Mozart’s Requiem may have been written under strange circumstances in the final months of the composer’s life, but the work itself is timeless. Mariss Jansons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus give a powerful and poignant performance of Mozart’s masterpiece with an impressive group of solo singers, in a concert recorded live in Munich in May 2017. Even its composer’s death could not halt the success of Mozart’s Requiem. Although left incomplete on his death in December 1791, having been anonymously commissioned, the Requiem was completed by a pupil of Mozart’s, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. By the time it was premiered in 1793, it was already a famous work, shrouded in mystery. But even more mysterious than the story behind it is the magisterial quality of Mozart’s writing, from the ferocity of the Dies irae to the otherworldly grace of the Lacrimosa. Genia Kühmeier, Elisabeth Kulman, Mark Padmore and Adam Plachetka are the world-class soloists joining Jansons and his orchestra and chorus. Padmore was Artist in Residence with the orchestra for the 2016/17 season and his rapport with the orchestra is evident. His ringing, distinctive tenor voice is well matched, too, to Jansons’s eloquent and subtle interpretation. “For him it is not about rhetoric, but more about transcendence,” wrote Süddeutsche Zeitung of Jansons’s conducting – suggesting a transcendent faith in humanity, even in the face of death.

Also available on Blu-ray

Mozart wrote La finta giardiniera in 1775 when he was 18 years old. It was his first staged buffo opera and centres on the lovers at the heart of the action, Sandrina – the pretend garden-girl of the title – and Belfiore. With few ensembles, Mozart channels his most intense and expressive music into arias which demonstrate a masterful ability to convey the full range of tenderness and passion. Originally staged at Glyndebourne in 2014 by Frederic Wake-Walker, this 2018 revival from La Scala is performed on period instruments with a strong cast and expertly conducted with exuberance and charm by Diego Fasolis.

The Magnificat is the Virgin Mary's song of praise to God after one of the Bible's greatest wonders: the angel Gabriel visiting her with the message that she is to be the mother of God's son. + In his setting composer Kim Andr� Arnesen expresses the feelings Mary must have felt: wonder, devotion, gratitude, joy, humility, hope and compassion. + God's selection of an unknown woman living in poverty to be the mother of His son is a bottom-up view of the world if ever there was one - and Arnesen sees the Magnificat as offering support and hope for all people struggling against adversity or in need of strength. + Musica Celestis portrays the ceaseless praising of God by angels in heaven. + Aaron Jay Kernis builds his work around a fairly simple melody that he remolds in a series of variations. + The intensely beautiful and mostly barren Hardangervidda mountain plateau inspired Ola Gjeilo to write Tundra, while his Song of the Universal expresses unabashed optimism, exuberance and poet Walt Whitman's unwavering confidence in our deeper humanity - all through the prism of a big, warm, beating heart.

Saint François d'Assise is unique among operas. Decidedly anti-dramatic (there is little or no action), it fulfills Messiaen's aim to present the journey of St. Francis' soul toward grace. St Francis advises another monk, Brother Leon; he meets a leper, kisses and cures him; he encounters an angel; he preaches to the birds; he prays for and receives the Stigmata; he dies. The tempo, save for a few moments, remains stubbornly moderate; if you do not give in to this fact and wish for something else, you're lost.

The orchestral palette, however, takes the breath away, with close to 120 players, consisting of strings galore, huge wind and brass sections, and percussion (including woodblocks, drums, triangles, bells, xylophones, vibraphones, and the weird swooping sound of the electronic ondes martenot that always surprises). These sounds evoke birds, forest, ecstasy, the agony of the stigmata. Textures are always rich and fascinating and occasionally puzzling; by contrast, each word of the sung text is crystal clear.

For all its noise and strangeness, this is an opera that can make the listener feel that he's eavesdropping on someone's personal religious crisis, and I bet that's just what the composer wanted. Be wary of approaching it and be warned that given its introspective nature it sometimes can leave the listener very much alone. As a theatrical experience it does not engage: it's too slow and too internal. You may love it, you will admire it, but you won't listen to it a great deal.

