Search - Herbert Von Karajan - His Legacy for Home Video: Ludwig Van Beethoven - Violin Concerto on DVD

Beethoven must have dreamt of that one

Wolfgang Roeder | Tennessee | 04/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have heard many recordings of Beethoven's masterpiece. But this is notjust one of the good ones .....it is THE ONE. The combination of Berlin, Karajan and last but definitely not least, Anne-Sophie Mutter makes this the best music DVD I have ever seen and listened to. Not only is the orchestra perfect, the violin takes the music to new heights and on top of all, the camera is never intrusive, but always there where the action is. If you are looking for a perfect concert and love the violin.............this is it. The best $ 20 I have ever spent! Beethoven must be smiling!"

Karajan and Mutter create magic

Tina Morris | Rockville, MD USA | 01/12/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Karajan was working on his Legacy video series in the '80s, he was criticized for his narcisstic obsession with the medium of the music video and his detail-oriented, painstaking recording style. Also, especially for the Beethoven interpretations, he was said to be beyond his prime. Wrong! The series as a whole is an outstanding collection of wonderful interpetations that I would rank with some of his best stuff from the 50s and 60s. Furthermore, the recording of the Beethoven violin concerto truely brings out the almost magic connection between young virtuoso Mutter and the great master. They did many wonderful recordings together, but this has got to be one of the absolute best. Recording and sound quality of the video are outstanding as well. Karajan was very much ahead of his time every step of the way. A treasure!"

Great audio but video leaves something to be desired

R. Nicholson | 01/09/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I was somewhat disappointed in the DVD

This is a 1984 recording on the Sony label by H. Von Karajan and Anne-Sophie Mutter: It is part of Karajan`s Legacy recordings.

I've always considered Beethoven's Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 61, one of the greatest pieces of music of all time. The opening orchestral bars have a grandeur to them that is emotionally stirring and uplifting, and the solo violin builds on this theme throughout the first movement. The second movement is slow and deliberate and continues non-stop into the rondo finale, which is simply breathtaking.

I had previously purchased the CD version (recorded in 1980) of this recording and was struck with the beauty of the playing. I thought that the DVD version would give a visual enhancement to the superb audio that I had come to know and enjoy. Sadly, such is not the case. While the music remains spectacular and there is nothing technically wrong with the video, I have several concerns: for instance, I found that camera placements and film editing were less that ideal. Most shots of Anne-Sophie Mutter (at least in the first movement) were from her left side with Von Karajan to her immediate front: this one view became rather monotonous after a while and it was hard to see her finger work from this position. Also, the camera work on the orchestra tended to be tight close-ups of several sets of violins, cellos, clarinets etc.: there where virtually no panoramic views of the orchestra, which I feel, would have been preferred for some of the magnificent orchestral passages: which instead featured mostly Von Karajan.

But, I think my biggest disappointment was the stage presence of Anne-Sophie Mutter, or lack thereof. She appeared to be tense (I suppose who could blame her, given the circumstances): eyes almost never looked up from her instrument. Little or no personality shone through during this performance to go along with the extraordinary music that was coming from her instrument. [In comparison, try to see Gil Shahan's performance of Pablo De Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy, opus 25 on the New Year's Gala 97 (ARTHAUS label) and you'll see what I mean about playing with emotion and what an effect it has on the overall presentation.]

All in all, not what I had expected or had hoped for when I purchase this DVD. A 5 star audio recording but the video portion does not do justice to the beauty and grace of Beethoven's Violin Concerto."

Quantitative Evaluation

Professor Ahmet Alp Sayar | Istanbul, Turkey | 06/08/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Audio Merits:9/10; Video Merits:9/10; Cinematographic Merits:8/10; Musical Merits:10/10; Overal Artistic Performance:10/10; DVD Extras: 8/10; Recording Total Quality:9/10. Professor's Comment: LWBeethoven, HvKarajan, ASMutter have been considered as the ultimate masters of their genres. BPO is the greatest classical orchestra ever ensembled. It is to be noted that there is a veiled name who had contributed to produce these references: Dr. Günter Hermanns, Recording Engineer of the Legacy Serie. His contribution deserves great appreciation."