In its choreographed version of the St. Matthew Passion, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart offers new dimensions to Bach‘s musical drama. And, for the one hundred schoolchildren who delved into Bach‘s monumental work and learned to dance as an artistic form of self-expression, it was an opportunity to experience the power of his music first hand. The interplay of professional musicians and young amateurs turned into a creative bridge for all involved. By deciding to have its own baroque orchestra and a choir formed of singers with practical, performing criteria in mind, the Bachakademie is forging a new path. The basic kind of sound, and at the same time the unique international selling point of this new approach underlies the Bachakademie’s decision to commission a historical replica of a chamber organ by the legendary organ builder and contemporary of Bach, Gottfried Silbermann. An original instrument by him has recently been discovered in Seerhausen, Saxony. As an example of the baroque sound, true to the original, this replica embodies the approach at the very heart of a Bachakademie of the future. The newly-founded baroque orchestra and the newly-constituted choir of the Bachakademie will perform under the joint name GAECHINGER CANTOREY from now onwards. Based on the historic foundations of the Bach era, and with roots in the living performance history of the choir founded by Helmuth Rilling, this name represents an integrated musical approach and the aesthetic sound ideal of the baroque.
Bach: St. Matthew Passion / Kozena, Padmore, Rattle
Berlin Philharmoniker
DVD
$80.99Sep 01, 2014
This set contains 2 DVDs, 1 Blu-ray Video Disc, and a 7-day Digital Concert Hall pass.
Sir Simon Rattle was in no doubt: the performance of the St. Matthew Passion which he realized together with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Rundfunkchor Berlin in 2010 was for him “the single most important thing we ever did here.” Critics around the world agreed. They praised the semi-staged “ritualization” by American star-director Peter Sellars, as well as the outstanding musical performances by the soloists, including Magdalena Kozená, Christian Gerhaher, Thomas Quasthoff, and Mark Padmore as the Evangelist. Now the performance is published as a hardcover linen edition with a comprehensive booklet and a voucher for the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall.
"Sellars' surprisingly simple ideas draw us deeply into the drama and prove enormously moving." – NPR
"The female singers are very good – the soprano Camilla Tilling ethereal and the mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena impassioned – but the men are tremendous, including the pure-toned tenor Topi Lehtipuu. The bass-baritone Christian Gerhaher, singing from far above the other performers, is a resonant, otherworldly Jesus. Mr. Padmore is one of the major Evangelists of our time, and he is heartbreakingly eloquent here, less a biblical narrator than a guide through a dark night of the soul. And if it’s possible for this deeply moving recording to take on any more poignancy, it is probably the final major video release featuring Mr. Quasthoff." – The New York Times
2 DVDs [NTSC 16:9 / PCM Stereo • DTS 5.1]
Blu-ray Disc in high definition video [1080i Full HD 16:9 / 2.0 PCM Stereo • DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1]
Playing time - Concert: 195 mins • Bonus: 51 mins
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean
Region: 0 (All region)
7- day pass to the BPO's Digital Concert Hall video streaming service
The St. Thomas Boys Choir, whose history dates back to the year 1212, is the oldest cultural establishment in the city of Leipzig. Outliving all political, municipal, religious, and educational controversy for 800 years, musica sacra has shaped the choir's past. Through the influence of the many St. Thomas Cantors, including the most famous- Johann Sebastian Bach (Thomas Cantor 1723-1750)- the city of Leipzig and the St. Thomas Church became the center of Protestant church music. The St. Thomas Church is home to the Boys Choir. A choir rich in tradition, they are committed to continuing this musical legacy. This release contains the award-winning two-hour documentary “Die Thomaner – A Year in the Life of the St. Thomas Boys Choir Leipzig” by Paul Smaczny and Günter Atteln as well as the breathtaking recordings of two of Johann Sebastian Bach’s major choral works: the St. Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor.
Distinguished Bach specialist Sir András Schiff returned to the BBC Proms in 2018 to present Book II of The Well-Tempered Clavier. Extending the variety already evident in Book I (available on 2.110653), Bach's effortless brilliance and new-found sonorities push harmony and counterpoint further than ever with a combination of ancient and modern styles, church austerity and gallant lightness. Schiff has said that 'no-one combines the sacred and the secular as Bach does', and this is comprehensively demonstrated in Bach's fascinating and challenging sequence. This performance in the Royal Albert Hall was described as 'a musical meditation for our troubled times' by the Independent.
Johann Sebastian Bach was undoubtedly the greatest musical thinker of his age. Dubbed ‘the Old Testament of music’ by the conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow, the Well-Tempered Clavier is acknowledged to be one of the most significant works ever written for the keyboard. Each of these 24 preludes and fugues encapsulates its own mood, and Bach’s delight in mixing technical strictness with freedom of expression has made this work an indispensable element of Western culture for centuries. Sir András Schiff is heralded as one of the finest Bach interpreters today, and this first complete performance at the prestigious BBC Proms was summed up as ‘stupendous’ by The Independent.
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REVIEW:
That he played the one hundred and ten minutes of the First Book from The Well-Tempered Clavier from memory was a feat in itself; that he played it without a blemish was remarkable, and that he imbued it with such happiness was something to remember. Played without an interval, and with both feet firmly planted on the stage, we come as near to Bach’s harpsichord as you can get from a modern Steinway concert grand piano.
The Paris Opera Ballet, though historically and famously a classical ensemble, proved over the years to be perfectly at ease with the demands and the subtilities of the contemporary repertoire. A tribute to its dazzling technique and unique style, this collector box-set features three milestones in the recent history of the French company : Pina Bausch’s Orpheus und Eurydike, a "Tribute to Jerome Robbins," ten years after his passing, and Anne Teresa de Keersmaker’s Rain. All these programs were filmed at the Palais Garnier, a world-reknowned temple of classical ballet : a way to insure the continuity between the masterpieces of yesterday, and those of today.
Ballet du Capitole - Trois ballets de Kader Belarbi
Opus Arte
DVD
$39.99Jul 28, 2017
Three masterworks by Kader Belarbi shine in these stunning Ballet du Capitole productions. Hailed by Le Figaro as ''simply magnificent: a miracle in two acts'', Le Corsaire is a bold reinvention of a 19th-century classic. La Bete et la Belle - a compelling reimagining of the classic fiary tale Beauty and the Beast - had its place affirmed among hte best of modern ballets by Belarbi's much-lauded production for Theatre du Capitole. La Reine morte, based on Montherlant's play of the same name and set to an enchanting score by Tchaikovsky, tells the tragic story of King Peter I of Portugal's devotion to his beloved Ines.
Alice – Lauren Cuthbertson Jack / Knave of Hearts – Sergei Polunin Lewis Carroll / White Rabbit – Edward Watson Mother / Queen of Hearts – Zenaida Yanowsky Father / King of Hearts – Christopher Saunders Magician / Mad Hatter – Steven McRae Duchess – Simon Russell Beale
Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Orchestra Barry Wordsworth, conductor Christopher Wheeldon, choreography
Bob Crowley, designs Nicholas Wright, scenario Natasha Katz, lighting design
Recorded live from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 9 March 2011.
Bonus: - Cast Gallery - Documentary – Being Alice
Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish Running time: 120 mins (ballet) + 30 mins (bonus) No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)
R E V I E W:
A stimulating production.
It is a brave company that is prepared to take such a surrealist novel and turn it into a stage show. Where film can provide the visual trickery necessary to give visual magic, theatre machinery is cumbersome and pedantic in comparison. Yet the development of technical resources and video projection can help. With ballet, a large part of the stage must be kept free of obstructions to allow ballet routines to progress unimpeded. To then faithfully transfer to a video medium without high level on-line visual trickery may not ideally help the viewer. So how then has Covent Garden fared in bringing about a stimulating production?
Very well, in fact. The prologue where Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) is taking photographs of the family group works excellently. It is set in a realistic deanery garden. Bob Crowley’s backdrop painting in faded Victorian hues is in keeping. In this opening scene we are introduced to the personalities that later appear as stereotypes in the fantasy world Alice uncovers. The only odd thing in a private deanery garden is having a nurse wheel a perambulator across the stage as if in a busy street.
Some of the settings contain more subtlety than might at first sight be noticed. Monotone backdrops, the Cheshire Cat and a paper boat are styled on the engravings found in Carroll’s first edition book. As the ballet progresses the settings become more flamboyant and graphically modern.
Particularly stunning is the Playing Cards scene. Choreography and costumes strike just the right note. A clever routine with a segmented Cheshire Cat allows believable animation.
As one might expect, the dancing is up to the exacting standards of the corps with a Covent Garden reputation. The problem of having Alice change size was well contrived and Lauren Cuthbertson’s acting is excellent. The character of the White Rabbit is extremely officious throughout I noticed, yet pales before the bombastic pomp of the Queen of Hearts (Zenaida Yanowsky).
