This release features five outstanding operas from Bregenz Festival’s amazing lake stage: Aida, Andrea Chenier, Die Zauberflote, Turandot, and Carmen. The reviews of these individual performances were gleaming. “Stage director Graham Vick and set designer Paul Brown conjure up an open-air spectacle of superlatives.” (Die Zeit about Aida) “A gigantic set with iconic qualities- a masterly achievement.” (Die Welt about Andrea Chenier) “David Pountney finds stunning answers to the everlasting questions surrounding The Magic Flute.” (Der Togesspiegel about Die Zauberflote) “A bit of Hollywood in Bregenz: Melodies for millions, impressively staged grand opera.” (ZDF heute journal about Turandot) “… Kasper Holten’s production of Carmen on Es Devlin’s extraordinary set was a knockout…” (The Telegraph) Elisabeth Sobotka, the artistic director of the Bregenz Festival, sums it up by saying “Art doesn’t belong to a clique in society. Art is a jewel, a rich resource that must be made accessible to a large audience. See, and hear, for yourself… and enjoy the richness of the artistic offerings on the incomparable lake stage.”

This release contains the international acclaimed Bruckner cycle of Christian Thielemann, a “magician of the Bruckner sound”(Kurier on Symphony No. 5) and the Staatskapelle Dresden, whose own Bruckner tradition dates back more than a century. Outstanding reviews emphasize the exceptionally high artistic quality of the concerts: “Once again Thielemann proved to be the unrestricted ruler on his ancestral territory, German Romantic repertoire” (Hamburger Abendblatt on Symphony No. 2). Christian Thielemann “displays the full musical maelstrom of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3” (Münchner Merkur). “Another Bruckner triumph for Dresden” (Sächsische Zeitung on Symphony No. 6). “… one would have to be hard-hearted not to be touched by this heartfelt music” (Der Tagesspiegel on Symphony No. 8).

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

Also available on standard DVD

Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden are continuing their internationally acclaimed Bruckner cycle with the Symphony No. 5. For Anton Bruckner, his Fifth Symphony was a glorious confrontation with the music of the past – from a personal, biographical angle, but also as a departure from the composition techniques he preferred up to this point. Not for nothing is this tremendous opus magnum regarded as Bruckner’s “contrapuntal masterpiece”. In this universally lauded performance, Christian Thielemann, already the leading Bruckner interpreter of our times, has once again proven himself to be a “magician of the Bruckner sound”. (Kurier)

Anton Bruckner
SYMPHONY NO. 5
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Dresden Staatskapelle
Christian Thielemann, conductor

Recorded live at the Semperoper, Saxon State Opera, Dresden, 2013

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

Also available on Blu-ray

Thielemann‘s brilliant interpretation of Bruckner´s Symphony No. 2 is performed wonderfully by the Staatskapelle Dresden, completing their critically acclaimed Bruckner cycle with a concert at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. “In the Elbphilharmonie Thielemann once again proved to be the unrestricted Ruler on his ancestral territory, German Romantic repertoire” (Hamburger Abendblatt) and critics praised how lucent and with how much musical intensity Thielemann conducted this symphony in the acoustics of this hall – an exceptional positive example for subsequent conductors and orchestras. Christian Thielemann has been Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden since the 2012/2013 season. As a UNITEL exclusive artist, Thielemann has a comprehensive catalogue of recordings.

The eccentric and reclusive conductor Carlos Kleiber has achieved cult status in music circles and has built a loyal fan base. I Am Lost to the World tries to uncover some of the mysteries surrounding the maestro, such as: what were the real reasons he cancelled so often? The film sheds light on his relationships with his family, traces the developments of his career and covers the "mythologizing" that began during the maestro's lifetime. It includes never-before-seen film footage and interviews with Ricardo Muti, Otto Schenk, Dr. Otto Staindl (friend and attending physician of Carlos Kleiber), members of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Director Georg Wübbolt
Running Time Total: 60 minutes
Picture Format: 16:9
Audio Format: PCM Stereo
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Japanese

Ballet Hispánico, a “strong ambassador of not just Latino culture but of dance itself” (Broadway World), brings its bold and eclectic brand of contemporary dance to the screen with two audience favorites: CARMEN.maquia, an electrifying modern take on Bizet’s passionate opera choreographed by Spaniard Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, and Cuban-born Pedro Ruiz’s Club Havana, a virtuosic re-imagining of a sizzling nightclub filled with the exhilarating rhythms and colors of Havana’s golden era.

