Art Of Conducting - Legendary Conductors Of A Golden Era (DVD)

...the second volume of "The Art of Conducting".

It is entitled "Legendary Conductors of a Golden Era" and concentrates on the work of 6 illustrious maestri from the past: Sergiu Celibidache; Wilhelm Furtwaengler; Erich Kleiber; Evgeny Mravinsky; Charles Munch and Willem Mengelberg. There are also rare archive film clips included of conductors Herbert von Karajan; Hermann Scherchen; Andre Cluytens and Vaclav Talich. ...
...featured is provided by record producer Peter Andry; violinists Yehudi Menuhin, Walter Barylli (from Vienna Philharmonic) and Alexander Barantschik (Leningrad Philharmonic); conductors Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink and Evgeny Mravinsky himself; renowned Boston Symphony timpanist Vic Firth and bass-baritone Otto Edelmann. So, quite a star-studded line-up, as there was in the first volume of this series.

Music on the DVD:
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As I had enjoyed the first volume in this series so much, (see my review here -http://dvd.ciao.co.uk/Art_Of_Conducting_Great_Conductors_Of_The_Past_DVD__ 5912901) it was without hesitation that I bought this - the second volume of "The Art of Conducting".

It is entitled "Legendary Conductors of a Golden Era" and concentrates on the work of 6 illustrious maestri from the past: Sergiu Celibidache; Wilhelm Furtwaengler; Erich Kleiber; Evgeny Mravinsky; Charles Munch and Willem Mengelberg. There are also rare archive film clips included of conductors Herbert von Karajan; Hermann Scherchen; Andre Cluytens and Vaclav Talich. Commentary on the work and personalities of the conductors featured is provided by record producer Peter Andry; violinists Yehudi Menuhin, Walter Barylli (from Vienna Philharmonic) and Alexander Barantschik (Leningrad Philharmonic); conductors Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink and Evgeny Mravinsky himself; renowned Boston Symphony timpanist Vic Firth and bass-baritone Otto Edelmann. So, quite a star-studded line-up, as there was in the first volume of this series.

Music on the DVD:

Again, as on the first DVD of the series, there is a wide range of musical repertoire to be heard (and seen of course) and I'd hazard a guess that there's something for every classical music devotee - especially if they are interested in historical orchestral performances, conducted by the eminent maestri featured. Obviously one does have to make the valid point that not all the pieces are played complete - the nature of the DVD is to compare and contrast the styles and idiosyncrasies of the selected musicians and you'd be severely limiting the scope of the project by having only complete pieces. It's a hard call, sometimes one longs to hear the next movement or part of an extract, but some of these performances are now thankfully available on individual DVDs, so personally I'm happy to have so many DIFFERENT interpretations conveniently put together on one disc. Certainly some of the extracts have made me determined to track down other DVDs and CDs featuring these conductors and I have to say that if you don't really know much about these magnificent maestri from the past - this DVD is an absolutely brilliant starting point to further more detailed musical explorations.

Music featured includes: Richard Strauss - "Ein Heldenleben" and "Til Eulenspiegls lustige Streiche"; Dvorak -" Wild Dove" Symphony from the New World; Kallinikov - Symphony No. 1; Ravel - "Rapsodie espagnole"; Tchaikovsky - Symphonies No. 4 and 5; Johann Strauss II - "Kuenstlerleben", "Emperor Waltz", "Blue Danube"; Berlioz - Hungarian march from Damnation of Faust and Symphonie Fantastique; Bizet - "L'Arlesienne Suite"; Weber - Oberon Overture; Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 and Egmont Overture; Franck - Symphony in D minor; Debussy - "La Mer"; Ravel - Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2; Schostakovich - Symphony No. 5.

For me, one of the most fascinating things about watching great conductors at work is having the chance to eavesdrop in their rehearsals and there are unique opportunities to do that with this DVD which shows Celibidache, Munch and Erich Kleiber hard at work to get their own sounds out of the orchestra, 3 very different conductors and 3 very different rehearsal techniques. The differences in personality and musical approach of each conductor are succinctly pinpointed between performance extracts by the pertinent comments made by those who knew their work, for example - Vic Firth - the principal timpanist of the Boston Symphony saying that every musician needed 101% concentration for all performances conducted by Charles Munch because you never quite knew what he would do in the piece - he was renowned for making subtle (and not so subtle) changes to the interpretation on the spur of the moment in the actual concert - musicians had to be ready for everything! This is then reinforced by 2 totally riveting extracts from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique where you feel like you are in a racing car facing the G-forces at maximum speed - incredibly exciting performances from the Boston Symphony Orchestra!

For any serious classical music collector there are probably at least 2 items on this disc which are "special" - for want of a better word. One is the oldest piece of video footage on the disc, from 1931 in France when Willem Mengelberg conducts the Concertgebouw orchestra in Weber's Oberon Overture. It is one of the complete performances on the disc and when one hears it, one understands why it has been included. It's a wonderful performance which has a unique fingerprint of both orchestra and conductor indelibly imprinted on it. Great playing.
My second personal highlight which I have to recommend is Sergiu Celibidache conducting Beethoven's "Egmont Overture" amidst the ruins of Berlin's bombed Philharmonie concert hall in 1950. The piece is about one man's fight against dictatorship and his ultimate sacrifice in death before his followers go on to win his cause, and preceding the performance Celibidache talks about the terrible hardship he faced in Berlin just after the end of WWII, no heating, little food, having to learn his scores while wrapped up in layers of clothes against the bitter cold... Then you segue to the performance, with the musicians surrounded by the bombed out ruins of what was once their pride and joy of a concert hall, with Celi standing on a pile of rubble in front of them to conduct. There's an intensity in the playing which must have been magnified a hundred fold by the circumstances in which it took place. In my opinion the DVD would be worth buying for these two performances alone.

The archive footage featured on the DVD dates from 1931, the majority of it is in black and white but I don't think that should be seen as a disadvantage given the historical importance of the material. Obviously given the dates of the recordings, some of the soundtracks are in mono, however, I have to say that the overall quality of the sound is exceptional, it has been remastered and cleaned up brilliantly with Dolby Digital sound. The DVD lasts for 115 minutes and there are subtitles available in English, French and German.

Extras/Bonus Material:

The DVD comes with a very well put together brochure providing interesting background material and rare photos of the conductors featured on the disc, it is written in English, French and German too. Lots of fascinating little tidbits about some of the performances featured, well worth reading before you watch in order to provide some background.

HOWEVER! The only reason that this DVD does not get the full 5 stars from me is that unlike the first disc in the series, there is no bonus section of longer interviews with people who knew the conductors featured. The other CD had at least 30 minutes of interviews and it was a great additional resource. I can't believe that they couldn't have found enough personalities or archive material to do this (we musicians LOVE talking about conductors!) and as a result one does feel a teensy weensy bit disappointed at a lost opportunity. After all, many of the musicians of that generation are no longer with us and putting such views on disc provides an important historical document for future classical music lovers.

Conclusion:
Despite my disappointment of not having the additional interviews bonus section as with the first in the series, this is another must have for my classical music DVD collection and is highly recommended for anyone seriously interested in this genre - particularly from a historical point of view.

©Maestrolover 

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