Search - Herbert Von Karajan - His Legacy for Home Video: Antonin Dvorak - Symphony # 9 "From the New World" on DVD

Well Done

jroth2 | Towson, MD United States | 12/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The DVD medium and the Dvorak piece serve each other well in this performance. 5.1 sound allows for greater articulation of instruments, despite the 448 kbs bandwidth. The film's editing reinforces this articulation by focusing on individuals or groups of performers during key passages. This is accomplished at the loss of a wider perspective and 'wall of sound' that devotees of a traditional concert might relish. What is gained, in the fusion of audio and video detail, is an appreciation of the roles played by the instruments and a better sense of the structure of the composition.The power and dynamics of this piece highlight the capabilities of a good system. Properly reproduced, the horn sections are sweeping and the lower register strings and percussion are tightly focused."

The indian spirit

Juan Keledjian | MIAMI, FL USA | 03/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This another example of fenomenal late Karajan. He really got into the inner aspects of this symphony. My most favorite part is the intentional delay in the low string notes just before the first crescendo in the opening movement. It really gets the american indian spirit like no other version does. The performance is magnificent, almost I would like to see it with the Berliner instead of the Wiener. It seems that at the time Karajan was having problems with the Berliner because of his favoritism to a female clarinetist while the orchestra member said she didn't match (she can be seen performing some Beethoven symphonies in other DVDs of this series). But, coming back to this performance, the Wiener philharmoniker is wonderful and the sound is rich and pure. I you already know this piece, you'll rediscover it in this version. I recommend it."

The late inner world of Karajan is well served here.

jroth2 | 08/19/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD should have been made twenty years earlier, with a zesty, energetic Karajan at work. However, it is a great display of his later years, in which he explores more the inner worlds of his composers. The orchestra's sound is fabulous, and the photography, typical great coordinated effort to emphasize the inner works of this great ensemble. A good buy !"

THE Maestro, von Karajan

Der Musiker | 04/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is, hands down, a wonderful and vibrant performance of Dvorak's 9th. Being a musician myself and having experienced many great conductors live, I find it ridiculous how people that really don't know any better think that a conductor must put on a show and flail his or her arms all over to conduct a work. The true greatness of a conductor is in how he can empower and inspire the musicians during rehearsal and then translate that and more during the subsequent performance. Many of the great conductors, past and present, do this with the slightest of gestures. They know too when to step aside when the orchestra take flight....Maestro von Karajan knew when this was happening earlier than any other conductor! And those that believe von Karajan lost his abilities towards the end of his career should know that as august a musician as Sir André Previn himself remarked after seeing von Karajan conduct a Beethoven concert in Berlin in the late 1980s that the old maestro was amazingly still completely in control."