Search - Cologne Music Triennale - Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 / Rautavaara Isle of Bliss / Oramo, Mustonen, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on DVD

Why not list the Sibelius?

Maria Miller | Seattle WA United States | 12/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Another botched up listing! The major piece on this disc is Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major, Opus 82 by Jean Sibelius, and it is not mentioned at all in the listing. My 5 star rating is for Sakari Oramo's overwhelming, brilliant conducting of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He is a most worthy follower into Sir Simon Rattle's footsteps. Not to belittle, or overlook, the exhilarated and ebuliant artistry of Olli Mustonen in the Prokofiev Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 in C, Opus 26, a new star on the horizon indeed."

Was there a piano in there somewhere?

06/27/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm still trying to answer the question, "does anybody in the
music industry have a clue as to how to mike a piano?" This
disk proves the answer is still no. The piano was so in the
background, it may as well have been behind the second cellos.
A number of times, you can see the pianist pressing keys, but
nothing is heard. Much of the complex tonal combinations used
in the piano line are simply not heard. Not only that, but
the camera on the pianist's hands had only a fixed view, and
that was blocked much of the time by the wood skirt at the end
of the keyboard. The orchestra was great, however, in all three
pieces, and the pianist is flamboyant and very talented. Too
bad the recording was so bad you couldn't really tell."

Nice to See Good Performance of Non-Standard Repertoire

JDriscoll | 11/21/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Given that most of the classical music DVDs out there feature sub-par performances of the standard classical warhorses, it's nice to see a DVD which features a high-level concert performance of exclusively 20th-century repertoire.This is an overall solid performance of quite interesting orchestral music. Olli Mustonen's playing in the Prokofiev is a little too self-aware for my tastes (and his sound is shallow), but despite that, I still strongly recommend this disc."