In occasion of it's 200th season opening, Teatro Real presents a spectacular new production of Gounod's Faust, directed by �lex Oll� (La Fura dels Baus). Set in a futuristic laboratory, Goethe's timeless themes of knowledge, desire, and redemption are reimagined through the lens of artificial intelligence and human emotion. Star singers including Piotr Beczala, Marina Rebeka, and Luca Pisaroni lead the cast in this gripping drama. Under the baton of Dan Ettinger, the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Real deliver a thrilling performance that, as Bachtrack wrote, "takes it's cue from Goethe but doesn't shy away from theatrical imagination." // "Beczala's voice was brilliant, dark and even powerful with ringing high notes as he proved with his ringing high C in Salut demeure chaste et pure." (Operawire)

In occasion of it's 200th season opening, Teatro Real presents a spectacular new production of Gounod's Faust, directed by �lex Oll� (La Fura dels Baus). Set in a futuristic laboratory, Goethe's timeless themes of knowledge, desire, and redemption are reimagined through the lens of artificial intelligence and human emotion. Star singers including Piotr Beczala, Marina Rebeka, and Luca Pisaroni lead the cast in this gripping drama. Under the baton of Dan Ettinger, the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Real deliver a thrilling performance that, as Bachtrack wrote, "takes it's cue from Goethe but doesn't shy away from theatrical imagination." // "Beczala's voice was brilliant, dark and even powerful with ringing high notes as he proved with his ringing high C in Salut demeure chaste et pure." (Operawire)

This release gives listeners a chance to witness an iconic masterpiece of American dance. Alvin Ailey's Revalations has been described by The New york Times as "one of the great works of the human spirit." This stunning, soulful tour de foce draws on African-American spirituals, song-sermons, gospel songs and holy blues. The wide-ranging influences and irrepressible passion of Revalations are evident across the rest of this electrifying program, which features Wayne McGregor's sumptuous Chroma, set to a score by Joby Talbot with orchestrations of songs by The White Stripes, Ronald K. Brown's Grace, a powerful meeting of modern and West African dance with a soundtrack by Duke Ellington, Roy Davis and Fela Kuti and Robert Battle's humorous, high-flying Takadem.

In this story ballet, choreographer Edward Clug merges the distinct versions of Peer Gynt by Edward Grieg and Henrik Ibsen into a new ballet experience. "A brilliant narrator" (Kronenzeitung), Clug captures the fantastic adventures of the boastful peasant boy, who sets off to become emperor of the world, with the help of the bold stage and costume design by Marko Japelij and Leo Kula�. The results are "magical scenes, never seen like this in conventional ballets" (Kurier) with "an outstanding cast, down to the smallest roles" (Opernfreund). This performance was recorded live at the Wiener Staatsoper in December 2018.

David Garrett plays the greatest soundtracks from the world of movies and games, alongside numerous global pop hits such as Happy, Stayin’ Alive, Let it Go, Shallow, Bella Ciao, and Thriller, among others. The repertoire includes selections from the worlds of metal, pop, rock, musicals, jazz and classical; he switches effortlessly between these genres.

Included is a bonus documentary on the star violinist. Starting as a so-called Wunderkind of classical music, he is now one of the most successful violinists of his generation. His recipe for success is his crossover of rock, pop and classical music: 4.5 million albums sold, 25 gold and platinum awards and enthusiastic fans on tours worldwide. By looking into an otherwise hidden world, interviews of companions, friends and family, archive and private material of previously unreleased material from his childhood underpin the picture of the violin genius showing very private glimpses of his life.

Star violinist David Garrett celebrates his ten-year spectacular crossover program with thousands of fans in the extraordinary atmosphere of the Arena di Verona, Italy. Performing his Greatest Hits of brilliant interpretations of rock classics like “We Are The Champions” or “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and world-famous pop songs like “Viva La Vida” or “Hey Jude” and his arrangements of classical melodies like Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, David Garrett left a thrilled audience in the Arena. Praised for pioneering the modern crossover trend as well as his exceptionally virtuous playing, David Garrett is equally at home at performing the most intricate classical compositions with the world’s leading conductors and orchestras as well as the most crowd-pleasing stadium rock hits. He combines rock star charisma with the kind of virtuosity innate only to the best instrumentalists of our time. Admired by all of his fans around the world, David Garrett has sold millions of tickets so far and earned 25 gold and 17 platinum awards in places as diverse as Hong Kong, Germany, Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil, Singapore, and many others.

