Arturo Beneditti Michelangeli - Beethoven/Schubert/Brahms DVD

Advantages: Shows joyful side of tragic Du Pré; invaluable performances; entertaining spots.
Disadvantages: Too short, unfocused, worshipful; expensive for 1 hour film.

...and performers included in the film: Daniel Barenboim Sir John Barbirolli Zubin Mehta Itzhak Perlman William Pleeth Pinchas Zuckerman New Philharmonia Orchestra Excerpts from: Brahms' Sonata No. 2 in F, Op. 99 Offenbach's Duos for two 'cellos Beethoven's Sonata No. 3 in A, Op. 69 Schubert's Piano Quintet in A, D. 667 'The Trout' Beethoven's Piano Trio No. 5 in D, Op. 70 No. 1 'The Ghost' Elgar's 'cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85... Read review

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Advantages: Superb production, fascinating footage, great music
Disadvantages: None whatsoever apart from wanting more

...others. Some of the conductors featured are Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Thomas Beecham, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Richard Strauss, Leopold Stokowski and Bruno Walter to single out a few names. Right from the opening of the documentary you realise the high quality of the production values on this DVD as Beethoven's 5th Symphony segues seamlessly between different performances by very different conductors. Hearing the same piece conducted by Toscanini, von Karajan, Klemperer and Szell heightens the contrasts between the styles and interpretations of each of these highly individual maestri. One of the big plus-points of this DVD is that along with copious extracts from performances and rehearsals, one is given complete performances of several works including Beethoven's "Egmont Overture" conducted by Serge Koussevitzky... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Fascinating insight into a very private conductor
Disadvantages: One always wants more concert clips in DVDs like this...

...and colleagues, and of course from Abbado himself - which is perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the DVD as up to now he has always preferred to talk through his music rather than to journalists. The orchestras featured in the performance extracts are the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. Performance and rehearsal extracts played during the DVD are by: Luigi Nono - "Prometeo"; Dvorak - Symphony No. 9; Beethoven - Symphonies No. 1, 3 and 9, Egmont Overture; Bruckner - Symphonies No. 1 and 9; Stravinsky - Symphony of Psalms; Brahms - "Ein deutsches Requiem"; Richard Strauss - "Elektra"; Webern - 6 Pieces for Orchestra; Mahler - Symphony No. 2; Debussy - La Mer and Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5. Some of the extracts are quite brief, but all are incredibly musically... Read review

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