestra. The typical DVD consists of a great many shots of the conductor cut quickly to close-up shots of one or two players in a frantic effort (think movie cartoon) to keep the show interesting. If the TV director is required to present the show in high-definition video with the same content required for the DVD, the result will be a bad HDVD. That is what likely has happen here.

The chief hallmarks of a good HDVD are (1) lots of whole-orchestra shots, (2) a moderate pace of video cuts that gives the viewer plenty of time to enjoy each shot, and (3) the use of close-ups only when they add significant value. All of this is turned upside down by Fibich and König in this Buchbinder title.

Let's look more closely at the recording of Piano Concerto No. 1. There is almost no effort in this video to show the entire orchestra or most of the orchestra. We count 285 cuts in a piece lasting 37 minutes. That's about 7.7 seconds per view, which is too fast. (Contrast this to the pace of about 14.5 seconds per view in the Murray Perahia Schumann Piano Concerto, which we consider our model for an HDVD of a concerto). Finally, subject video consists almost entirely of close ups as the video hot-potato gets passed around interminably.

An additional video defect is the almost perverse tendency of Fibich and König to shoot frequently from the rear of the orchestra showing the backs of the orchestra musicians. Additional errors are 16 inane instrument-only shots, dumb shots of the top of the tympani player's head, silly reflections of Buchbinder's hands in the shiny dust cover of the piano, and too much panning and zooming around. These stunts might seem clever in DVD where the videographer is always  looking for something new to amuse the viewer; they are repulsive in HDVD, where the viewer is always looking for something of timeless beauty.

Theses observations about Concerto No. 1 apply equally to the rest of the concertos in this series except that (1) picture quality is not consistently as good throughout as it is in Concerto No. 1 and (2) the pace of cuts is somewhat slower and more enjoyable in the highly lyrical Concerto No. 4.

Stephen Plaistow reviewed this set (apparently in DVD) on page 40 of the June 2012 issue of Gramophone. Plaistow dislikes Buchbinder's decision to direct as well as perform on the grounds that these concertos are too big and complicated to be played as chamber music. He also views Buchbinder as a scholar and technician rather than as an interpreter. As to the video, Plaistow concludes, "I doubt I'll be listening and watching again."

We feel sorry for Buchbinder. He appears to be a delightful man and a fine musician. We think these performances were successful live. Buchbinder probably had hopes (with good reasons from his perspective) that the recordings would be a hit. Alas, we fear these hopes were dashed by weak video content. And this bad video probably had a lot to do with Plaistow's prediction that he would not watch these concertos again. Other musicians and TV directors will eventually make wonderful recordings of these concertos taking full advantage of HDVD. But the opportunity to watch Buchbinder do this is probably lost forever.

Now to a grade. We are marking grades down substantially for bad video content. The Buchbinder disc also lacks  audiophile level sound and PQ is spotty. So we wind up with a grade of C+.

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Chopin Piano Concertos 1 & 2

This 2009 Chopin piano concertos program has the following music:

• The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra plays Bajka (Fairy Tale) by Stanisław Moniuszko.

• Garrick Ohlsson plays the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1

• Ohlsson plays the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2

• Ohlsson plays as encore the Chopin Mazurka in C sharp minor

In addition, the disc has a 53-minute documentary, The Art of Chopin: A Film by Gérald Caillat.

 Antoni Wit conducts the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra at the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall. Directed for TV by Sébastian Glas; photography was directed by Thierry Houlette; sound was recorded and edited by Andrzej Sasin. Produced by Hélène Le Cœur. Released 1011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

Let's start with comments that apply to the entire live performance. Thanks to Andrzej Sasin, sound quality throughout is competitive with most of the better HDVDs coming out now (other than audiophile recordings from publishers like NHK and AIX). Picture quality, however, is sub-par with poor resolution, a grainy appearance, color balance making folks look a bit too pink, and some motion artifacts. But what really drags this title down is amateurish video content, which we will discuss in detail.

Bajka (Fairy Tale)

We have commented often on our standards for a good HDVD of a symphony performance. The basic idea is to use the power of high-definition cameras to make video images showing much or all of the orchestra and Alas, so many YT clips: so few worth watching.to move in for close-up shots only when there are good reasons. This gives the viewer an experience similar to a spectator at a live performance enhanced with a reasonable number of close-up shots. You can't do this with low-resolution DVD pictures. DVDs therefore tend to present a long string of cuts from one close-up to another in a manner often reminiscent of a cartoon chase. Too often the TV director shoots a DVD and it gets published also as an HDVD because the producer doesn't know how an HDVD should look. When this happens,  we will call it to your attention.

The Bajka video is pure DVD. In about 14 minutes there are 155 cuts (that's a lot of action). There are 47 shots of the conductor and 26 close-up shots of instruments only — typical DVD fare. Most of the rest of the show is a  series of back-and-forth views from the conductor to the ghostly instruments, to soloists, or to small groups of players.  No attention is given to sections in the orchestra. There are only a few attempts to show most or a substantial part of the band. Most of these shots are from the side showing the backs of many musicians.

Alas, so many YT clips: so few worth watching.Because the action is so fast paced, the cameramen don't have time to set up their shots well. There's an astonishing number of shots with framing, focus, and field-of-focus issues. See for examples :41 where the camera is too low. In :53, 5:06, and 5:21 see framing and focus problems. At 5:34 the only person in focus is not playing while all the persons playing are out-of-focus.  The most dumbfounding shots are 2:02, 2:21, and 2:30 where the center of attention is the back of a music stand. All this video mayhem taxes the viewers' minds and interferes with appreciation of the music. The grade for this Bajka segment, were we to give one, would have to be a F.

Piano Concerto No. 1

This is another pure DVD. There were only 3 brief efforts during this concerto to show the whole orchestra, and at least of them is ruined because the camera was too low. There are a few part-orchestra shots, mostly made from the side showing the backs of many players. We noted only one effort to shoot any strings as a section. Then there is a flabbergasting 295 shots of the soloist (sometimes with 2 or 3 different views in one keyboard run). There are way too many shots of the conducAlas, so many YT clips: so few worth watching.tor (many made over the backs of the orchestra). The conductor shots are used as a hub with spokes out to solos, ghost instruments without visible players, and small groups of musicians. There are many views with gross framing, focus, and field-of-focus errors; see examples at 17:10, 25:09, 25:12, 25:30, 20:31, 29:37, 42:43, 53:28. At 23:12 and 23:31 there were even shots of the conductor's belly.

All this is a bit of a tragedy because Ohlsson's performance is so smooth, elegant, and flawless. He is more animated than and more graceful than Barenboim in his recent HDVD readings of Concerto No. 1.

Piano Concerto No. 2

The video content on this track is pretty much the same as on the recording of Concerto No. 1. There is no whole-orchestra shot at all. The pace of cuts is somewhat slowed, but there is still way too much going on to distract the viewer.

The Art of Chopin: A Film by Gérald Caillat

Alas, so many YT clips: so few worth watching.This is a pleasant presentation of Chopin's career with tons of legacy and modern footage of Ohlsson and other famous pianists chopining. It adds something of value to this otherwise disappointing disc.

Let's sum up.  It's sad that we now have 3 HDVDs of the Chopin concertos, but none of the discs do justice to the artists who performed. Now that we have high-definition TV, we have the ability to produce wonderful new video recordings. But the industry must learn how to use the high-definition cameras properly and leave behind bad DVD habits.

Both Ohlson performances had the potential for A+grades. But bad PQ and miserable video content knock this disc down two grades. The nice documentary offsets the total-loss Bajka number. So we wind up with the grade of C+.

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Takemitsu From me flows what you call time and Shostakovitch Symphony No. 5

Takemitsu From me flows what you call time and Shostakovitch Symphony No. 5. Yutaka Sado conducts his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2011 at the Berlin Philharmonie.  The Takemitsu piece features the entire percussion section of the Philharmoniker:  Raphael Haeger, Simon Rössler, Franz Schindlbeck, and Jan Schlichte with Wieland Welzel (one of the timpani players). Directed for TV by Michael Beyer; produced by Grete Liffers. Released in 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+ for Takemitsu  Grade: C+ for Shostakovich

This was a special performance to raise relief funds for the people of Japan following the earthquakes and tsunami of March 2011. So this was a special recording put together quickly for a topical reason. The HD resolution is a bit soft and the color a bit washed out. The sound is acceptable.

Not many Westerners are familiar with the music of Takemitsu. But readers of this website know about his My Way of Life staged concert spectacular, which was presented in Berlin by the Staatskapelle in 2004. Also, if you have seen many Japanese motions pictures, you may know more about Takemitsu than you realize because Takemitsu was Japan's leading composer of film scores and wrote the music for many of the most famous Japanese movies.

From me flows what you call time was scored for a large variety of Eastern percussion instruments backed up by a symphony orchestra. Some of the percussion instruments look pretty exotic; others look exactly like the wind chimes hanging from the eave of my back porch. The percussionists  wear special colorful coats and there are other props that make this performance unique.

Different batteries of percussion instruments are located throughout the stage. This means the seating of the orchestra gets chopped up in an unusual way. Normally we look for video content in a symphony HDVD that features  large scale shots of the orchestra and its major sections. But because the orchestra here is in the background and fragmented geographically on the stage, throw out the usual rules. Here the video consists mostly of close-ups of the 5 percussionists, a few orchestra soloists, and the conductor. Fortunately, Yutaka Sado is a fun conductor to watch.

The music is fascinating and easy to enjoy. Still, much of this would be lost in sound recording only; it's strikingly (pardon pun) beautiful on HDVD. Most classical music lovers would find this recording enjoyable; viewers with an interest in percussion music might consider this a "must have" recording. So I wind up with the grade of B+ for From me flows what you call time.