BERNSTEIN CONDUCTS DEBUSSY

Claude Debussy: Images, Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un faune, La Mer

Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Leonard Bernstein, conductor

Recorded live from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, 1989.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 86 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

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DEBUSSY Images pour orchestre. Prélude à l’près-midi d’un faune. La Mer • Leonard Bernstein, cond; Santa Cecila Natl Academy O • UNITEL 701608 (DVD: 86: 00)


Although Debussy did not figure largely in Bernstein’s repertoire, the conductor had an innate affinity for the composer’s music. We are therefore fortunate to have this concert, from scarcely a year before Bernstein’s death, preserving his interpretations of this repertoire in digital sound. Bernstein’s older Columbia recordings with the New York Philharmonic from 1960–63 are also still in print, although to duplicate this particular program one must acquire two different CDs (one from Sony, the other an ArkivMusic reissue). Those performances, however, are completely superseded by the present ones, both sonically and interpretively. In his later years Bernstein became decidedly self-indulgent, and his performances sometimes assumed bloated dimensions, as in the famous (or notorious) 1989 Christmas Day Berlin performance of the Beethoven Ninth. (I was blessed to attend that concert in person, being resident in East Berlin for my doctoral dissertation research at the time. As an interpretation it verged on the preposterous, but I still wouldn’t have missed it for all the world.) Here, however, he is in top form, eliciting performances with superb clarity of line, pellucid orchestral color and instrumental balance, and moderate tempi that are convincingly right at every point. Debussy is not the first thing I, as someone partial to Romantic German and Slavic orchestral repertoire, think to take off the shelf for personal listening pleasure, but Bernstein leaves me marveling at the sheer genius of these masterworks, providing a joy of rediscovery.


There are of course many performances of these works available on CD; most readers will already have their favorites, so I will not assay a broader discussion that in any case would exceed the bounds of this review. Regarding performances on DVD, this is the only complete performance of Images available. (For whatever reason, Bernstein altered the order of its three movements and placed Iberia in third position.) The Naxos issue with Alexander Rahbari and the Belgian Radio Symphony, which also has the Prélude and La Mer , omits Iberia in favor of the Nocturnes ; those are solid performances but not in the same class as these. The only other DVD to feature both the Prélude and La Mer is with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, reviewed negatively by Christopher Abbot in Fanfare 26:2 and positively by Colin Clarke in 32:3. I do not intend to enter the lists of the debates between champions and detractors of the German and American maestros; suffice it to say that in these works I prefer Bernstein’s clarity and sense of motion to Karajan’s lushness and perfumed languor. His DVD has more interesting camerawork to boot, with better lighting and more varied and better close-ups of the instrumentalists. The sound quality is excellent, the recordings having been made for commercial issue at the time. For those with more slender wallets, or who are uninterested in the visual aspects of an orchestral concert, these same performances were issued on CD by DG and are still in print as an ArkivMusic reissue. Strongly recommended.


FANFARE: James A. Altena

Barrie Kosky, one of the most exciting opera directors of our time, opened his newly staged Da Ponte cycle at the Wiener Staatsoper with a character-driven new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Kyle Ketelsen in the title role and Philippe Sly as Leporello "took centre stage (...) and dared to satirise the burden of tradition" (ORF). Hanna-Elisabeth Muller is a compelling Donna Anna, Patricia Nolz gives a remarkable role debut as Zerlina, and Peter Kellner shines as Masetto. Kate Lindsey presents a fascinating character study as Donna Elvira, and Stanislas de Barbeyrac excels as Don Ottavio. Philippe Jordan conducts the Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper, bringing "transparency, tangibility and poetry on the basis of historical accuracy" (Der Standard) - even in the subtly played recitatives on the fortepiano. "Kosky and Jordan met congenially in the direction of the singers." (ORF)

Barrie Kosky, one of the most exciting opera directors of our time, opened his newly staged Da Ponte cycle at the Wiener Staatsoper with a character-driven new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Kyle Ketelsen in the title role and Philippe Sly as Leporello "took centre stage (...) and dared to satirise the burden of tradition" (ORF). Hanna-Elisabeth Muller is a compelling Donna Anna, Patricia Nolz gives a remarkable role debut as Zerlina, and Peter Kellner shines as Masetto. Kate Lindsey presents a fascinating character study as Donna Elvira, and Stanislas de Barbeyrac excels as Don Ottavio. Philippe Jordan conducts the Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper, bringing "transparency, tangibility and poetry on the basis of historical accuracy" (Der Standard) - even in the subtly played recitatives on the fortepiano. "Kosky and Jordan met congenially in the direction of the singers." (ORF)

