- Actors: Daniel Barenboim, Staatskapelle Berlin
- Format: AC-3, Box set, Classical, Colour, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Classification: Exempt
- Studio: Euroarts
- DVD Release Date: 19 Nov 2007
- Run Time: 200 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000WXR4VS
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
55,065 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
- #35 in Film & TV > Musicals & Classical > Classical Music > Composers > Beethoven
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
I must say that I totally agree with the last reviwer. All I can say is that Barenboim gives the most electrifying performance of these wonderful concertos, especially the 5th, at one stage he is trying to wipe the sweat away that is running down his face, conduct and play the piano!!!
His boundless energy and total empathy with the music is apparent from the start.
But having watched a good many DVD's of Barenboim, playing, conducting, and of course doing both together this is what I have come to expect from him, you only have to watch him conduct Mahler's 5th symphony with the Chicago S.O to see what I mean.
His boundless energy and total empathy with the music is apparent from the start.
But having watched a good many DVD's of Barenboim, playing, conducting, and of course doing both together this is what I have come to expect from him, you only have to watch him conduct Mahler's 5th symphony with the Chicago S.O to see what I mean.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
I've always loved Barenboim since my first vinyl album of his Beethoven Sonatas sang me to sleep in my teens. Having him on DVD is a magical treat!
I received the DVDs for Christmas and have spent the day after listening to (and watching) them. What an experience! The sound quality of the DVD is superb and I often get the feeling that if Barenboim didn't have to stay conscious to play and conduct, he would melt into the piano and music!
This brings up an interesting thing; a few weeks ago I bought the Askenazy DVDs of the Beethoven concertos and watched them several times, replaying some parts again and again to try to "get inside" the artist and his performance. I was never able to. Ashkenazy treats the piano as if it were something "other" than himself that must be mastered while Barenboim IS the piano!
You have to watch these DVDs to know what I mean.
I also think that the synergy between the pianist and orchestra is amazing when Barenboim is conducting AND playing! All your cells will smile! I'm not kidding, you just gotta watch it!
Pure magic!
I received the DVDs for Christmas and have spent the day after listening to (and watching) them. What an experience! The sound quality of the DVD is superb and I often get the feeling that if Barenboim didn't have to stay conscious to play and conduct, he would melt into the piano and music!
This brings up an interesting thing; a few weeks ago I bought the Askenazy DVDs of the Beethoven concertos and watched them several times, replaying some parts again and again to try to "get inside" the artist and his performance. I was never able to. Ashkenazy treats the piano as if it were something "other" than himself that must be mastered while Barenboim IS the piano!
You have to watch these DVDs to know what I mean.
I also think that the synergy between the pianist and orchestra is amazing when Barenboim is conducting AND playing! All your cells will smile! I'm not kidding, you just gotta watch it!
Pure magic!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
As anyone that has the dvd set of masterclasses that Daniel Barenboim gave to a handful of young pianists not long ago -amongst whom the now notorious Lang Lang-, or saw them on television, knows, he is immensely musical and has a rare insight into Beethoven. That becomes apparent right from the start of the first programme in that series. Also, as anyone owning the series of dvds with his recent Berlin performances of the 32 sonatas, or saw them over the television, will notice, nowadays his pianism is no longer what it used to be, missing or wrong notes percolating here and there. Perhaps his hectic schedule, conducting symphony concerts and opera has led him to practise less than in his youth, when pianism was his primary concern instead of conducting ... No matter, for the results here, occasional missing or wrong notes and all, are first-class.
His approach to these works may not incorporate the latest research into period style, note values, etc., and may even strike you as somewhat old-fashioned, more in line with what you'd expect from an artist of an older generation that a pianist not yet 70, who was exposed from the outset of his career to "period awareness" practices. No matter, as these performances of the Beethoven concertos have an integrity and soundness, such a sense of line that those considerations may be put aside but by the most fanatic of phylological buffs. His only concession is in the number of orchestra players backing him, if at all.
The berliners play beautifully, not perhaps with the brilliancy that characterises their colleagues from the vicinity of Potsdamer Platz, but rather with that weight of tone and golden sonority, or aristocracy of intonation, one catches in inter-war recordings of german orchestras, or in the ones made right after the war through perhaps the following 10 or 15 years and that was normally associated to orchestral ensembles of austro-german provenance and their sphere of influence and which gradually faded during the 1950's and the 1960's. Restrictions current within the DDR right through its demise brought along the (unintentional, I presume) survival of that orchestral style, and at least this orchestra seems keen on preserving it in an Europe (and North America, for that matter) where most orchestras sound alike. This Berlin State Orchestra, as well as the Dresden one and the Leipzig Gewandhaus are the remaing ensembles, among the top austro-german ones, that do still make the listener evoke that old, "germanic", sound or sonority. This contribution from the Staatskapelle, in a total symbiosis with that of their conductor/pianist's, adds a lot to the success of this set, with their impeccable playing and luminous sound.
His approach to these works may not incorporate the latest research into period style, note values, etc., and may even strike you as somewhat old-fashioned, more in line with what you'd expect from an artist of an older generation that a pianist not yet 70, who was exposed from the outset of his career to "period awareness" practices. No matter, as these performances of the Beethoven concertos have an integrity and soundness, such a sense of line that those considerations may be put aside but by the most fanatic of phylological buffs. His only concession is in the number of orchestra players backing him, if at all.
The berliners play beautifully, not perhaps with the brilliancy that characterises their colleagues from the vicinity of Potsdamer Platz, but rather with that weight of tone and golden sonority, or aristocracy of intonation, one catches in inter-war recordings of german orchestras, or in the ones made right after the war through perhaps the following 10 or 15 years and that was normally associated to orchestral ensembles of austro-german provenance and their sphere of influence and which gradually faded during the 1950's and the 1960's. Restrictions current within the DDR right through its demise brought along the (unintentional, I presume) survival of that orchestral style, and at least this orchestra seems keen on preserving it in an Europe (and North America, for that matter) where most orchestras sound alike. This Berlin State Orchestra, as well as the Dresden one and the Leipzig Gewandhaus are the remaing ensembles, among the top austro-german ones, that do still make the listener evoke that old, "germanic", sound or sonority. This contribution from the Staatskapelle, in a total symbiosis with that of their conductor/pianist's, adds a lot to the success of this set, with their impeccable playing and luminous sound.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very fine but get the Blu-ray version for best results
This is a set of performances which is fully aware of the latest thinking as regards authentic interpretation but played on modern instruments. Read more
Published 6 months ago by I. Giles
Two Great B's
We've enjoyed the three great B's for ages.
Now it's time to enjoy the Two Great B's.
Barenboim and Beethoven were matched in
heaven.
Now it's time to enjoy the Two Great B's.
Barenboim and Beethoven were matched in
heaven.
Published on 15 April 2010 by T. D. J. Cowan
Better off with a CD
There is a golden rule for the filming of matter such as this. Point the camera at the keyboard and leave it there. Read more
Published on 28 April 2009 by Jean Patricia Becket
Barenboim feels Beethoven
Feels Beethoven? Certainly so. I've watched this DVD a few times and all I can say is that Mr Barenboim is an excellent interpreter of Beethoven. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2008 by Levlapozle
Best buy
It is sometimes said that a defendant who acts as his own lawyer in court has a fool for a client - surely something similar applies to a soloist who does his own conducting? Read more
Published on 24 July 2008 by Mr. John Manning
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