The Philharmoniker picked the Shostakavich Symphony No. 5 to finish out the program probably because it is a modern Western piece written in response to extremely daunting public events in the life of the composer. Yutaka Sado states in the bonus feature that he hears this piece differently (following the Japanese tsunami) in that it now "reminds me to pray." Sado also relates in the bonus that he first formed the ambition to conduct the Berlin Philharmoniker when he was 11 years old. This explains the tremendous emotion displayed by Sado as he conducts the Philharmoniker for the first time in his career.

Sado gets more emotion from his players than most other conductors with big dynamic changes along with wonderful soloist and section playing. Sado is a tall, strapping, cheerful man who leaps in the air (like an athlete blocking a shot) when he orders the percussionist to hit the bass drum as hard as he can. It could be dangerous to let this guy down, so the Berlin players respond with explosions of panache. During the final applause, the members of the orchestra first seem to be affected by a bit of shock and awe, but after a few moments, they start clapping for each other.

But, alas, this excellent performance is not matched by the PQ, SQ, or video content of the title. We  already noted the soft picture and unremarkable sound. But the real problem is that this disc has a case of DVDitis. The cameras are constantly in motion moving from the conductor (including many shots made over the backs of the musicians) to soloists and small groups. Between cuts there is excessive panning and zooming. As mention earlier, the DVD approach is probably appropriate for the percussion extravaganza, but it sinks the Shostakavich symphony. With weaknesses in PQ, SQ, and video content, we would normally have to give a low grade; because of the enthusiasm of the performance, we arrive at C+.

Next below is a neat video from this performance:

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Mahler Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand"

Mahler Symphony No. 8 ("Symphony of a Thousand"). Riccardo Chailly conducts 2011 the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig as well as the MDR Rundfunkchor, the Chor der Oper Leipzig, the GewandhausChor, the Thomanerchor Leipzig, and the GewandhausKinderchor (Chorus Masters Howard Arman, Georg Christoph Biller, Frank-Steffen Elster, Gregor Meyer, and Volkmar Olbrich). Soloists are Erika Sunnegårdh (soprano), Ricarda Merbeth (soprano), Christiane Oelze (soprano), Lioba Braun (alto), Gerhild Romberger (alto), Stephen Gould (tenor), Dietrich Henschel (baritone), and Georg Zeppenfeld (bass). Directed for TV by Michael Beyer; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Here's an official clip saturated with DVDitis:

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The Ring Without Words

Wagner The Ring Without Words is an 83-minute long "symphonic synthesis" of selections from the orchestral music in the Ring cycle. This was arranged by Lorin Maazel, and Maazel recorded it with Berlin Philharmoniker. Released in 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C

Lorin Maazel is one of the most experienced conductors in the world and also a composer. In 2000, Maazel was commissioned by Telarc to "edit" all of the Ring operas into a single orchestral piece that would provide a summary of the whole cycle in concert form for a symphony orchestra. This Maazel did by starting with the first note of Rheingold and ending with the last chord of Götterdämmerung. Along the way he added no music of his own. His contribution was to decide what to cut and where to "splice" the remaining music in a manner that would not sound jarring. Of course, no singing or staging was contemplated.

The idea was to present Wagner's core creation in a unified way (rather than just play a bunch of concert excerpts). This might be considered something of a gimmick. But the project apparently was successful. In 2000, Maazel recorded it with the Berlin Philharmoniker, and Telarc published this as a CD. According to Maazel (speaking in a bonus on subject disc) Telarc sold hundreds of thousands of CDs to folks who were a new audience for the Wagner Ring.  Maazel’s synthesis was taken up by other orchestras like  the Houston Symphony, which presented it in 2010.

Now guess what? Way back in 2000, Maazel and the Berlin Philharmoniker also made a video of The Ring Without Words. EuroArts got the rights to the video and published it in Blu-ray. From the artistic viewpoint, there can be no doubt that there is a market for the Ring without Words and that it can benefit many people as a video. Personally it reminds me of my passion for butter pecan ice cream. I just love butter pecan, but I don't want to eat a gallon of it in one hour. Ring without Words has most of the famous music and themes Wagner created in 4 long operas. The smashing together of so many dramatic musical ideas is efficient; but for me, it becomes tiresome.

Now lets turn our attention to the technical merits of the video. From the viewpoint of someone who has only experience with CDs, this video might be impressive. But from our perspective, the video is sadly obsolete.  The video was probably state-of-the-art in 2000. But the picture today has an over-illuminated and faded look with unsaturated colors and a generally listless aura. The title has Master Audio output, but that's no help if, as here, the master recording is muddy and lacking in fidelity. And, oh, the players in the orchestra in 2000 looks so much younger then than they look now!

There has been confusion about the art work on the keepcase. The 1st of the 4 images in the slideshow above shows the original front cover. The 2nd image presents a problem. Who do you think has more lawyers: EuroArts or The Lord of the Rings? The 3rd image is the replacement cover art that's on the title now. The last image is the back-cover art, which is very similar to the original back art.

In summary, I don't think this year 2000 version of The Ring without Words will have much appeal to discerning HDVD fans. But a re-recording of the work per state-of-the-art of today might be a welcome addition to the catalog, that least for those who really love butter pecan.

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