Search - Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: 70th Anniversary Concert on DVD

Brilliant Barenboim amazing Brahms

William Tanksley | New York | 11/25/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
Daniel Barenboim shows why he is the greatest pianist of his generation--perhaps (who knows?) of any generation. If music is, above all, about the throb of our hearts and the awe we feel with the sense of agony and innocence expressed in this Mehta/Berenboim interpretation of Brahms' Piano Concerto Number I, then this finale will blow you away. The 70th Anniversary Concert is one of the great moments of modern (TV/DVD) history. Don't miss it!
--Matthew Ash"

Emotive and exciting Concert!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 08/20/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 70th anniversary of Israel Philharmonic could not be better celebrated. The participation of two great soloists, as Pinchas Zukermann and Daniel Barenboim and the presence of Zubin Meta in the podium guaranteed the whoe success.

Zukerman began the concert with the well known Bruch's First Violin Concerto. The soloist gave us a warm and thoughtful performance as he uses to make. Then Meta conducted Ravel's La Valse with average results.

And finally, the jewel of the crown made its appearance. Daniel Barenboim performed a majuscule version of Brahms Piano Concerto Op. 15, with amazing results, specially in the glorious slow movement.

Particularly emotive was the final surprise, that by obvious considerations I won't tell you, if not the surprise had not sense.

"

Not a dvd guy but this is good

Wyote | Seoul | 12/26/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not a classical music DVD guy; I'm wedded to my headphones. But my wife got this for me for Christmas and I love it.

First of all, it has two of my favorite pieces of music: Bruch's violin concerto and Brahms' first piano concerto. The other piece, Ravel's Valse, I am not very familiar with, and wasn't overwhelmed by. Now a lot of music has to grow on you, and that might, but the other two pieces are fantastic.

(I trust people who know more than me that they are fantastic in the formal, technical aspects. Actually I've studied the score of the Brahms piece a little, and I have a little understanding of it, but my love for these two pieces of music has more to do with the pure romantic joy of hearing them than any deep understanding. If you listen closely to either one and are not moved deeply, get to a hospital before it is too late.)

Bruch's is surely among the greatest violin concertos. It seems he didn't write much else of note, though I do not know why his Scottish Fantasy isn't more well-known. I have heard numerous recordings of this many times, because it is one of the pieces of music that my wife and I both love, and did not expect to be surprised, but Zukermann did wrinkle it a little in ways I appreciated.

The recording of Brahms' 1st piano concerto was everything I hoped for. I want to listen to it again a few times and then I will comment further on it; the first time over, however, I was very pleased. The very pretty tone of the piano's high notes particularly impressed me. Someone did some nice work with the mics to bring that out.

The camera work was surprisingly good. I guess I had not appreciated what a classical DVD could be. From the very beginning of Bruch's violin concerto, when the flutes provide an introduction to the violin, I realized this would be a treat. The sparkling keys of the flutes, the beautiful wood of the violins, the swaying of the musicians with the music, the visible commucation between the conductor and his orchestra, Barenboim's fingers bounding all over the piano--live performances have a sonic warmth that I'm not persuaded comes through recordings, but if you have better speaker system than I do (surround sound or whatever and all that) it would probably be a lot closer than I get in my house--but visually I found this much better than attending a live performance. Basically, not only is the music great, but watching it is simply a lot of fun.

Like I said, these are two of my favorite pieces of music, and I may be more enthusiastic than someone who is not so passionate about these particular works. Nevertheless such a person needs to find out what all the excitement is about.

Highly recommended."

Kultur moves to Israel

Hugh Murray | seattle | 09/18/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This extraordinary experience is fittingly presented as a DVD, as one would miss much if only hearing it, however wonderful its aural content might be. I wish to emphasize the extraordinary performance of the Brahms First, which is the best I have ever heard; though the performances of the Bruch and Ravel are also splendid. Some very special things:
-- the grave, reflective tempi, free Thanks Be To God of the constant prestissimo playing of much recent performance, and suggestive also of the grave tempi the great Samuel Lipman used to describe on hearing the Wartime Broadcasts of the Berlin Philharmonic.
-- The subtle , haunting use of the horns, hinting as they do at this prominent motif in so much of the greatest Lieder literature; and so different from the coarse blaring horns usual in Wagner's music, (for which my nickname is "Mittelbraudaemmerung"!)
-- The careworn, often ravaged faces especially of the older musicians, one of whom, a quite elderly violinist, I had heard to have grown up in Koeln -- What horrors rest in his memory; and how wonderful to find this very high point of Kultur transported so nobly to Israel!
-- I cannot imagine even one note being played better than one hears here from the very great Barenboim, of whom I always say that he is the very living voice of all that was greatest in the 19th Century, by which I mean the highest praise. How regular his rhythms are, only very subtly and gently altered by the slightest Rubato, rather than the smearing-on of that distortion, like jam, on any piece of Romantic music by some otherwise very gifted pianists. And how majestic the thunder of his playing, free of either pounding or inhumanly percussive playing, often reminiscent of the sound of the machine gun, as one now so often hears!
-- I had a lot of contact with the founder of the Israel Philharmonic, Bronislaw Huberman, as a child, when a relative was studying with him; and it is especially moving to see survival and triumph as one sees here."