Always smile and always be cheerful, always satisfied, no matter what happens, smile in spite of your sorrows and a thousand aches and pains, sings Prince Sou-Chong, thus introducing the fundamentally melancholic tone of Das Land des Lachelns (The Land of Smiles), which has a tragic ending in store. For the new production of this operetta, world-class tenor Piotr Beczala returned to the Opernhaus Zurich as Sou-Chong. He has an equal partner in Julia Kleiter, who plays the role of Lisa. Fabio Luisi and Andreas Homoki also know that the genre of operetta requires particular care- which is why they have assumed personal responsibility for this production. Homoki let's the plot take place in a Paris Variete theater from the 1920s, complete with show staircase and heavy curtains. To emphasize the operatic elements, he condensed the piece, cutting several secondary roles and shortening dialogues. This production was recorded at the Opernhaus Zurich in June 2017.

Always smile and always be cheerful, always satisfied, no matter what happens, smile in spite of your sorrows and a thousand aches and pains, sings Prince Sou-Chong, thus introducing the fundamentally melancholic tone of Das Land des Lachelns (The Land of Smiles), which has a tragic ending in store. For the new production of this operetta, world-class tenor Piotr Beczala returned to the Opernhaus Zurich as Sou-Chong. He has an equal partner in Julia Kleiter, who plays the role of Lisa. Fabio Luisi and Andreas Homoki also know that the genre of operetta requires particular care- which is why they have assumed personal responsibility for this production. Homoki let's the plot take place in a Paris Variete theater from the 1920s, complete with show staircase and heavy curtains. To emphasize the operatic elements, he condensed the piece, cutting several secondary roles and shortening dialogues. This production was recorded at the Opernhaus Zurich in June 2017.

Also available on Blu-ray

Frederic Chopin Year 2010 coincides with the 60th anniversary of Daniel Barenboim’s stage debut, and as a pianist he has decided to devote this year to the great Romantic master of the keyboard. Chopin was born on 1 March 1810 in a small village near Warsaw, and on the eve of the 200th anniversary of this date Barenboim gave this wildly acclaimed Warsaw recital as part of an extensive European tour. The program comprised some of the composer’s best-known works, including the great B flat minor Sonata with its famous Funeral March, which sounded to many “as the composer may well have imagined it”. While Chopin used to advise his piano scholars to take singing lessons, Barenboim, as an experienced conductor of operas is most familiar with the human voice as well. With his brilliant virtuosity, he lead the audience through a most colorful program, once again proving his talent for this composer.

"After almost six decades of experience on stage, Daniel Barenboim continues to need and to seek out contact with an audience. […] Musically speaking, those contacts have always been particularly intense when Barenboim has been able to display his ability to play quietly, an ability that continues to amaze, with its feeling for a velvet touch that is neither brittle nor saccharine but always characterized by a serious, substantial beauty." -- www.klassikinfo.de

Recorded live at the Filharmonia Narodowa, Warsaw, 28 February 2010.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 91 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Frederic Chopin Year 2010 coincides with the 60th anniversary of Daniel Barenboim’s stage debut, and as a pianist he has decided to devote this year to the great Romantic master of the keyboard. Chopin was born on 1 March 1810 in a small village near Warsaw, and on the eve of the 200th anniversary of this date Barenboim gave this wildly acclaimed Warsaw recital as part of an extensive European tour. The program comprised some of the composer’s best-known works, including the great B flat minor Sonata with its famous Funeral March, which sounded to many “as the composer may well have imagined it”. While Chopin used to advise his piano scholars to take singing lessons, Barenboim, as an experienced conductor of operas is most familiar with the human voice as well. With his brilliant virtuosity, he lead the audience through a most colorful program, once again proving his talent for this composer.

"After almost six decades of experience on stage, Daniel Barenboim continues to need and to seek out contact with an audience. […] Musically speaking, those contacts have always been particularly intense when Barenboim has been able to display his ability to play quietly, an ability that continues to amaze, with its feeling for a velvet touch that is neither brittle nor saccharine but always characterized by a serious, substantial beauty." -- www.klassikinfo.de

Recorded live at the Filharmonia Narodowa, Warsaw, 28 February 2010.

Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 91 mins
No. of Discs: 1

She crosses boundaries and loves to explore new territory. Barbara Hannigan is one of the most fascinating and multi-facetted artistic personalities of our time. She sets new standards as a singer, conductor, and performance artist. The intimate portrait “I’m a creative animal” takes the viewer into the world of an exceptional musician – a world of both passion and discipline. Her performances possess a breathtaking intensity because of her exquisite vocal technique and virtuosity, musical and theatrical expressivity, and uncompromising engagement. In this concert with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Hannigan both sings and conducts to effortlessly build bridges linking different musical epochs. With a phenomenal performance of Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre, a work for which she is famous, she once again confirms her reputation as the performer of contemporary music – “The audience went wild.” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung)

“She is one of the best musicians out there.”
(Simon Rattle in The New York Times)

DOCUMENTARY
I’m a creative animal –Barbara Hannigan
A film by Barbara Seiler

CONCERT
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Barbara Hannigan (soprano/conductor)
Concert Hall of KKL Luzern, August 2014

Gioachino Rossini
Overture to La scala di seta

Wolfgang A. Mozart
Vado, ma dove? O Dei!
Un moto di gioia
Misera, dove son?
György Ligeti
Concert Românesc
Mysteries of the Macabre

Gabriel Fauré
Pelléas et Mélisande, op. 80

Languages: English, Italian
Subtitles: English, Italian
Bonus: documentary I’m a creative animal – Barbara Hannigan
Bonus Running time: 51:17 min
Bonus Languages: English
Bonus Subtitles: German, French
Disc Formats: DVD-9
Number of Discs: 1 (DVD)
Picture Formats DVD: 16:9 NTSC
Sound Formats DVD: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1
Running time: 71:38 min

Also available on Blu-ray

All are equal before the work, before the mysteries of a score; this was Claudio Abbado’s heart-felt conviction. For him, the willingness to be open to one another and to the independent life of musical processes was the only prerequisite for making music. In the live performances documented here for the first time on DVD/Blu-ray, Abbado could be sure of the devotion of these world-class artists: the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, the sopranos Christine Schäfer and Juliane Banse, as well as the actor Bruno Ganz. They shared his credo of “listening togetherness” (Die ZEIT) that made possible those precious moments of musical truth toward which this great conductor strove throughout his life.

CLAUDIO ABBADO CONDUCTS MOZART AND BEETHOVEN

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Misera, dove son!, K. 369
Ah, lo previdi, K. 272
Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio, K. 418
Symphony No. 35 in D Major, K. 385, “Haffner”

Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont, Op. 84

Christine Schäfer, soprano
Juliane Banse, soprano
Bruno Ganz, narrator

Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Recorded live at the Concert Hall of KKL Luzern, 19–20 August 2011 (Mozart) and 8–10 August 2012 (Beethoven)

Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, German, English, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 89 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

All are equal before the work, before the mysteries of a score; this was Claudio Abbado’s heart-felt conviction. For him, the willingness to be open to one another and to the independent life of musical processes was the only prerequisite for making music. In the live performances documented here for the first time on DVD/Blu-ray, Abbado could be sure of the devotion of these world-class artists: the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, the sopranos Christine Schäfer and Juliane Banse, as well as the actor Bruno Ganz. They shared his credo of “listening togetherness” (Die ZEIT) that made possible those precious moments of musical truth toward which this great conductor strove throughout his life.