I doubt that this Netherlands Opera production, directed by Pierre Audi, will be bettered. The orchestra is on stage, behind a pile of large, iron crosses; there's little to get in the way of the music's pageantry. It's almost a naïve approach and it works. Children sit around as Francis preaches to the birds, quietly. There's little lurching; movements are slow and natural. The moments of stasis seem correctly frozen in time and space. Fussing any further could ruin the peculiar balance; Audi knows when to back off, avoiding too much theatricality even in the grand moments. Jean Kalman's sets and lighting could not be more effective, the jagged crosses at once symbols of torture and blessedness, and TV director Misjel Vermeiren brings us very close to the Saint.

And his cast is superb. In the stunning audio-only recording under Kent Nagano (on DG--type Q618 in Search Reviews), the title role is sung with great austerity and beauty by José van Dam (he also sang it earlier for Seiji Ozawa); on this DVD, Rod Gilfry actually outperforms him. Playing a man who embraces nature, birds, and God with great passion translates subtly into physicality in this case. Gilfry is a good-looking guy with an innate sensuality: this humanness makes the piety tangible. He sings exquisitely and moves with great reserve and dignity. St Francis is on stage for most of the four-plus hours and Gilfry's appeal and concentration never flag.

The leper, as portrayed by Hubert Delamboye in an absurd black and yellow rubbery costume (better, I guess, than scabs and bumps and missing digits), is a tortured soul brought to peace by Francis; Hank Neven sings the uncertain Brother Leon with modesty. Audi presents the Angel simply--no fantastic flying around--and Camilla Tilling sings the role with utter simplicity and an aural peacefulness. Conductor Ingo Metzmacher knows that the story is in the instruments, and his superb orchestra can't be praised highly enough. The chorus also is spectacular.

Sound (5.0 DTS Surround/PCM Stereo) and picture (16:9) are ideal. Bonuses include synopsis and cast gallery, "The Children", "The Message", and "A Chamber Piece...Really", and are variably entertaining and important. Subtitles are in all major European languages and Dutch. This work never will be a repertory staple; it's an event. Messiaen fans will know that this DVD is more a necessity than a luxury; others will find plenty to fascinate them if they give it the requisite time, space, and concentration.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Also available on Blu-ray

Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia is a dark and scandalous tale of murder and excess. Initially criticised for its audacious nature, the opera has since become appreciated as one of the great masterpieces of Italian bel canto repertoire with glorious arias and stirring choruses. Created using Roger Parker’s new critical edition and with acclaimed soprano Carmela Remigio in the title role, Andrea Bernard’s spectacular Donizetti Festival production is ‘gripping and intense at every moment… this production ranks among the best all year’ (operawire.com).

REVIEW:

Andrea Bernard creates a dark and violent modern world which is highly convincing for this disturbing work. Splendidly played and sung throughout it captures the vigour of Hugo’s play which underpins the narrative as well as he archly romantic musical lines Donizetti spins for our delight.

– Lark Reviews

After the opera omnia for piano (tc.901380) and the concert and chamber production (tc.901390), the record production dedicated to Franco Margola continues with this cd including works for cello. A particularly interesting figure in the panorama of the musical history of the twentieth century, Margola is a direct descendant of that neoclassical movement to which the "generation of the Eighties" belonged, in which he was able to express his talent more fully and to which he remained faithful even after a period of dodecaphonic experimentations. The protagonists of this recording are Jacopo Francini on solo cello, accompanied by Alessandro Deljavan on piano and by the Orchestra of the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, directed by Paolo Longo, with the participation of Giovanni Sollima in the duets for two cellos. At the end of the cd, the famous adagio with variations by Ottorino Respighi, one of the most loved and performed pages of the cello repertoire, thanks to its great lyrical inspiration.

