Second Life

Essential for Karajan fans
I have probably watched every Karajan documentary that's been released on VHS and DVD over the last 25 years ("Karajan in Salzburg", "Karajan, or Beauty as I see it", "Karajan: Maestro for the Screen", etc.) This is one of the best, due almost entirely to the loads of rare footage I'd never seen before. The focus is on Karajan as a recording artist in the last 20 years of his career. So there are the requisite interviews with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Brigitte Fassbaender, and others. No terribly fresh or arresting points are made, but the rehearsal sequences and snippets from live performances and the footage of Karajan in the recording control room are truly invaluable. You get to see a side of him that is all too rarely displayed in the more glamorized and carefully staged stock footage. The snippets of him coaching Thomas Stewart as the Wanderer in Siegfried, or yukking it up in the control room with Michael Glotz and the sound engineers, or those from the live performance of...

Karajan the perfectionist behind the scenes
I have seen a number of documentaries on Karajan....but this one held my interest the most. It shows him fully engaged in an impossible quest to attain his artistic vision in the recording studio. He was a complex and demanding taskmaster, not especially sensitive in the area of interpersonal relations (Aspergers?), a deficit which he admits and ultimately a tragic figure despite his many achievements. The interview with Karajan filmed not long before his death comes as quite a shock, his aged drained appearance quite different than a few years earlier and his rather dismissive opinion of his recorded legacy with his Berlin orchestra not really something I expected. When I saw Karajan conduct Heldenleben on one of his last North American tours, he was barely able to make it to the podium where he sat as he conducted. On the final chord he expanded his arms straight out to the side and the Berlin Philharmonic produced a sound that I had never heard before in the concert hall. It...

Another portrait of The Great Conductor of the 20th Century
Excellent discussions about Karajan's recording habits by his producers and recording/sound engineers. Interview tibits complete the picture of this extraordinary musician and his recorded legacy.

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The European Concert - Brahms; Haydn; Beethoven

A Superb Performance!
I don't often feel compelled to write a review after viewing a video presentation. But after listening to this concert, I was left no choice. The sound quality was superb throughout. Gautier Capucon and his cello sounded like they were sitting in my living room. His performance was mesmerizing.

I have heard Beethoven's Fifth hundreds of times, but never quite like this version. Gustavo Dudamel's interpretation brought a freshness that gave new life to this old war horse. I must also praise the fine camera work that added much to my enjoyment. I will be recommending this DVD to all my classical music friends.

Beautiful Orchestration!
This is an extraordinarily beautiful concert!
Gustavo Dudamel's conducting stance at Brahms's 'Variations on a theme by Joseph Haydn' and Beethoven's 5th symphony are extraordinary.
And there is this young man-Gautier Capucon. The way he plays Haydn's cello concerto is absolutely charming.
On the whole, this is a real beautiful concert.

Mostly "war horse" music, very well played
First off, I have to admit the Berlin Philharmonic is probably one of the two or three orchestras I enjoy watching. Their playing is full of life and it's exciting to watch the player's physicality - it makes for great entertainment to a one-time orchestral player to see players actually move to the music. Gustavo Dudamel has a long-standing relationship with The Berlin Philharmonic and it was obvious both he and the orchestra are very comfortable with each other. The Brahms was just right - economical but lush in all the right places. This Haydn cello concerto performance is one of the most likable I've witnessed - not really "Romantic" but definitely not classically delicate. Capucon's playing is precise and his cadenzas virtuosic - a terrific performance. And the Beethoven was just right - having heard Dudamel's Beethoven with the LA Philharmonic, I felt like I was listening to an old friend - he does a terrific fifth, and this was no exception. This program was...

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