CLAUDIO ABBADO CONDUCTS MOZART AND BEETHOVEN
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Misera, dove son!, K. 369
Ah, lo previdi, K. 272
Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio, K. 418
Symphony No. 35 in D Major, K. 385, “Haffner”

Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont, Op. 84

Christine Schäfer, soprano
Juliane Banse, soprano
Bruno Ganz, narrator

Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Recorded live at the Concert Hall of KKL Luzern, 19–20 August 2011 (Mozart) and 8–10 August 2012 (Beethoven)

Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, German, English, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 89 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

Also available on Blu-ray

Recorded live at the Filharmonia Narodowa, Warsaw, 26-27 February 2010.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 97 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

R E V I E W:



CHOPIN Piano Concertos: No. 1 in e 1; No. 2 in f. 2 Mazurka in a, op. 17/4. 1 Etude in c, op. 10/12. 2 Waltz in e, op. posth. 2 • 1 Nikolai Demidenko, 2 Evgeny Kissin (pn); Antoni Wit, cond; Warsaw PO • ACCENTUS 20104 (DVD: 96:54) Live: Warsaw 2/27/2010

I would hate to have been a music critic for a newspaper sitting in the audience at this concert. Newspaper reviewers are allowed only one chance to hear the music and then get their story straight. I’ve watched this video four times, and just am beginning to appreciate what went on at the concert. In sum, it is a tale of two pianists, Nikolai Demidenko and Evgeny Kissin. The former receives a notable reception from the audience, while the latter elicits a roaring standing ovation and rhythmic applause. The two even are a contrast in their appearance: Demidenko with his grey beard and bald spot, the leonine Kissin every inch the romantic idol. Yet, on repeated listening, I find myself drawn at least as much to Demidenko’s performance as to Kissin’s. This video is a superb example of how completely differently one can approach Chopin, with equally satisfying results.

The First Concerto opens with refined playing in the orchestral tutti. Antoni Wit and his Warsaw forces only recently recorded both concertos with Eldar Nebolsin. Demidenko begins introspectively, with a lovely sonority. His romantic hero, as portrayed in the music, is a poet rather than an adventurer. The third subject is full of yearning and pathos. Elegance and passion characterize the subsequent filigree work. The return of the first theme sounds ruminative. When the second subject comes back, it is wistful and tentative. Throughout this movement, the Warsaw first chairs play beautifully, particularly the flute, bassoon, and horn.

Demidenko opens the second movement with a gorgeous, singing bel canto line. It is a love song with plenty of heart. Unlike in the first movement, the piano part now has a slightly naive quality. The solo bassoon plays wonderfully. Here and in the finale, Demidenko handles transitions magically. He performs the last movement very much in the style galant . His playing now is rhythmically subtle; he doesn’t attempt to be a powerhouse. The B section sounds like a mazurka. Demidenko’s left hand produces deftly judged harmonies. His soft playing is superbly virtuosic. As an encore, Demidenko plays a mazurka raptly and ravishingly, almost as a commentary on all that has gone before it.

Kissin first came to prominence in a concert of both Chopin concertos at age 12, conducted by Dmitri Kitaenko. At present, he plays the Second Concerto in the grand manner. His fingers are fascinating to watch, reminding me of tentacles. Kissin treats the first movement rhapsodically, rather freely in tempo. His soft passages are especially luminous. The program annotator for the DVD suggests that Kissin’s tactile connection to the keyboard is almost erotic. I prefer to say that Kissin’s performance possesses an animal quality. In the second movement, Kissin produces lush sonorities with almost heartbreaking phrasing. His playing in the string tremolo section seems tragic, evoking the pain of the lover. Following this outburst, the return of the initial theme sounds subdued. Kissin’s finale is a romp, with plenty of fire. Differences in dynamics are finely judged. The audience erupts on the orchestra’s final chord. For his first encore, Kissin gives us a stunning version of the last of the op. 10 etudes, with an almost supernatural left hand. It perhaps exemplifies the two pianists here that this encore is so virtuosic, while Demidenko’s is reflective. Kissin’s next encore is a somewhat Mendelssohnian treatment of a waltz, like fairy music. Kissin shows an endearingly light touch here.