Also available on Blu-ray

This release is the world premiere recording of Brett Dean’s new opera based on Shakespeare’s best-known tragedy: To be, or not to be. This is Hamlet’s dilemma, and the essence of Shakespeare’s most famous and arguably greatest work, given new life in operatic form in this original Glyndebourne commission. Thoughts of murder and revenge drive Hamlet when he learns that it was his uncle Claudius who killed his father, the King of Denmark, then seized his father’s crown and wife. But Hamlet’s vengeance vies with the question: is suicide a morally valid deed in an unbearably painful world? Dean’s colorful, energetic, witty and richly lyrical music expertly captures the modernity of Shakespeare’s timeless tale, while also exploiting the traditional operatic elements of arias, ensembles and choruses. Matthew Jocelyn’s inspired libretto is pure Shakespeare, adhering to the Bard’s narrative thread but abridging, reconfiguring and interweaving it into motifs that highlight the main dramatic themes: death, madness, the impossibility of certainty and the complexities of action. ‘World Premiere of the Year’, 2018 International Opera Awards, London ‘…one of the unmissable operatic events of the year.’ (The Sunday Times 4 Stars) ‘…a richly imaginative composer at the top of his game.’ (The Times 4 Stars) ‘Dean’s music is many-layered, full of long, clear vocal lines … new opera doesn’t often get to sound this good … Hannigan’s spectacular high-soprano unhinging is the more shocking following her poise and inwardness’ (The Guardian 4 Stars) Clayton triumphs with ‘unimpeachable vocal and acting credentials’ (The Independent 4 Stars)

JACQUELINE DU PRÉ
A Celebration of Her Unique and Enduring Gift

Includes two Christopher Nupen films – "Who was Jacqueline du Pré?" and "Remembering Jacqueline du Pré."

Special Features:
* A never seen before interview between Christopher Nupen and Jacqueline du Pré, shot on 13 December 1980.
* A 12 minute montage of images of du Pré and Barenboim from the Allegro Films archives.

Picture Format: NTSC 16:9 and 4:3
Sound Format: Dolby Digital Stereo / Mono
Subtitles: German, Spanish, Finnish, French, Italian
Running Time: 205 mins
Region Code: 0 (All Regions)
No. of DVDs: 1

R E V I E W:

This DVD is essential for all wanting to rekindle the joy of the familiar, while encountering a new and intimate portrait of this great and beloved artist.

In 2004 Jacqueline du Pré fans finally saw the DVD release of Christopher Nupen’s iconic film, Jacqueline du Pré and the Elgar Concerto. A year later, he released The Greatest Love and the Greatest Sorrow, a fascinating and personal film about Schubert, which he coupled with the other acclaimed du Pré film, The Trout. Although these films were finally available on DVD, we du Pré admirers, were acutely aware that Christopher Nupen had made two more recent films about Jackie that were not available on general release. These were Remembering Jacqueline du Pré, made in 1994, and Who Was Jacqueline du Pré, made in 1995.

Now, at last this new DVD, Jacqueline du Pré: A Celebration of Her Unique and Enduring Gift, brings together those two later films and also includes some never-before-released material. These rarities have been eagerly awaited, especially one of them, which has only so far been seen on European television. This film, Who Was Jacqueline du Pré, was made in 1995 because, in the words of Mr. Nupen, "if ever there was an artist who did not deserve the total rubbish with which some of the legends have invested her name, it was Jacqueline du Pré".

The film brings together the group of friends we first met years ago playing "The Trout". Back then they were young and full of future, intoxicated with the joy of making music together. Here we see them, years later, luminaries of the international music scene describing the abyss in the world of music — and their personal lives — left behind by Jackie’s absence. This is Jackie as remembered — and missed — by those who knew her intimately. Daniel Barenboim says he had "never met such a musical conversationalist", to which Zubin Mehta adds that, musically, "she gave and took without ever thinking about it". Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau describes her as being completely direct, never hiding "behind a technical perfection … or an impressive mode of expression …"

Why is it important to remember her as a person as well as a musician? Jacqueline du Pré was a phenomenon, a person so full of the joy of life that she inspired everyone about her. If classical music was, mistakenly, seen as something stuffy and old-fashioned, Jackie, with her youth and enthusiasm changed that. Thousands of people must have come to classical music after seeing her play because she was clearly so vivacious. What she gave was so inspiring and unique that it transcends music. This film is about what Jackie gave to those she knew, and to the rest of us. She showed me that it was possible to make every note of music come from your heart, fresh and unique, woven into poetry that seems to have just been born. Since I first launched the Jacqueline du Pré website in 1995, I have heard from hundreds of people from all over the world, telling how she inspired them musically as well as in life. Interest in Jackie, far from diminishing, seems to grow with time.