The orchestra plays well under the secure direction of Barry Wordsworth, a conductor not seen enough of nowadays. Talbot’s music has facets of talent and although classical harmony is mainly maintained, it is heavy, strongly percussive and is often reminiscent of the fight scene of West Side Story. One could hardly call the music melodious which is a pity as it misses out in appealing to the younger generation for whom the story is intended. I find the scoring unnecessarily heavy and is an ill fit with the elegance of classical ballet choreography.
The DVD is divided into play chapters, and contains a gallery photographs of the key dancers. It has the bonus of a well compiled and informative BBC documentary ‘Being Alice’. In it we see the planning, realisation and execution of the staging through the eyes of the principal dancer, Lauren Cuthbertson. Subtitles are provided in English, French, German and Spanish. In-depth background production notes with synopsis by David Nice are written in English, French and German.
-- Raymond J Walker, MusicWeb International
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Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky THE NUTCRACKER
"One of the very best seasonal treats for children and adults alike, the Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker is a handsome, magical, thoroughly traditional rendering of ETA Hoffmann’s immortal if deeply strange story." -- Sunday Express
This all-time ballet favourite, in which young Clara is swept into a fantasy adventure when one of her Christmas presents comes to life, is at its most enchanting in Peter Wright’s glorious production – as fresh as ever in its 25th year. Tchaikovsky’s ravishing score, period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman (including an ingenious magical Christmas tree), an exquisite Sugar Plum Fairy (Miyako Yoshida) and chivalrous Prince (Steven McRae), the mysterious Drosselmeyer (Gary Avis) and vibrant dancing by The Royal Ballet make for a captivating performance. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound.
The Sugar Plum Fairy – Miyako Yoshida Nephew / Nutcracker – Ricardo Cervera / Steven McRae The Prince – Steven McRae Drosselmeyer – Gary Avis
The Royal Ballet The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Koen Kessels, conductor
Peter Wright, choreographer and director (after Lev Ivanov)
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, November and December 2009.
Bonus: - Cast gallery - Rehearsing at White Lodge - Peter Wright tells the story of The Nutcracker
Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic Sound format: LPCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS 5.0 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Menu language: English Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish Running time: 127 mins No. of DVDs: 1
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Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev’s musical fairy tale, has been delighting children since 1936. Nearly 60 years later, in 1995, the young choreographer Matthew Hart created a witty choreographed version for the Royal Ballet School with designs by Ian Spurling. Described as ‘an utterly delightful ballet and a perfect showcase for the younger students,’ by the Royal Ballet’s Director, Monica Mason, it was staged again and recorded for this DVD.
"...Matthew Hart’s Peter and the Wolf is one of the most beguiling children’s ballets around.” - The Telegraph
Matthew Hart, choreographer The Wolf – Sergei Polunin Grandfather – Will Kemp Peter – Kilian Smith Duck – Charlotte Edmonds Bird – Laurine Muccioli Cat – Chisato Katsura
The Royal Ballet School Royal Ballet Sinfonia Paul Murphy, conductor
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, 16 and 18 December 2010.
Bonus: - Cast gallery - Documentary feature on rehearsing Peter and the Wolf
Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.0 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Menu language: English Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish Running time: 38 mins No. of DVDs: 1
This enchanting DVD captures 2011’s Christmas performance from the students of the Royal Ballet Lower School. All of the cast seem to be of primary school age, with the adult dancers Sergei Polunin and Will Kemp brought in as the Wolf and Narrator. Matthew Hart’s realisation of Prokofiev’s score as a ballet had first been seen in 1995 and it works very well indeed. Hart says in a short extra film that one of his aims had been to get as many dancers as possible onto the stage. He provide roles not only for the principal characters but for the corps as the physical elements of the story: dancers embody the hunters, the grass of the meadow, the waves of the pond, the trees of the forest and the wall next to Peter’s house. The choreography is simple without being simplistic and Hart tells the story very well. The principals are all extraordinarily proficient for their age, particularly the three girls playing the bird, duck and cat, who have the flexible movement of their creatures down to a T. Kilian Smith’s Peter is brave and likeable, while Polunin’s wolf embodies the sinister characteristics of a pantomime villain with that extra bit of danger. Will Kemp doubles as on-stage narrator and as Grandfather. The bright primary colours of both set and costumes work very well, and the only piece of staging is a bulky frame which is used for the tree, covered in graffiti about the story. The orchestra plays very well and the 5.1 surround sound brings the story to life. The only thing I missed, compared to an audio only recording, is the sense of intimacy with the narrator, something necessarily lost in a production such as this one, but if you don’t mind that then you’ll enjoy this very much. If you know some children who enjoy dancing, or if you want to get some children interested in dance for the first time, then this is especially for you.