The sound engineering on the DVD is very good, clear and full if a little monochromatic. Surround sound was unavailable to me. Occasionally the picture is out of sync with the music for a second or two. The director of the video does a satisfying job; nothing essential is overlooked in the camerawork. If you are looking for a CD of both concertos, I would recommend those by Annerose Schmidt, Janne Mertanen, and Janina Fialkowska. For an opportunity to experience two marvelous players in concert, this DVD probably will have great staying power. It is a true privilege to witness Demidenko and Kissin’s artistry up close.

FANFARE: Dave Saemann

Also available on Blu-ray

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In Anton Bruckner’s 7th Symphony, the listener encounters a music characterized by great spaciousness and profound solemnity, a music which speaks of grief and lamentation, but also of their transcendence. With its monumental architecture and intensity of sound, the symphony has moved listeners ever since its triumphal premiere in 1884.

The Guardian calls Daniel Barenboim’s London interpretation “Tremendous … Barenboim and the Staatskapelle seem to have this work in their systems, and the overall impression was of music unfolding organically at its own pace rather than of a work being self-consciously interpreted or led.

Anton Bruckner
SYMPHONY NO. 7
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E Major, WAB 107 (1885 version, ed. L. Nowak)

Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Recorded live at the Philharmonie Berlin, 25 June 2010

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 72 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7 (1885 version) • Daniel Barenboim, cond; Staatskapelle Berlin • ACCENTUS/UNITEL 102177 (Blu-ray: 72:20) Live: Berlin 6/25/2010

It’s a bit confusing for Accentus/Unitel to refer to this Bruckner Seventh, filmed at the Berlin Philharmonie on June 25, 2010, as a performance of the symphony’s “original version.” The booklet for this Blu-ray release reproduces the title page of the 1885 Gutmann edition, which incorporated changes urged upon the composer by Franz Schalk, Ferdinand Löwe, and Arthur Nikisch, who conducted the premiere in December of 1884. In my mind, the score utilized for the first performance would be the “original version” and the only extant autograph copy already includes after-the-fact changes by Bruckner and his always-eager amenders. So, as far as is known, no “original version” of Symphony No. 7 exists. Amusingly, the Wikipedia entry for Robert Haas describes Daniel Barenboim as a proponent of the Austrian musicologist’s Bruckner editions. The most obvious feature of the Haas edition for non-specialists (such as me) is that the infamous cymbal crash (with triangle and timpani) at the climax of the Adagio is not included. The percussion is there in all its glory for this performance, as it is in Barenboim’s 1992 Teldec recording with the Berlin Philharmonic. So much for the idea of Barenboim as a Haas partisan.

With textual issues out of the way, I can report that Barenboim’s 2010 performance is a very effective one. His interpretation is less “architectural” than many others; Barenboim is happy to highlight small details in a score he knows very, very well (he conducts from memory) without at all underplaying the work’s monumentality. Some may prefer that the dotted figures in the third movement be more tightly wound—Bruckner’s scherzos work best when a maniacally insistent subject contrasts with sunny, relaxed interludes—but that’s a minor complaint. This is a coherent reading that delivers the big picture and pulls the listener in, as it clearly did the audience present at the Philharmonie.

The sound is good, though the strings are a little dull at the outset of the Adagio, as if upper partials are missing. Passages with the four tenor tubas possess a thoroughly Wagnerian sonic density—the composer’s intention, of course. Video quality is superb, with the detail provided of string instruments often eye-popping. (Unfortunately, some knuckle hair is part of the package with this degree of visual resolution.) The editing style is a little jumpy for my taste; especially with a work such as this, I’d prefer more longer takes of the conductor building his performance. Still, this is a video performance of Bruckner’s E-Major Symphony well worth considering.