Remembering Jacqueline du Pré, released in 1994 and quickly out-of-print, was made from previously-seen footage to celebrate what would have been Jackie's 50th birthday on 26 January 1995. We see new facets of the genius first encountered in the early films. We see her more candidly in snippets of duets with her "cello daddy", William Pleeth, or plucking out pop music on the cello and plunking out Kuhlau at the piano. These films were made long before Jackie became world-famous, so the style is completely natural and unforced, rather like an unusually sophisticated home movie, but that's why they are so precious. Jackie is completely natural and at ease. Yet much of that vivacity would never disappear. We see Jackie again later, slightly more mature but just as uninhibited and vital. She’s glamorously dressed in the height of 70s fashion, but she moves like a wild creature, not fully at home in the costume of celebrity. She doesn't even touch a bicycle leant against the curb, but it falls over on its own as she passes – as if even inanimate objects were affected by her presence!

Christopher Nupen, as always, adds compelling bonuses: A complete unreleased first movement of the Brahms Sonata in E minor with Barenboim, with an elegant photo-montage, plus the entire unedited interview with Jackie from 1989, (one almost wants to avert one’s eyes, at times, from the transparency of her struggle). It is powerfully moving, because her illness is evident, but even so, her eyes shine — she's determined to communicate. Nupen left it completely unedited on purpose because he wanted to show how direct and spontaneous Jackie was. Every moment of this footage is precious, because we're seeing the real, untouched Jackie for the last time.

People have asked what all this has to do with her music, why we need to know anything about her that we can't get from recordings. For Jackie, music was about life: playing the cello was the way she expressed what life meant to her. And through the eyes of those she loved and love her still, we see how this life touched and affected so deeply. This is why she was so passionate about being filmed, about showing music as a way of living and of being. She considered it so important that she was willing — even proud — to be filmed, even after playing the cello was in the past for her, music was still her native language.

This DVD is essential for all wanting to rekindle the joy of the familiar, while encountering a new and intimate portrait of this great and beloved artist.

-- Miguel Muelle, MusicWeb International

MEYERBEER Robert le Diable & • Daniel Oren, cond; Marina Poplavskaya (Alice); Patrizia Ciofi (Isabelle); Bryan Hymel (Robert); John Relyea (Bertram); Jean-François Borras (Raimbaut); Nicolas Courjal (Alberti); Royal Opera Ch & O • OPUS ARTE 7121 (Blu-ray: 211:00+11:00) Live: Covent Garden 12/15/2012

& The Legacy of Robert le Diable

So, it seems I am playing the mop-up role again. James Altena has reviewed the DVD version of this Covent Garden video in the previous issue of Fanfare. I have here the Blu-ray version. Altena gives this production of Robert le Diable a favorable review, with which I generally agree, but we have some differences, which I will get to in a few moments. First, let me say that, as usual, the Opus Arte Blu-ray disc provides finely detailed video resolution and in this case, satisfying state of the art sound in both PCM stereo and HD surround formats. We are undergoing another major change in media formats with video and you would be wise to hop on board sooner rather than later.

Robert le Diable was one of the most popular operas of the 19th century, not only in France, but throughout the world. If we take a bit less enthusiastic a view today, it still should be with the appreciation that this is a fine operatic work which fully deserves a place in the standard repertoire. Here, as Altena says, we have probably the best recording of it to date, whether on audio or video. It does not come without flaws, however. This production has been criticized, especially in the British press, for its nontraditional, even cartoonish, sets: multicolored plastic horses for the knights, a cut-out cardboard castle for the princess Isabelle, a bar with red-checked tablecloths, and a lighted framework suggesting a simple frame church. In the final scene Robert is tempted to enter the dragon’s mouth to hell by dear old dad, while his doting step-sister Alice sits amongst fleecy clouds trying to entice him to the path of righteousness. Like Altena, I find all of this rather innocuous, even mildly entertaining. The story being told still comes through loud and clear with all its dramatic integrity maintained. The dance of the licentious nuns however, reportedly a major highlight in Paris, is a bit of a disappointment here. With their diaphanous white costumes we can’t even tell they are nuns, and they are made to look and act like escapees from Night of the Living Dead.

Considering all of the changes in cast for this production at the Royal Opera House in London, the singers that finally do appear are quite good. Bryan Hymel, as Robert, smudges a coloratura run or two, which original choice Juan Diego Flórez would have sung more cleanly, but Hymel sings very well here, and his dramatic ability is well beyond anything we could expect from Flórez. Patrizia Ciofi, a last-minute replacement, is a fine singer, and takes the vocal honors in this cast. Her coloratura is performed impeccably, and I do not hear a hint of the acidity in her top range reported by Altena. Ciofi is a major operatic star, lovely and well-cast here. It is baffling to me that she continues to be snubbed by the Metropolitan Opera. Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya also always sings very well, as I have noted before, but lacks charisma on stage. Here, cast as the loving step-sister Alice, the epitome of good, I found myself rooting for Robert to step into the dragon’s mouth. Maybe it’s just me. Robert, like Hamlet, never really decides anything; the clock runs out, like at a football game. I guess we can all be relieved there are no last-minute turnovers. I was disappointed in bass John Relyea. Not only is he not the successor to Samuel Ramey in these roles, he lacks the vibrant low register to really carry this work as it should be sung. Twenty years ago Ramey would have eaten this role alive; sadly, we have no one comparable today.

I am also a bit perplexed by Altena’s favorable advocacy of the booklet notes. If the booklet writer is discussing literary values or grand themes pertaining to all the Meyerbeer operas, he is most probably addressing the work of librettist Eugene Scribe rather than composer Meyerbeer himself. I find all this intellectual analysis a bit pretentious and overblown; Scribe, like all librettists, was just looking for good stories, he was not contemplating writing Paradise Lost. This one is a good story, despite our perhaps more jaded 21st-century perspective, with quite good music to match. Recommended.

FANFARE: Bill White

Also available on Blu-ray

Stefano Landi was an influential early opera composer, and La morte d’Orfeo is regarded as a milestone in the development of the genre. The narrative starts where Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo ends, taking us through the remaining adventures of Orpheus in the underworld. Beaten to death and torn apart by the fearsome maenads, Orpheus survives as a wandering soul and is finally reincarnated as a star in the sky. Landi succeeded in turning Greek tragedy into timeless music-drama, the starting point of all opera, and Seen and Heard International declared that it had ‘never before encountered such technical perfection’ in Pierre Audi’s Amsterdam production.

Also available on Blu-ray

Choreographer Mark Morris garnered international fame for "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato", considered a landmark achievement, and set to Handel's Baroque masterpiece, in which a colorful array of dancers embody the ecstasy of art that transforms. "L'Allegro" was Mark Morris's premiere work as Director of Dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium in 1988, and in the intervening years, has been performed to critical and audience acclaim all over the world. Winner of numerous awards including a Laurence Olivier Award, "L'Allegro" uses Milton's text and features sets inspired by William Blake's later watercolors. Founded in NYC in 1980, the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) is considered one of the preeminent modern dance companies, its members praised repeatedly for their technique and musicality. Live music and community engagement are vital components of the Dance Group, which has toured with its own musicians, the MMDG Music Ensemble, since 1996. Through Access/MMDG programming, the Dance Group provides educational opportunities in dance and music to people of all ages and abilities while on tour internationally and at home at the Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn, NY. The performance was filmed July 2014 at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Spain.

Also available on standard DVD

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

A film by Yosif Feyginberg

The date is May 2nd, 1957. Stalin died only four years before and perestroika is still a long way off. However, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, who is just 24, arrives in Moscow for an exceptional tour: he is the first North American musician to play behind the iron curtain. This is the story that Glenn Gould in Russia tells by revealing documents from the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that had remained classified for years. Witness accounts from musicians such as Ashkenazy and Rostropovitch, parts of the original recordings of Gould’s concerts in Moscow and Leningrad, as well as a recording that had never been released before of his lecture-recital in Leningrad make this an invaluable documentary revealing an aspect of Glenn Gould’s artistry that few people are aware of.

DETAILS:

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM 2.0 (Historical material: Mono)
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, German, French, Korean
Running time: 60 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)

Also available on Blu-ray

Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Gomes was among the many musicians who travelled to Italy to master the language and the rules of operatic works. He studied in Milan and succeeded in having a few operas staged at Italian venues, before returning to Brazil where he was hailed as the most famous living national composer. Gomes felt compelled to commit his work to the country’s anti-slave cause, which was still legal practice then. Lo schiavo was therefore conceived as a politically engaged work. However, the issue was rather volatile and the composer had to change the contemporary time setting to a more distant one. In Brazil the opera was a triumph, but elsewhere it failed to gain popularity and soon fell into oblivion. This recording of the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari’s production documents the opera’s first performance in modern times and reveals Gomes’ flamboyant richness of melodic creativity, his sound grasp of construction, and a technical mastery of the theatrical mechanisms that are always of the highest level. “The most popular title of the entire Brazilian repertoire. The most represented and, perhaps, the most loved one.” (John Neschling, conductor)

Donizetti’s Don Pasquale represents the high point of the Italian buffa tradition, a sparkling comedy using characters from commedia dell’arte in ways that are entertaining, witty and playful. It was the work selected by the Vienna State Opera for its 1977 tour through Austria. Starring famous singers like the bass Oskar Czerwenka, the great lyric tenor Luigi Alva and, on the cusp of international fame, Edita Gruberova (soon to become the ‘queen of bel canto’) – this filmed performance, in colour and sung in German, showcases an outstanding ensemble at the height of its powers.

Ian Hart, Tim Pigott-Smith, Claire Skinner, Jack Davenport, Frank Finlay, Fenella Woolgar, Lucy Akhurst, Leo Bill, Peter Hanson, Robert Glenister, Anton Lesser. Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique / Sir John Eliot Gardiner

By the time the first public performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No.3 (Eroica) took place in Vienna in 1805, a privileged few had already heard the work at a private play-through at the Lobkowitz Palace in June 1804.
Nick Dear’s award-winning period drama, starring Ian Hart as Beethoven, brings to life the momentous day that prompted Haydn to remark ‘everything is different from today’. Filmed in 2003.

Running time: 129 mins
Region Code: All regions
Picture format: 16:9 Anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM Stereo/DTS
Surround Menu language: EN
Subtitle languages: EN/FR/DE/ES/IT

R E V I E W S:

"You could not hope for a stronger cast." -- The Times

"A clever and beautifully made dramatisation." -- Sunday Times

"This was thrilling stuff, as exciting visually as it was aurally." -- Sunday Telegraph

"Ian Hart is brilliant as Beethoven, a volatile, magnetic figure of genius and uncouth charm…not to be missed." -- Daily Mail

Eroica is a semi-authentic dramatized account of the circumstances under which Beethoven’s Third Symphony was unleashed upon an Austrian aristocracy ill prepared to comprehend it, worried over the politics of the French Revolution, and yet somehow aware that it spoke of a world to come that would no longer be theirs. In this effort, the production is a smashing success....

The backdrop is a first rehearsal of the “Eroica” at the Lobkowitz palace. In a large drawing room, the musicians and illustrious guests assemble. The musicians are none other than the members of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, gussied up in full 19th-century Austrian costume. It must have been a real challenge to play in those ruffled cuffs, vests, and heavily adorned jackets, but they manage quite well. For the sake of authenticity, I presume, the female members of the ensemble have been sent packing....

The real art of this film lies in its silent acting. For long stretches, there is no dialogue at all. As the music unfolds, the actors in turn are shot up close, reacting to what they are hearing through intense facial expressions. Some are deeply moving, even disturbing, as in the Funeral March movement, where the camera focuses its lens on Count Dietrichstein. Here is the macho military man who has only words of criticism and disdain for Beethoven’s new symphony (which he maintains cannot even be called a “symphony”), fighting mightily to hold back his tears as the music recalls for him fellow soldiers fallen in battle....

I have complained in the past that in many instances DVDs of concert events have not yet figured out what to do with the visual dimension of the medium. This production offers a novel approach, and it is one that I really like. Part concert (Beethoven’s score is given in full) and part movie, it doesn’t really provide a lot of insight into why the “Eroica” is such a revolutionary work, but it does provide a magnificent snapshot of the cultural milieu into which the symphony was born, and the profoundly sublime to the profoundly ridiculous feelings it must have aroused in its first listeners.

Separate tracks in surround sound are included if you wish simply to listen to the symphony without watching the video, although even these tracks display a running score (ostensibly Beethoven’s original manuscript) interleaved with shots of the orchestra playing. I’m not going to rate the performance itself, because that is not the reason for buying this DVD. Gardiner and these same forces already recorded the “Eroica” on regular CD. The DVD is not the same performance.

This Prix d’Italia award-winning film from the BBC is urgently recommended.

-- Jerry Dubins, FANFARE