Dona Nobis Pacem – give us peace. This title is of great importance to me – even at the risk of seeming naïve; sentimental or even pretentious. In light of the constant and growing tensions in our world; this thought remains an important aspiration and inspires me to approach Johann Sebastian Bach's multifaceted composition with conviction. In my 50th season as artistic director; I consider this creation a great opportunity. John Neumeier; A Historic Document - The film version of “Dona Nobis Pacem” takes us close to the creative evolution of this ballet. Even though there were very high expectations; John Neumeier agreed for the first time in his career to have one of his ballets filmed during the week of the world premiere. Thus; the film became an impressive document of the outstanding quality of the Hamburg Ballet ensemble. It excels not only in terms of technical brilliance; but also expressive intensity and wholehearted dedication.

Shortlisted for the Gramophone Awards! Rusalka returns to Madrid “on an overwhelming level that will leave its mark”. (El Español) Mesmerizing soprano Asmik Grigorian, “already one of the most outstanding sopranos of her generation“ (Online Merker) stars with a “voice, at its zenith of maturity“ (El Pais) in the title role of Christoph Loy’s timeless and evocative staging of Dvorak’s tragic take on the Little Mermaid fable. Especially „the direction of dancers and extras in the second act is a virtuoso performance by Loy and his choreographer.“ (El Pais) “Musically, this Rusalka is of immense quality, no doubt due to the spectacular work of Ivor Bolton.“ (El Español)

This production ''offers all an Italian-opera-lover could possibly desire'' wrote the FAZ after the revival of this ''forgotten gem'' at the Bregenz Festival. The festival continued its rediscovery series with ''Amleto/Hamlet'', an opera by Verdi contemporaries Franco Faccio and Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. Premiered in 1865 in Genoa and restaged in 1871 at Milano's La Scala, ''Hamlet'' was only revived in 2014 concertante in the US before its ''triumphal rebirth'' at the Bregenz Festival, where the opera was also recorded for the first time ever. Faccio, who conducted the first performance of Verdi's Aida in Italy and the world premiere of Otello and Boito, Verdi's librettist of Otello and Falstaff, skillfully and effectively challenge the conventions of Italian opera, which they watned to revitalize by infusing it with the spirit of Shakespeare's drama. Anticipating the musical language of later Italian verismo composers, the opera combines lovely musical interludes with superb vocal writing. Heading a supreme cast, Pavel Cernoch as Amelto delivers superbly, ''using his colorful tenor skillfully to develop the transformation of the insecure youngling to the ice-cold avenger'' and ''granting the work large scale''. Under the baton of Paolo Carignani with the Vienna Symphoniker and Prague Philharmonic Choir ''it carried terrific punch''. Olivier Tambosi's ''excellent staging served it well, with a clear focus on the high points''. ''In the intermission and at the end there was vociferous enthusiasm of the audience for the later first encounter with this music''.

FALLA La vida breve • Lorin Maazel, cond; Cristina Gallardo-Domâs (Salud); Jorge de León (Paco); María Luisa Corbacho (Grandmother); Felipe Bou (Uncle Sarvaor); Sandra Ferrández (Flamenco Singer); Ode la Generalitat Valenciana • C MAJOR 710708 (DVD: 81:00) Live: Valencia Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia 4/17/2010

La vida breve is a gift to stage directors and design teams. Its deliberate ambiguities—where is the action taking place; is it all meant to be considered as occurring in reality; what do you do when so much of the music is orchestral only, even in sections that feature short vocal moments?—allow considerable leeway to interpretation, more so than in most operas. And stage directors typically enjoy having that kind of control over a production. In this 2010 production, everything is tied to the young Gypsy girl, Salud. The men working the forge and the girl selling baskets are never seen, but Salud hears them, walking around a nearly empty stage with a starkly towering, mottled red backdrop. It is in effect Salud’s head, and heart. It is only when the characters directly interact with her that we know we have moved back into something resembling a realistic frame.

Stage director and set designer Giancarlo del Monaco (and yes, in case you were wondering, it is Mario’s son) is consistently clever in integrating Salud everywhere in the opera. The interlude between acts is presented as a duet danced before Salud between two figures in wealthy wedding finery: Our heroine’s intuition, or fears, at work, as she believes Paco is being unfaithful. The chorus then enters while she watches, followed by Paco and his fiancée, all of it done slowly as in a dream; a fire blazes behind a life-sized cross, in front of which a woman stands, arms extended as though crucified. She moves away from the cross, turning into a singer who in folk tradition praises the soon-to-be married couple. All of this is ambiguous, and more is to follow. The singer has a gritty, guttural voice, unattractive but compelling: Perhaps to celebrate passion at its most dangerous and impersonal—or is her voice just being perceived this way by Salud, still viewing events as though in a vision?

With so much emphasis on Salud’s internal dialog, I suspect something more final than the written ending conclusion to La vida breve—willing herself to death as a supreme insult to her former lover who has publicly denied any affair—was felt necessary at the opera’s conclusion. In del Monaco’s staging she feigns severe hurt, and as Paco approaches, reaches out her hand to grasp his, forcing her concealed dagger into it. She then thrusts herself upon the weapon, and dies. This production foregoes props, aside from chairs. The costumes are period-effective without attracting undo attention, mainly underscoring the class and wealth differences that drive Paco away from Salud with white lace against black linen.

It would take a fine singer and actress to make this conception of La vida breve work, one who was expected to be on stage the entire time, moving and reacting when she wasn’t the center of attention. Cristina Gallardo-Domâs is fortunately up to the task. The Chilean soprano’s dark chest register and soaring, lyrical top encompass the vocal requirements, and she is a strong enough actor to remain expressively in character the rest of the time for this emotionally draining role. Jorge de León acts well, too, but his bright lyric tenor is tight with pressure, and he has a regular wobble when singing above piano. María Luisa Corbacho also shows a loosening of vibrato, but that’s not unexpected as the grandmother, while Felipe Bou brings firmness of tone to his small part. Lorin Maazel plays to the score’s color, rhythmic bite, and acute dissonances. His firm tempos and solid grasp of the drama are welcome.

The camerawork is first-rate, both varying distances, and holding shots for as long as they’re important. There are no DVD extras, unless you consider trailers for other operatic DVDs (including a very strange-looking Theodora) as useful content. Subtitles are in Spanish, English, French, and German, with PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 as the sound options. The video format is 16:9. The booklet contains good cut listings and some brief, useful history on the opera, but reproduces a short synopsis that doesn’t reflect the changes (such as the ending) in the current production. This would still be a viable recommendation had the production been less considered, and the performers less able. After all, where else are you going to turn? But as good as this is, I have no hesitation in recommending it heartily.

FANFARE: Barry Brenesal

Emmanual Pahud, principal flutist of the Berliner Philharmonic, honors the 300th birthday of Frederick the Great with a concert recorded in the historic Royal Theater of the Neues Palais Potsdam. Trevor Pinnock is one of the pioneers of the modern revival of early music performance and he appears as a guest conductor with many world-renowned symphony orchestras and works by Frederick the Great, C.P.E. Bach, F. Benda and J.J. Quantz. "A fascinating snap-shot of the mid-18th century Berlin court." - BBC Music Magazine.

Hector Sandoval, Norma Fantini, Scott Hendricks, Tania Kross, and Rosalind Plowright star in this production of the Giordano opera performed by the Vienna Symphony, Bregenz Festival Chorus, and Prague Philharmonic Choir conducted by Ulf Schirmer.

Also available on Blu-ray

Andrea Chénier, which premiered at La Scala in 1896, was last performed here 32 years ago by Riccardo Chailly. “By choosing to work with director Mario Martone, known for his films as well as his work in opera and theatre, Chailly has given overall coherence to his cinematic vision. This production is beautifully crafted and full of grim period detail. Riccardo Chailly conducted with vitality and drive“ (Financial Times) and in the main roles Yusif Eyvazov “proved to be technically very skilled“ and Anna Netrebko´s “beautifully timbred and perfectly tuned voice“ (theoperacritic.com) made “the acoustic experience of the Milanese Chénier high-class“. (BR Klassik)

Umberto Giordano’s opera Siberia with its libretto by Puccini’s successful librettist Luigi Illica (La bohème, Tosca) premiered in 1903 at La Scala as a replacement of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, which was not finished at the time. Madama Butterfly came out in Milan shortly after Siberia and flopped completely. Umberto Giordano, however, briefly became a public favorite.

