Münchner Philharmoniker

Christian Thielemann is widely regarded as the leading Brucknerian of our age, and his performances with the Munich Philharmonic, of which he has been music director since 2004, enjoy cult status all over the world.

PICTURE: 16:9

SOUND: PCM STEREO, DTS-HD MA 5.1

RUNNING TIME; 156 MINUTES

AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE

This Blu-ray features performances of Bruckner´s two most popular works, the Symphonies No. 4 and No. 7, which he interprets as sublime cathedrals of late Romantic music, impressing his listeners in ways that few other conductors can do.

“Christian Thielemann is the most gifted German conductor." Financial Times

The Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache (1912-96) was one of the most adamant personalities in the music world. He rehearsed three times as much as other conductors and avoided making recordings because he believed they were a false representation his musical intentions. This concert from the Herkulessaal in Munich captures one of the rare occasions on which he consented to a recording being made. He conducts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra with Anton Bruckner’s “Romantic” Symphony No. 4 in E flat major.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Interview with Sergiu Celibidache about conducting Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4.

Sound Formats: PCM Stereo, D D 5.1

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Languages (bonus): FR (Original Version), GB, DE

Running Time: 82 mins + 40 mins (bonus)

FSK: 0

A new release of the series of Metropolitan Munich programs.

Today Daniel Barenboim is internationally recognized and revered as an orchestral and operatic conductor, pianist, and a musical ambassador and also as a humanitarian. Partnering him is the remarkable conductor Sergiu Celibidache. “He was one of the greatest musicians I ever encountered”, says Barenboim. Sergiu Celibidache has been called a musical giant, a magician, a brilliant lion-tamer and an enfant terrible of classical music. He was a legend in his own lifetime, mesmerizing orchestras audiences and critics with his intensity and brilliance.

Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 is one of the most popular of his compositions and among the best known of all piano concerti. The Schumann concerto is no less influential with its influence heard in Grieg’s Piano Concerto. Both works show Barenboim at his consummate best.

Picture format DVD: NTSC 4:3

Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Runnning time: 81 mins

Stage and costumes: Thomas Pekny

Lights: Georg Boeshenz

Performed in the Florian Barn of the Andechs Monastery

A rascal’s tale, both fascinating and amusing, and presented in Orff’s “rootsy” and powerful Bavarian style. “Astutuli” are the cheeky super-bright people who get taken all too easily by a clever con-man. Nobody wants to be the dumb one; thus, the audience first lose a healthy sense of truth, then they lose their clothes and their purses and eventually all their dignity. “Everything is make-believe!” shouts the entertainer before disappearing with his accomplice and the loot. It’s a rascal’s tale, a story of deception, which is both fascinating and amusing. But behind all that – and unnoticeable until the very end – we find deceit, spoonfeeding and theft.

DVD-Video with English subtitles

Dolby Digital 5.1, DVD-9 / 105 min.

regional code: 0 (PAL, colour), frame size: 16 : 9