-- Simon Thompson, MusicWeb International
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Frederick Ashton (the other major choreographer of the second half of the 20th century) created his ballet Tales of Beatrix Potter for the camera in 1971 (still available on DVD). In 1992, Anthony Dowell created a stage version for the Royal Ballet, revived in 2007 and filmed during the subsequent performances. David Nice’s essay in the accompanying booklet tells us much about the score, “composed” by John Lanchberry using Victorian waltzes and ballads and excerpts from various 19th-century ballets (Minkus, Glazunov), as well as his own version of La fille mal gardée , to all of which Ashton choreographed a number of gems, at the same time parodying the 19th-century classics in solos and pas de deux.
It is difficult to comment extensively on the individual dancers, as the animal masks by Rostislav Dobujinsky entirely cover the dancers’ faces. But through movement, gesture, and even posture the individual roles are neatly characterized, from the footwork of Gemma Sykes’s Jemima Puddle-Duck to the exuberance of Zachary Faruque’s Jeremy Fisher or Steven McRae’s Squirrel Nutkin. Jonathan Howells has a difficult task, succeeding the choreographer himself as Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, but is almost as eloquent, although expanding Ashton’s few little movements into a full-length solo calls for too much repetition of the steps and attitudes. The adaptation was no simple task, as the film shows us Beatrix Potter herself in between the dance episodes, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle strolling through the English countryside before starting her solo; but Dowell has eliminated that aspect and gives us a pure dance spectacle that is a delight from start to finish. And it must be exhausting for the dancers who must perform in real time. The Royal Ballet Sinfonia under Paul Murphy offers a sparkling rendition of the composite score that equals Lanchberry’s version for the film or even the LP that was released in the 1970s. For those unfamiliar with the children’s classic, a brief synopsis will fill you in, but this is, in any event, an instant classic for the young at heart.
FANFARE: Joel Kasow
Mrs Tittlemouse: Victoria Hewitt Johnny Town-Mouse: Ricardo Cervera Mrs Tiggy-Winkle: Jonathan Howells Jemima Puddle-Duck: Gemma Sykes The Fox: Gary Avis Pigling Bland: Bennet Gartside Pig-Wig: Laura Morera Aunt Pettitoes: David Pickering Mr Jeremy Fisher: Zachary Faruque Tom Thumb: Giacomo Ciriaci Hunca Munca: Iohna Loots Peter Rabbit: Joshua Tuifua Squirrel Nutkin: Steven McRae
REGIONS: All PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9 SOUND: 2.0 LPCM STEREO / 5.1 DTS SURROUND SUBTITLES: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
Ballet Spectacular - Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardee, Coppelia
Opus Arte
DVD
$39.99Jan 27, 2015
This special DVD collection presents The Royal Ballet in three of the world's most popular ballets, as featured in the best-selling book Ballet Spectacular.
BALLET SPECTACULAR (3-DVD Box set)
Adolphe Adam GISELLE
Giselle - Alina Cojocaru Count Albrecht - Johan Kobborg Myrtha - Marianela Nuñez Hilarion - Martin Harvey
Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Orchestra Boris Gruzin, conductor
Marius Petipa, choreographer (after Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot) John MacFarlane, stage and costume designer Jennifer Tipton, lighting designer
Léo Delibes COPPÉLIA
Swanilda - Leanne Benjamin Franz - Carlos Acosta Doctor Coppélius - Luke Heydon Coppélia - Leana Palmer
Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Orchestra Nicolae Moldaveanu, conductor
Ninette de Valois, choreographer (after Lev Ivanov and Enrico Cecchetti) Osbert Lancaster, stage and costume designer John B. Read, lighting designer
Ferdinand Hérold LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
Colas - Carlos Acosta Lise - Marianela Nuñez Simone - William Tuckett Alain - Jonathan Howells
Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Orchestra Anthony Twiner, conductor
Frederick Ashton, choreographer Osbert Lancaster, set and costume designer John B. Read, lighting designer
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, January 2006 (Giselle), 2000 (Coppélia) and 2 February 2005 (La Fille Mal Gardée)
Sensuous contemporary ballet meets the energy of musical theatre in four distinctive short works showcasing the extraordinary versatility of The Royal Ballet's Artistic Associate, Christopher Wheeldon. His hugely successful career, spanning ballet to musical theatre from London to New York and beyond, has garnered international acclaim. These exceptional pieces - Fool's Paradise, The Two of Us, Us and An American in Paris - are a feast for the senses highlighting the Tony- and Olivier-award-winning choreographer's remarkable range. This collection is a testament to Wheeldon's diverse expression and creativity.
This box set contains three extraordinary ballet choreographies by the successful German choreographer Christian Spuck for the Ballett Zürich whose ballet director he has been since the 2012/13 season: Verdi’s Messa da Requiem conducted by Fabio Luisi, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and Mouse King, conducted by Paul Connelly, and Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet conducted by Michail Jurowski. Christian Spuck comes from Marburg and was trained at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart. He began his dance career with Jan Lauwers’ Needcompany and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s Ensemble Rosas. In 1995 he became a member of the Stuttgart Ballet and served as the company’s resident choreographer from 2001 to 2012. In Stuttgart he created fifteen world premieres, including the story ballet Lulu. Eine Monstretragödie after Frank Wedekind, Der Sandmann and Das Fräulein von S. after E.T.A. Hoffmann. Since the 2012/13 season, Christian Spuck has been director of Ballett Zürich.
The contemporary vocal music of the Baltic states is infused with the timeless resonances of a folk tradition dating back to pagan times, and created a sensation when it was first unleashed upon European concert halls in the second half of the 20th century. This very special programme from the acclaimed SWR Vokalensemble represents the most eloquent and sophisticated choral repertoire of this region. Veljo Tormis’ intense folk song arrangements, and compelling works by Peteris Vasks and Arvo Part are included next to music of entrancing colors, heard in remarkable settings by a younger generation of award-winning composers.
Featuring some of the earliest operas in existence, this box set features Baroque Opera Classics. The set contains Handel’s Deidamia, Cavalli’s La Didone, and Ercole Amante,Pergolesi’s Adriano in Siria, Rameau’s Zoroastre, and Scarlatti’s Dove e Amore e Gelosia. These recordings from De Nederlandse Opera, Le Theatre de Caen, Pergolesi Spring Festival, Jesi, Ancona, and DNO are not to be missed.
The Daily Telegraph describes Nikolaj Znaider as "the most stimulating young musician playing today, drawing on musical intelligence, perception and dynamism to give performances of rare intensity.” This release presents one of the world's foremost violinists playing two landmark concertos, accompanied by the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, "one of Europe's finest orchestras" (The Guardian), under the baton of its music director Riccardo Chailly.
It was the Gewandhausorchester that, in 1845, first performed Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor. Mendelssohn himself had conducted Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major several times and helped this milestone in the history of music to its great breakthrough.
The award-winning Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin has become one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras on period instruments. These concerts reveal some of the foundations of Beethoven’s genius, and capture vital performances from the 2020 SWR Schwetzingen Festival, the biggest radio festival for classical music in the world. These first two concerts of four see Beethoven’s revolutionary development through his first three symphonies set against C.P.E. Bach’s novel orchestration, Mozart’s pre-echo of a theme from the ‘Eroica’ Symphony, and Paul Wranitzky’s richly narrative Grande Sinfonie caractéristique, a work banned by the Viennese authorities of the day. The third and fourth concerts are also available on Naxos.
The award-winning Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin has become one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras on period instruments. These concerts reveal some of the foundations of Beethoven’s genius, and capture vital performances from the 2020 SWR Schwetzingen Festival, the biggest radio festival for classical music in the world. Robert Schumann pointed out similarities between Méhul’s First Symphony and Beethoven’s Fifth, and these third and fourth concerts in the cycle also include a tempest by Holzbauer that precedes Beethoven’s by half a century, plus the little-known Le portrait musical de la nature by Justin Heinrich Knecht, a work that also anticipates Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony. The first and second concerts are also available on Naxos.
Beethoven's Ninth: Symphony for the World / Currentzis
C Major Entertainment
DVD
$16.49$32.99Save 50%Jun 26, 2020
To this day, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 is one of the most popular pieces of classical music in the world. But what is it about this global hit? The film charts the success of the symphony around the globe and encounters passionate amateur musicians and musical personalities. Watch as Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis works on Beethoven’s Ninth with his ensemble, MusicAeterna. Follow Chinese composer and Oscar winner Tan Dun as he creates a new composition inspired by the great Beethoven symphony. Experience the Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as they play the Ninth. Visit a favela in Brazil, where Beethovens’s music helps people get off the streets. Be amazed as a choir of 10,000 in Japan sings the final chorus of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with great enthusiasm. Learn how Paul Whittaker helps make Beethoven accessible for deaf people. And find out how British DJ Gabriel Prokofiev performs a symphonic remix of Beethoven’s Ninth.
CHOPIN Piano Sonata No. 2, “Funeral March.” Polonaise in f?, op. 44. Prelude in B?, op. 28/21. BEETHOVEN Piano Sonatas: No. 27; No. 32. SCRIABIN Etude, op. 8/2. 2 Poems, op. 32 • Ivo Pogorelich (pn) • C MAJOR 701308 (DVD: 101:00)
This video was filmed in 1987, when Pogorelich was in his late-20s. The locale is an ornate Italian villa with excellent acoustics. The sound engineering has held up very well, and the camerawork is unobtrusive. There is no showmanship. Pogorelich simply plays the music, without jumping about or making faces. He has one of the most compulsively watchable pairs of hands I’ve ever seen. I haven’t been this taken with the physical act of a pianist’s playing since I saw Earl Wild play the Gershwin Concerto in 1986. There is a balance of form and function in Pogorelich’s hands that is just enthralling. Pogorelich performs the Chopin and the Scriabin in a black tunic, switching to a plain blue shirt for the Beethoven. Perhaps there’s something revealing in that. The video footage was originally divided into five separate television programs, which simply are played here in succession. I didn’t find this distracting.
I believe Chopin’s Second Piano Sonata was one of the works Pogorelich performed in the 1980 International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. That was where Martha Argerich resigned from the jury after Pogorelich’s elimination, calling him “a genius.” This video contains a great rendition of the sonata. Even the brief introductory chords are dramatic and arresting. In the first movement, Pogorelich has a beautiful response to the second subject, varying it with richness and nobility on each of its appearances, the third time giving it beautiful tone coloring. The scherzo features a dynamic left hand, while its second subject is highly rhapsodic. The opening of the Marche funèbre is grand, even triumphant, whereas its second subject is shaded nocturnally. The return of the Marche is terrifying, leading to the finale’s splendid virtuosic chaos. Throughout the sonata Pogorelich’s conception is bold, dynamic, and vivid.
The remaining Chopin works are equally impressive. The polonaise is freely shaped, colorful, and propulsive. The return of its main theme at the end is immense and thrilling. Pogorelich’s interpretation of the prelude is slow and stately. He brings the same ingratiating talents as a miniaturist to the short works by Scriabin. They highlight his craftsmanship as a subtle colorist and superb technician. The étude is languorous. As for the Two Poems, the first is dreamy, while the second is torrential.
Pogorelich’s Beethoven is more provocative, owing to his preference for slow tempos. In the first movement of Sonata No. 27, I prefer to think of his tempo not as slow but as spacious. The music’s structure always is apparent. In the final movement, Pogorelich offers a truthful representation of Beethoven’s cantabile marking. This issue, however, bedevils the last sonata. In its first movement, Pogorelich’s concept of maestoso is assisted by his ability to clarify voices. This movement’s contrast of virtuosity and repose seems here to prefigure Liszt. Things bog down, unfortunately, in the last movement. There Pogorelich takes the adagio molto marking too literally, interfering in his slowness with the other instruction for cantabile playing. His phrasing becomes choppy. Beethoven did offer the instruction semplice, but that doesn’t mean to proceed so slowly as to be simple-minded. I watched this DVD four times before writing this review, and the last movement of Sonata No. 32 was the only performance I grew weary of.
If you are collecting these works on CD, I can make some recommendations. In the Chopin sonata, I like Cécile Ousset (whose muscularity recalls Pogorelich), Leif Ove Andsnes, and Idil Biret. Richard Goode and Bernard Roberts are interesting in both of the Beethoven sonatas. For No. 32, there also are fine recordings by Bruce Hungerford, Jerome Rose, and, on a Graf fortepiano, Peter Serkin. Scriabin’s Two Poems appears in a lyrical presentation by the Russian-American pianist Dmitry Paperno, on a lovely collection of shorter works titled Through the Years. As for Pogorelich’s DVD, it is fascinating and compulsively watchable almost all the way through. If you can overlook some rather zany Beethoven, it might be for you.
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