Search - Ozawa and the Vienna Philharmonic: New Year's Concert 2002 on DVD

5 stars, with reservations about the Waltzes

Alan Majeska | Bad Axe, MI, USA | 12/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Seiji Ozawa (b. 1935) was the designated conductor for the January 1, 2002 "New Years' Concert from Vienna", beautifully filmed and recorded for DVD by TDK. (I do not associate Ozawa with Johann Strauss I, II and other late 1800s Viennese composers, but rather with Schoenberg, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky.) This was my first DVD, and I still marvel at the clear picture and sound, a beauty to see AND hear at the same time.

Ozawa has been criticized in some circles for rather bland, lack luster music making, but in this concert he is excellent especially in the Marches, Polkas, and incidental pieces, such as the Helmesberger "Dance Diabolique," my first acquaintance with the piece. I would pay the price of this DVD for that work alone! - my favorite piece on the whole program. There are some very familiar and less familiar pieces here, and the Vienna Philharmonic play with total command of these works - they could play them in their sleep, I would presume. But in some cases - the DIE FLEDERMAUS Overture, ON THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE Waltz, and RADETZKY MARCH, Ozawa seems to bend tempos too much, and the musical line sags. In short, I like the Polkas best on this program.

This is worth hearing/seeing, with some reservations. But the sound and picture are very beatiful, even on modest DVD/TV equipment. Widescreen."

Magical

David J. Yang | New Jersey, USA | 06/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Seiji Ozawa, in my opinion, is the greatest conductor ever. His years with Boston Symphony seemed kind of plain, compared with his events guest conducting other great orchestras, in retrospect. I was at this event and the DVD really captured the atmosphere and more importantly, the quality of the sound. It is very fine in picture quality, even compared with today's HD videos. In all, just another great masterpiece for your collection."

The music played was known for Ozawa's specialty

Sunshine | Monrovia, CA USA | 10/23/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first time I heard the name of Seiji Ozawa was from a friend of mine. We were watching the Vienna Philharmonic New Year Concert and were both very disappointed when the young boys and girls shown up dancing ballet. It was at that time he told me that the best conductor for the New Year Concert he had ever seen was by a Japanese conductor whose last name is Ozawa. Luckily we are able to find the DVD on Amazon. I bought the first copy for him and the second one for my mother. After seeing it, I have to admit that when Ozawa is conducting, it is like there is a string pulling the whole Orchestsra with every bit of his movements. Strauss is not our favorite writer as far as music piece is concerned. However, even my mother has to admit that he did a good job. I like this one much better in the sense that the cameraman capture the beauty of the music hall and their painting collections. Later on I had another chance to visit with my friend and he took the time to explain to me which pieces are Ozawa's specialty. I am surprised that he can do such a good job in conducting different tempo and expression of music. This has to do with the fact that he had been under two out of the three greatest conductors' of the world influcence. This is a very rare combination. We paid more for his DVD, but it is all worthy."