See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

Ready to Buy?
all your music
Price: £12.13
In stock

13 used & new from £10.88

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Ode To Freedom - The Berlin Celebration Concert [DVD] [1989]
 
See larger image
 

Ode To Freedom - The Berlin Celebration Concert [DVD] [1989]

DVD ~ Leonard Bernstein
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Available from these sellers.


11 new from £12.13 2 used from £10.88
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Ode To Freedom - The Berlin Celebration Concert [DVD] [1989]
64% buy the item featured on this page:
Ode To Freedom - The Berlin Celebration Concert [DVD] [1989] 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (Ode To Freedom - Bernstein in Berlin)
27% buy
Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (Ode To Freedom - Bernstein in Berlin) 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£15.19
Mamma Mia! [DVD] [2008]
9% buy
Mamma Mia! [DVD] [2008] 3.9 out of 5 stars (618)
£6.98

Product details

  • Actors: Leonard Bernstein, June Anderson, Sarah Walker, Klaus Konig, Jan-Hendrik Rootering
  • Directors: Humphrey Burton
  • Format: AC-3, Classical, Colour, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, PAL, Subtitled, Widescreen
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: English, French
  • Region: All Regions
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: Exempt
  • Studio: Euroarts Music International
  • DVD Release Date: 3 Jul 2006
  • Run Time: 85 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • ASIN: B000FVQUNK
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 59,413 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (Ode To Freedom - Bernstein in Berlin)

Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (Ode To Freedom - Bernstein in Berlin)

~ Beethoven
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £15.19
Bruckner: Symphony No 7 [DVD] [1999]

Bruckner: Symphony No 7 [DVD] [1999]

DVD ~ Bruckner
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £19.59
Brideshead Revisited - Complete Series [DVD] [1981]

Brideshead Revisited - Complete Series [DVD] [1981]

DVD ~ Laurence Olivier
4.8 out of 5 stars (26)  £9.98
Beethoven - Fidelio - Leonard Bernstein [DVD] [1978]

Beethoven - Fidelio - Leonard Bernstein [DVD] [1978]

DVD ~ Gundula Janowitz
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £19.99
Corvus: A Life with Birds

Corvus: A Life with Birds

by Esther Woolfson
5.0 out of 5 stars (12)  £5.39
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Moving Historical Document, 1 Aug 2006
By J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. On Christmas Day 1989, only six weeks later, due to the organizational skills of Leonard Bernstein (and others) an historic concert of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was given in the Schauspielhaus in the former East Berlin with instrumentalists and singers from a number of different countries. These included orchestra members from the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Orchestra of the Kirov Theater of Leningrad, the London Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris. The choruses were those of Bavarian and Berlin Radio as well as, unusually, the Children's Choir of the Philharmonie Dresden. Soloists were June Anderson (soprano, American), Sarah Walker (mezzo, British), Klaus König (tenor, German) and Jan-Hendrik Rootering (bass, Dutch). The concert was broadcast all over the world and the crowd in the plaza outside the Schauspielhaus could be also seen watching the event on television. I remember seeing the event but strangely remember it as having been an outdoors concert; obviously, I was mostly remembering that joyous crowd of Berliners outside the hall. One could see them and the audience inside the hall hugging in celebration of the event and of the new-found ability of citizens of the two Germanys to mix with each other again.

The thing that most people remember about this performance is that Bernstein had asked the choruses and soloists to substitute the word 'Freiheit' ('Freedom') for Schiller's word 'Freude' ('Joy') so that the fourth movement of the symphony became an 'Ode to Freedom.' (There is a comment in the DVD booklet suggesting that 'Freiheit' was what Schiller had wanted to use but hadn't because of political trends of the time.)

As a performance it is typical late Bernstein. The camera focuses on him quite a lot -- and he already looks tired and sick, but joyful, too, and indeed he died only ten months later. But there is no flagging in his conducting. Like many of his later performances, this one is slower than earlier performances. The third movement particularly is exceedingly slow, but it is also exceedingly beautifully played and is quite moving. Of note is that the combined orchestras' principal winds (and, I believe, brass) exchanged places between the second and third movements. One saw them trading chairs and shaking hands as they did so. Stanley Drucker, the NYPO's principal clarinet, played like an angel in the third movement.

This performance had been released on VHS in 1991 but this is its first appearance on DVD. Video and sound are of their period and quite acceptable, as is the overall performance musically. I suspect most people who buy this DVD will do so because of its historical value.

Scott Morrison
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Fun for Everyone

Christmas Gifts
Achieve over 15,000 RPM with our great range of Powerballs.

Shop the Powerball store

 

Up to 75% off Shoes

Shoe Clearance - 75% off Shoes
Save up to 75% on shoes for the whole family.

Shop clearance shoes

 

Train Hard...Play Hard

Nike, Gola, Converse, and more
Gear up with up to 60% off athletic and outdoor shoes.

Shop now

 

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

Learn more about Gift Certificates

 
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates