Strauss Metamorphosen, Strauss Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme & Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major.

Strauss & Ravel Concert. Vladimir Jurowski conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in 2009 in Richard Strauss Metamorphosen and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Hélène Grimaud joins as soloist in the Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major. TV direction by Louise Narboni. Released 2010, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade B 

This disc has three 20th-century masterpieces for chamber orchestral that avoid the dissonance and harshness that is controversial in much modern music. First comes the Strauss Metamorphosen for 23 strings, which consists of 26 minutes of lamentations over the destruction of German honour and culture by the rise and fall of National Socialism. Next up is the jazz-influenced Piano Concerto in G Major by Ravel (the one for two hands).  The happiest piece is the last---the Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme from Strauss. (Grimaud does not play the important piano part in Gentilhomme.)  Gentilhomme  is a bit out of character for Strauss because it is conservative and jolly. But there is no lack of brilliant orchestration with frightful difficulties for the exposed soloists in the small Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

This video suffers from regretable softness and is just barely acceptable for an HDVD. This may be related to the lights (or camera settings), which put the audience and the stage outside the proscenium arch in almost total darkness while the stage is brightly lit. This makes for drama in the video. But the colors are out of kilter. Many of the faces of the musicians simultaneously seem strangely ruddy, bleached, gray, or shiny. On the other hand, the video benefits from excellent variety of shots with  interesting closeups. So I  would give the video the grade of "C-." The sound, on the other hand,  is close, crisp, and engaging. This is another example of how our HDVDs are contantly surprising us with their excellent sound quality even if the video is lacking.

I liked the Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major performance by Helen Grimaud. I compared it to the Martha Argerich performance of the same work on the 2009 Nobel Prize Concert HDVD. It's odd that Argerich seems to be the better pianist, but Grimaud  plays the piano better. On the 2009 Nobel Prize Concert disc, I see Argerich show up and earn her fee. When I watch Grimaud, I feel like an orchestra member getting excited because the soloist is making something happen! I was especially moved by Grimaud's second movement (Adagio assai)  in the Ravel. Unlike Argerich, who plays this softly, Grimaud sings out with her agagio and wrings from the piano and the orchestra everiy drop of emotion that Ravel put into the score. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe also did an excellent job of expressing both the somber emotions of the Strauss Metamorphosen and the capricious joy of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme.

Considering the capacity of a Blu-ray disk, I could not call 81 minute-long disc a generous program. But all three works are substantial and not not likely to be repeated too often in HDVD. So I think the good sound and performances here offset the weak video to yield a "B" grade for this title. Also, this would be a better choice for most music lovers than the 2009 Nobel Prize Concert disc with Argerich playing the Ravel concerto because the Argerich performance is lackluster and the rest of the program is basically of pops quality.

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