FANFARE: Andrew Quint

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is playable only on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Also available on Blu-ray

Recorded live at the Philharmonie Berlin, 22 June 2010

Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 58 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

Note: This Blu-ray Disc is playable only on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Recorded live at the Philharmonie Berlin, 21 June 2010

Picture format: 1080i Full HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 76 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

-------

BRUCKNER Symphony No. 5 • Daniel Barenboim, cond; Staatskapelle Berlin • Accentus 102175 (Blu-ray: 76:49) Live: Berlin 6/21/2010

Given the forces on stage here—over 100 players, with the wind and timpani parts reinforced—you might well expect to be crushed. But while there’s plenty of gleaming sonority as the 23 brass players ring out the final pages, Barenboim’s performance as a whole is less self-aggrandizing than you might expect. Indeed, while this is an installment of Bruckner: The Mature Symphonies, the series (as I’ve pointed out elsewhere) might equally well be branded “Barenboim: The Mature Conductor.” Having developed an enviable mastery through his long experience in this repertoire (his first Bruckner cycle, with Chicago, was begun more than 40 years ago), he no longer has anything to prove—and with unfailing poise, he coaxes out the music’s beauties without exaggeration and illuminates its spiritual depths (especially in his eloquent, if surprisingly quick, reading of the slow movement) without the kind of self-absorption that mars so many of Karajan’s late performances.

Will those looking for an extremely personal reading be disappointed? Perhaps. Barenboim—not as streamlined as Zander, as apocalyptic as Furtwängler, or as nimble as Kempe (whose performance is seriously underrated)—does not impose a strong interpretive profile on the music. Still, his performance, if generally temperate in mood, is anything but matter-of-fact. There’s plenty of impetus in the faster sections; there’s a fair dose of schmaltz where needed in the third movement; tempos, if never eccentric, are often quite elastic; and there are welcome jolts of humor, especially in the third movement and the quirky opening of the finale. Barenboim exhibits a superb sense of dynamics, too (quiet passages, especially well handled, offer a keen sense of anticipation)—and while the tone of the orchestra, especially in the finale, is wonderfully plush, it never muddies the counterpoint. Most important of all, there’s Barenboim’s sure sense of the symphony’s formal layout (the slow movement is especially well gauged). In tepid hands, this symphony can seem to last forever; but except in a few of the densest of the finale’s contrapuntal excursions (where, as in many performances, the rhythms seem to stall), we always know where we are and where we are headed.

The orchestra responds magnificently—the strings have a luxurious glow, and the solo winds interweave as well as on any performance I know. Kudos, in particular, to the ear-caressing first flute and first oboe—it would be worth acquiring this disc for their contributions alone. As on so many orchestral videos, I find the emphasis on close-ups and the constant motion of the cameras more than a bit distracting—but the sound is rich, detailed, and enveloping. Warmly recommended.

FANFARE: Peter J. Rabinowitz

Note: This Blu-ray disc is only playable on Blu-ray disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Anton Bruckner
THE MATURE SYMPHONIES
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, WAB 104, “Romantic” (1881 version, ed. R. Haas)

Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Recorded live at Philharmonie Berlin, 20 June 2010

Picture format: 1080i Full HD
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 69 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 25)

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

With nearly 450 years of tradition, the Staatskapelle Berlin is one of the oldest orchestras in the world.Daniel Barenboim has served as its music director since 1992, and in 2000 the orchestra appointed him Chief Conductor for Life. Having already performed important cycles such as Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann together, Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle turned their focus toward Anton Bruckner's last six Symphonies, performed in the Philharmonie Berlin in the course of only one week in June 2010. “This music is more serious and more significant than one had thought”, the Berliner Zeitung summarized in its review of Daniel Barenboim’s celebrated Bruckner cycle with the Staatskapelle Berlin. Bruckner’s unfinished Symphony No. 9 brought to an end, in a poignant manner, the work of one of the greatest symphonic composers of the Classic-Romantic era.Once more the essential elements of Bruckner’s symphonic style are present; the technical standard, the intensity of sound, and the enormous richness of expression are in this singular work brought to an unsurpassed level.

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 9

Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, WAB 109

Berlin Staatskapelle
Daniel Barenboim, conductor

Recorded live at the Berlin Philharmonie, 27 June 2010

Picture format: 1080i Full-HD
Sound format:PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 65 mins
No. of Discs: 1

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD