L'incoronazione di Poppea

Claudio Monteverdi L'incoronazione di Poppea opera to a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello. Directed by Ole Anders Tandberg. Stars Birgitte Christensen, Jacek Laszczkowski, Tim Mead, Martia Solberg, and Patricia Bardon. Alessandro de Marchi conducts the Orchestra of the Norwegian Opera House. TV direction by Anja Stabell and Stein-Roger Bull. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!

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Shostakovich Suite No. 2 for Jazz Orchestra and Respighi's Pines of Rome

Shostakovich Suite No. 2 for Jazz Orchestra and Respighi's Pines of Rome. Ricardo Chailly conducts the Berlin Philharmonic for the Fellini, Jazz & Co. Festival, July 2011. Also includes short pieces Nino Rota and Paul Linke. Directed for TV by Henning Kasten. Released  2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound.  Grade: Help!

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Mahler Symphony No. 2

Mahler Symphony No. 2. Pierre Boulez conducts the Berlin Staatskapelle and the Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin in 2005. Soloists are Diana Damrau (soprano) and Petra Lang (mezzo-soprano). Released 2011, this disc has 5.1 dts Master Audio sound. Grade: B+

This was recorded in Berlin at the home of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Pierre Boulez was guest conductor for this performance honoring his 80th birthday. If it turns out that God is a woman, then She will probably look like Petra Lang singing here. This is the Blu-ray version of the same title that came out on HD DVD back in the days when the "format war" was still going on. For a lot more information, try our review of Mahler Symphony No. 2, which covers both the Blu-ray and HD DVD versions.

At this point, however, we will explain why the grade on this title has been reduced from A (for the HD DVD) version to B+ for the Blu-ray. Although the keep case cover and the vendor's literature say that the Blu-ray title has subtitles, it does not. Somehow the subtitles got lost in the disc authorship process for the Blu-ray. So we downgrade this for now and hope that EuroArts will do a recall, etc. See the link to the review above for more information and our partial patch for this defect in the disc.

Mahler Symphony No. 2 (HD DVD)

Mahler Symphony No. 2. Pierre Boulez conducts the Berlin Staatskapelle and the Chor der Deutschen Staatsoper Berlin in 2005. Soloists are Diana Damrau (soprano) and Petra Lang (mezzo-soprano). Released 2008, this is an HD DVD disc with 5.1 Dolby TrueHD sound.    Grade: A

This was recorded in Berlin at the home of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Pierre Boulez was guest conductor for this performance honoring his 80th birthday. If it turns out that God is a woman, then She will probably look like Petra Lang singing here. This came out back in the days when the "format war" was still going on, and this was the first concert disc ever published in HDVD form for home theaters. It took EuroArts about three years to get around to republishing this in Blu-ray late in 2011. (During the waiting time, we kept our HD DVD player for no other reason than to be able to watch this  title.) For a lot more information, try our review of Mahler Symphony No. 2, which covers both the Blu-ray and HD DVD versions.

Takemitsu From me flows what you call time and Shostakovitch Symphony No. 5

Takemitsu From me flows what you call time and Shostakovitch Symphony No. 5. Yutaka Sado conducts his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2011 at the Berlin Philharmonie.  The Takemitsu piece features the entire percussion section of the Philharmoniker:  Raphael Haeger, Simon Rössler, Franz Schindlbeck, and Jan Schlichte with Wieland Welzel (one of the timpani players). Directed by Michael Beyer; produced by Grete Liffers. Released in 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B for Takemitsu  Grade: A+ for Shostakovich

This was a special performance to raise relief funds for the people of Japan following the earthquakes and tsunami of March 2011. The event took place on May 20, 2011. The title was released less than 6 months later on November 15, and I got it from my vendor on November 25, 2011. That a tight supply chain!

Not many Westerners are familiar with the music of Tōru Takemitsu. But readers of this website know about his My Way of Life opera or staged concert spectacular, which was presented in Berlin by the Staatskapelle in 2004. Also, if you have seen many Japanese motions pictures, you may know more about Takemitsu than you realize because Tōru was Japan's leading composer of film scores and wrote the music for many of the most famous Japanese movies.

From me flows what you call time was scored for a large variety of Eastern percussion instruments and symphony orchestra. Some of the instruments look pretty exotic; others look exactly like the wind chimes hanging from the eave of my back porch. The percussionists of the orchestra wear special colorful coats and there are other props that make this performance unique. The music is fasinating and easy to enjoy. Still, much of this would be lost in sound recording only; it's strikingly (pardon pun) beautiful on HDVD. (This also could maybe be a good way to trick a teen into watching a bit of classical music.)

The Philharmoniker picked the  Shostakavich Symphony No. 5 to finish out the program because, I surmise, it is a relatively modern Western piece that was written in response to extremely daunting public events in the life of the composer. Yutaka Sado also states in the bonus feature that he hears this piece differently (following the Japanese tsunami)  in that it now "reminds me to pray." Sado also relates in the bonus that he first formed the ambition to conduct the Berlin Philharmoniker when he was 11 years old. This explains the tremendous emotion displayed by Sado as he  conducts the Philharmoniker for the first time in his career.

We already have at this writing two other wonderful HDVDs of the Shostakavich Symphony No. 5 : a "Keeping Score" version with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas (graded "A") and a Seiji Ozawa version with the Saito Kinen Orchestra (graded "A+"). But there is room for another because this EuroArts disc is the first from a label that's easily available in the West at a popular price. And, thanks to the stars above, this title doesn't seem to have any quality defects of the sort that are all-too-common with the EuroArts recordings.

I just did a movement-by-movement shoot out of the three Shostakavich S5 recordings just mentioned. I give the Berliner Philharmoniker an "A+" grade.  If I could only have one of these three titles, I would by a narrow margin go for the Berliner Philharmoniker. The video picture is not as good as that provided by NHK on the Saito Kinen recording. Also, subject title was not recorded with 96 kHz/24 bit technology as was the Saito Kinen job. But I prefer the Berliner Philharmoniker performance and the miking and mixing of the sound recording over all competition. Also, Sado gets more emotion from his players than the other conductors with big dynamic changes along with wonderful soloist and section playing. Sado is a tall, strapping, cheerful man who leaps in the air (like an athlete blocking a shot) when he orders the percussionist to hit the bass drum as hard as he can. It could be dangerous to let this guy down, so the Berlin players respond with explosions of panache. During the final applause, the members of the orchestra first seem to be affected by a bit of shock and awe, but after a few moments, they start clapping for each other.

Coming back down to earth, I'll mention that this disc has some nice shots of the Philharmonie Concert Hall, made from the rear of the stage,  that show the architecture and seating arrangements in this very unusual building. The audience is mostly dressed is spring casual, but the cameramen also found some nice kimonos.

Ravel Piano Concerto in G and Romeo and Juliet Suites 1 & 2

This is a concert given in 2009 at the Nobel Prize festivities. Yuri Temirkanov conducts The Royal Stockholm Orchestra. Martha Argerich is solo pianist. The following music is performed:

1. Shostakovich Festive Overture

2. Ravel Piano Concerto in G major (the one with 2 hands)

3. Chopin Mazurka in C major

4. Prokofiev Suite No. 2 from Romeo and Juliet (excerpts)

5. Prokofiev Suite No. 1 from Romeo and Juliet (excerpts)

Produced by Paul Smaczny and Camilla Hyltén-Cavallius; directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D

This title is a pops-level concert with the short, jazzy Ravel Piano Concerto in G major, the jaunty Shostakovich Festive Overture, and excerpts from a ballet score. The video and sound are acceptable. Martha Argerich, who has treated us to several good performances in HDVD, is rather lackluster on this disc.

If you are interested in a recording of the Ravel Piano Concerto in G major, try the performance by  Helen Grimaud also in HDVD. If you're interested in the Prokofiev music to Romeo and Juliet,  why not try the Romeo and Juliet ballet in HDVD and get all the music along with whole show performed by the Royal Ballet? Finally, why pay $36 for this when there are so many HDVDs out now offering much more for the same money? (If EuroArts wants to sell discs of this quality, they better put two or three Nobel Prize concerts on one disc.) These considerations leave us with few reasons to buy this title, which in turn earns it the grade of "D." If Euroarts would substantially cut the suggested retail price, we could bump the grade up to "C."

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3 and Stravinsky Le Sacre du printemps

 Sir Simon Rattle conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker 2009 in Berlin at the summer Waltbühne concert dubbed "Russian Rhythms." Works performed were:

1. Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker (brief excerpts)

2. Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor with Yefim Bronfman as the piano soloist

3. Stravinksy's Le Sacre du printemps (The Right of Spring)

4. Nutcracker and Berliner Luft encores

Directed for TV by Henning Kasten. Released in 2010, the disc has 5.1 PCM surround sound. Grade: A for the Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3. Grade C for everything else.

The Waldbühne ("Stage in the Forest") is a giant Nazi-era amphitheater (seated 22,000 for this concert) in Berlin. The seating portion of the Waldbühne is a megalomaniac version of the theater at Epidarus. The stage is a remarkably ugly industrial box topped by an even uglier double-peaked circus-style tent made from stark white material. At the back of the stage is a huge concete wall. For this concert, about the only decoration was various colors projected on the concrete backdrop. All this gives me a headache, but the Berliners love it, so we are told. I have noted before that high-definition video often yields bad results when shot at outdoor venues designed to appeal to large crowds. At the Waldbühne a phalanx of giant speakers in front of the stage adds more visual clutter to the HD recording. And when the camera turns to the audience, you see talking, eating, drinking, blankets, litter, smoking, smooching, sleeping, changing diapers, singing along, dancing, flash photography, burning sprinklers, and finally, 10,000 umbrellas and huge plastic tarps when it rains. I understand how folks are willing to put up with all this to hear a concert through big loudspeakers in the woods. They want to get out of the house. But its harder for me to see why folks would willingly drag all this into the comfort of their home theaters.

The program for Russian Rhythms was more serious than a typical pops concert. True, the Nutcracker excepts were bonbons. But the Le Sacre du printemps and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 are staples in the concert halls. The Philharmoniker Le Sacre sounded thin and bland compared to the other version we have on HDVD played by the Mariinsky Ballet directed by Valery Gergiev (on the  Stravinsky and the Ballet Russes disc published by BelAir). But what really blows away the Rattle version is the fact that the Mariinsky disc includes an excellent production of the the complete ballet. Who wants to listen to a concert version of Le Sacre when you can hear it while watching the ballet itself? I give this Le Sacre the grade of "C."

So the only remaining reason to buy this disc would be to get the Rachmaninov piano concerto. I asked my neighbour, Bill Wilkin, who likes Rachmaninov and has experience with live and recorded performances of his works, to view the Bronfman recording with me. Bill said that both the sound and video was the best he had ever experienced with a Rachmaninov recording. This certainly says a lot about the quality of the Blu-ray recordings we are getting these days. For my part, I was pleased to be able to hear the piano clearly throughout the performance. Too often the soloist gets covered up by the orchestra in the recordings of these blockbuster romantic piano concertos. So I give this Bronfman recording the grade of "A."

Both the video and the PCM surround sound are quite good  through this disc. But I don't think the Waldbühne event itself is going to have great appeal other than to folks who live in  Berlin. The Le Sacre du printemps is overshadowed by the better Mariinsky version with it's ballet performance. I'm glad I have the Bronfman Rachmaninov recording,  and I think my friend Bill was more than happy with his purchase. But I still question how many people will want to pay full price for that performance alone.