Visuals 1: CDs and downloads yet to score
I've just been very rude in a review of the two-CD set of this concert, not because of the musical content but because of the impact of the visuals on this DVD.
If ever there was a piece which demonstrated that CD-only and downloads of music have had it - or are on the way out - then the Takemitsu performance on this DVD goes some long way to showing why.
CD freaks, test yourselves. Buy the CDs [at incredible prices] or listen to this DVD, to be played with the visuals off. Play the Takemitsu - just over half an hour - and enjoy. It's a haunting, moving piece, but stick with it if you're not used to a fine composer [I've loved him since Ozawa's November Steps, issued first on LP]. Then beg, borrow or steal a DVD player, and watch the Takemitsu.
If your comprehension of the music, your delight in its development, your admiration for the master musicians involved are not increased a thousandfold, then by all means lead the poor, insufficient life...
Marvelous Shostakovich Five
If you are looking for a marvelous Shostakovich Five, here it is. Yutaka Sado and the Berliner Philharmoniker - in superb form all the way - give a smashing performance of the composer's answer to Stalin and arguably his most popular work. From the brooding Moderato through the sarcastic Allegretto and the beautiful though utterly desolate Largo to the martial and ultimately "triumphant" Allegro non troppo, everything is done with enormous energy, with subtlety and the "right" tempi throughout. Listening to this is an emotional experience of the first order: you will be deeply touched by the performance. Yutaka Sado is a new name to me, and I will be sure to keep an eye on his outstanding talent in the future. The Takemitsu piece for five percussionists and orchestra is certainly intriguing. I hope that repeated listening will help me find my way into its exotic realm. For now, I welcome the challenge. Add excellent audio and video and you have a clear winner in this disk.
Incredible sound and video
As the British would say "That was bloody brilliant!" In truth, I don't know where to start on a list of superlatives. To begin with, this is by far the best audio recording on Bluray that I've heard to date. It sounds like very close miking, because all instruments are highlighted.The shear power of the cellos and basses at the start of the second movement of the Shostakovich puts me in mind of the Decca audio recordings of the sixties.( This is the sound I wanted to hear, but didn't, in the recent Chailly Mahler 2 at the very start of the symphony.) The last movement took my breath away, and had me leaping up off the couch to conduct! The very last bars with the combined timpani and bass drum will blow you away. Contrast this with the almost inaudible timpani on the Tilson Thomas recording, now sounding pretty limp by comparison to this one.
The Shostakovich 5 is a super reading, with the first and third movements very persuasively done, in a very layered fashion. As...
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