Various: Rattle Conducts (Nutcracker/ Piano Concerto No.3/ Sacre Du Printemps) [Blu-ray] [2010]

This is an extraordinary release on several counts. The obvious one is that, unusually, the audience was treated to a heavy rainstorm. There has only been one other wet occasion recorded and that was with Abbado many years ago. The accompanying extraordinary feature about this is the audience's total good humour and absorption in the music regardless of the awful conditions. This is a wonderful example of musical appreciation that would be hard to match anywhere.

So what are the other extraordinary features about this release? Well, they are the music and the performances.

The evening starts in good weather with four well-known items from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker - The overture, Christmas tree, March and Pas de deux. This music suits the Berliners perfectly showing their famed control and tonal resources to good effect.

Rachmaninov's 3rd piano Concerto follows with Yefim Bronfmann as the soloist. This is a favourite concerto for me and I have owned numerous fine CD's of the work by just about all of the world's most famous exponents of the work since about 1963. Suffice it to say that all pale by this towering performance delivered by Bronfmann which has everything one could ever dream of hearing. Phenomenal technique that rides over all the hurdles at speeds and accuracy that is simply spellbinding. This, coupled with wonderful delicacy, is a treat for the ears. The Berlin players respond with sonority and musicianship under the superbly attentive conductor, Simon Rattle, who maintains close eye contact with Bronfmann for considerable stretches of time. The audience erupts with an utterly deserved and prolonged standing ovation having maintained rapt silence throughout. The orchestra's faces are wreathed in smiles as their shared delight in the performance becomes evident. This was special. So far the rain has kept off.

After the interval the background colour of the stage is appropriately changed to red, the heavens open, lightning flashes, and the Rite of Spring starts. The opening solo notes of the bassoon linger in the air and the audience quickly quietens down and remains that way for the rest of the piece. Rattle's long experience of the music and its complexity shows throughout as he conducts this complex music by memory and without score. The orchestra responds with all the virtuosity at their considerable command. The rain comes and goes. The audience's concentration persists. Once again they are rewarded with an outstanding performance and against the odds.

There is an encore - the intrada pas de deux from the Nutcracker which is the perfect foil for the Stravinsky with washes of rich string tone, swooping woodwind and burnished brass topped with glittering percussion. Perfect. An ebullient Berliner Luft ends the evening as Simon Rattle leaves the podium to take up the cymbal, reminding us of his early days as percussionist in the National Youth Orchestra.

The HD imaging is superb and so is the sound, delivered in PCM 5.1 and stereo. There has been no hint of the synchronisation problems mentioned by another reviewer, neither on this Blu-ray nor on my previous DVD version. Yes, it is that good that I have bought it twice! No regrets. If ever there was a candidate for 5 stars this has to be it. I loved it the first time, and every playing since - and so, I am sure, will many more of Amazon's customers.

I am a big fan of both the Berlin Philharmoniker and Simon Rattle, having been lucky enough to see them in concert in London several times.

I was however, slightly disappointed by this Blu Ray disc - mainly due to the sound. Now I realise that this is an outdoor concert which makes for an attractive location and the sense of a real "event". But I must say, I prefer the concert hall sound/acoustic.

It may well be that this disc captures perfectly the sound, as experienced by those who attended this performance in lovely surroundings in the German countryside - but I think it loses something in terms of the acoustic - it sounds a little "flat" with none of the natural reverberation you get in a concert hall.

Having said all that, I loved the programme and the piano concerto in particular was wondefully played and exciting to watch! I liked the idea of an all-Russian programme, which gives a certain coherence, although the Rite is a long way from the NutCracker - their similarities are obvious in being ballets based on folk tales.

Overall I enjoyed this disc, but I think in future I will choose concert-hall recordings over outdoor events.

the picture quality is razor sharp at all times. the sound quality is brilliant, and the vision and camera work really adds to the enjoyment. no tricks, or special effects, just perfect shots of the musicians,close up or pulled back. the orchestra of course is of the very highest quality, and it shows.a must have blu-ray if you like this music.