Shortly after successful re-runs on important theatres, including Buenos Aires, New York and São Paulo, Siberia could not maintain its position in repertoire although Gabriel Fauré designated the second act as “one of the most remarkable and captivating that modern dramatic music can offer.“ This opera rarity performed at Bregenz Festival “is musical narrative theatre in perfection“ (Süddeutsche Zeitung) in which “Uryupin leads the agile Wiener Symphoniker through the score with a sense for delicately tinted colours. Ambur Braid sings the challenging part of Stephanas with bravour“ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

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

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.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM 2.0 (Historical material: Mono)
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, German, French, Korean
Running time: 60 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

R E V I E W:
GLENN GOULD: THE RUSSIAN JOURNEY • Glenn Gould (pn); various artists; Yosif Feyginberg (dir) • C MAJOR 714108 (DVD 56:00)

What could have easily been a dull and routine affair—after all, little film footage and few recordings exist of Gould’s historic May 1957 tour of the USSR—turns out to be a stunning and fascinating film that riveted my attention from first to last. Part of this documentary’s charm, and value, comes from the fact that Gould’s trip is explored in full detail, including his initial shock at not being able to sleep in a double bed and a postcard he sent back home to his dog! All of this, plus the warm reminiscences of the men and women who met him, acted as guides and/or translators, or heard him play, not to mention the actual voice of Gould himself recalling the ups and downs of his journey, adds layer upon layer to the story until you actually start to feel that you are watching a documentary made at the time, as if Glenn Gould himself had been able to participate in its making.

What caused such a furore? As this video tells us, part of it was the fact that Bach, so long a musical persona non grata in the Soviet Union for his strong association with religious works, came as a revelation to most of his Soviet audience. The hall for his first concert in Moscow—the complete Bach The Art of Fugue, a work most people had never even heard—was not even half full when he began. Partway through the first half, however, people ran out of the hall to pay phones and called friends, relatives, colleagues, and told them that they had to come down ASAP and hear this man. By the time the concert ended, the hall was packed, not only with breathless lay spectators but also with musicians, and the Russian audience went absolutely berserk. In ensuing performances, and there were several, Gould opened up his repertoire to include the other love of his life, composers of the Second Viennese School. He even gave a lecture-demonstration of their music before an audience of lay listeners, students, and even professors at the Conservatory. The entire Russian musical world seemed to want to absorb Glenn Gould like a sponge. As one of them put it, halfway through the concert-lecture on Berg, Webern, and Schoenberg, some of the students became restless; it was all a bit too new and foreign for them, and they begged him to play Bach. “We brought him back down,” the commentator said. But Gould responded positively to the rapt attention he received, and to a certain extent I think that it was upon his return to North American concert life that he became increasingly restless about performing in person because he felt that the majority of audience members were inattentive or only half-listening.

Yet his impact on the Russians, and theirs on them, went much further than just playing and talking to them. Sviatoslav Richter, at the time (as Gould relates) practically unknown in the West, went up to him after a concert, congratulated him, and invited him to one of his own. Mstislav Rostropovich then later recalls something that Richter had told him: “I can play Bach as well as Gould, but I won’t do it because it would take me too much time to rehearse it and too much concentration!”

Nowadays, there is a counter-reaction to Gould’s Bach. Once viewed as ultra-modern, crisp and unbelievably lucid in the revealing of the inner voices, it is now sometimes thought of as willfully distorted: the slow sections are played too fast, the fast sections even faster or too slow. Yet for others, Gould’s architectonic approach to the music remains miraculous simply because, for all its clarity and consistent tempo, it lives and breathes. It has feeling despite, not because, of its rapid pace. And that is what is often missing in the playing of modern-day pianists who approach Bach; yet all of them should be thankful to Gould for making it acceptable to play Bach on the piano and not only or always on the harpsichord or clavichord. The crisp, staccato sound of his particular Steinway model is forever etched in the minds of his listeners.

After Gould returned to Canada he was unable to go back to the USSR again; after 1964, the welcoming window of opportunity closed for a very long time. But he continued to talk about the Russians on his CBC television programs, to play their music (the video includes clips of him performing the Shostakovich Piano Quintet and a Prokofiev sonata), and to talk about the difficulties the Russian people faced under the Soviet system. He sent his recordings to them to be reproduced on the Melodiya label and continued to receive warm letters from those he had met and some he had not. It was, in short, a very cathartic experience for him, even if he did beg his doctor for “those little yellow pills” (valium) that calmed him down so he could take them on his trip.

This is a fascinating and extraordinarily well-put-together documentary of an exceptional trip, and time, in the life and career of an exceptional pianist. I highly recommend it.

FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley