DVD Videos

“I only know one man who comes close to Beethoven, and that is Bruckner.” Richard Wagner

With the mighty build-ups and monumental fortissimi of Bruckner‘s Seventh, Welser-Möst and his Clevelanders have their work cut out for them. And they do not disappoint. The most popular, and perhaps most easily accessible, of Bruckner‘s symphonies, the Seventh casts its spell on the audience with its clear-cut architecture and the wealth and fullness of its melodies. From the sweeping opening theme of the fi rst movement to the victorious chords of the finale, the Cleveland Orchestra and its conductor deliver a magisterial reading of Bruckner‘s masterpiece. Cleveland‘s Severance Hall is the venue for this performance. This hall, an eclectic yet elegant mix of Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Classicism, Egyptian Revival and Modernism was inaugurated in 1931 and is still hailed today as one of the world‘s most beautiful concert halls. The Cleveland Orchestra, founded in 1918, began its ascent to the upper ranks of the world‘s ensembles after it moved to Severance Hall in 1931.

“Calm and composure are his trademarks, along with a supple, elegant, and exemplarily precise beating which should not be confused with distance and coolness. Again and again, lightning bolts of violent attaccas leap forth to set bold accents, build up towering mountains of sound, or to aim for monumental heights.” (Vienna’s Die Presse)

BONUS: Introduction by Franz Welser-Möst

Sound Format: PCM STEREO

DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Picture Format: 16:9

Running Time: 66 mins + 14 mins (Bonus)

FSK: 0

Subtitle Languages: GB, DE (Bonus)

Few conductors have made a greater contribution to our present day understanding of Bruckner than Günter Wand (1912-2002). His readings of the composer‘s symphonies invariably concentrated on their texture and hence, their spirit. During the great final phase of his career, documented here, Wand devoted himself increasingly to Bruckner‘s works and his interpretations became more and more free, revealing both heartfelt emotion and musical intelligence. He developed trademark fidelity towards Bruckner, which led to insightful readings of his works. Wherever possible Wand returned to the versions representing most clearly the composer‘s intentions - be it the „urtext“ or scrupulously restored versions.

In the television recording of Bruckner’s popular Symphony No.4, Günter Wand and his inimitable style of conducting are brought back to life in a particularly impressive way. The films of his concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, from 1987 onwards, can truly be regarded as Günter Wand‘s legacy to the NDR Sinfonieorchester, „his“ orchestra for almost 20 years, on which he has left a mark like no other.

Sound Format: PCM STEREO

DVD Format: DVD 5, NTSC

Picture Format: 4:3

FSK: 0

Running Time: 87 mins

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. This DVD features a world première 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.

Video director Agnes Méth

First on DVD: Thielemann´s fantastic performances of Bruckner´s two most popular works.

Thielemann is a maestro internationally known and admired above all as a specialist of Romantic music and a highly acclaimed Bayreuth Wagner Ring conductor.

“Under Christian Thielemann's guidance, the Munich Philharmonic sounds terrific.” New York Times 2007

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

Running Time 145 minutes

Picture 16:9, color

Sound PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1

Packaging NTSC: Amaray 1 DVD

Booklet English, German, French

Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival 2000

Few conductors have made a greater contribution to our presentday understanding of Bruckner than Günter Wand (1912-2002). His readings of the composer‘s symphonies invariably concentrated on their texture and hence, their spirit. During the great final phase of his career, documented here, Wand devoted himself increasingly to Bruckner‘s works and his interpretations became more and more free, revealing both heartfelt emotion and musical intelligence. He developed trademark fidelity towards Bruckner, which led to insightful readings of his works. Wherever possible Wand returned to the versions representing most clearly the composer‘s intentions - be it the „urtext“ or scrupulously restored versions. In the television recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No.8, Günter Wand and his inimitable style of conducting are brought back to life in a particularly impressive way.

The films of his concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, from 1987 onwards, can truly be regarded as Günter Wand‘s legacy to the NDR Sinfonieorchester, "his" orchestra for almost 20 years, on which he has left a mark like no other.

Sound Format: PCM STEREO

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Running Time: 96 mins

FSK: 0

Host: Habakuk Traber

A completely new way of experiencing and enjoying the great works of music from the Baroque to the Modern Period – thanks to a new series of audio-visual concert guides, Masterpieces of Classical Music. Each release includes extensive documentation and a complete performance of the work or works in question.

Famous masterpieces from the standard repertoire of the greatest international orchestras are brought closer to the viewer through first class concert broadcasts (Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Gewandhaus Orchester…) in a timely visual style.

Each part includes 27 mins introductory feature + full concert performance!

Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 in C minor is the last Symphony the composer completed. When Bruckner sent it in 1897 to Hermann Levi, the conductor who had lead his 7th to great success, he did not understand this very different work at all. He utterly rejected it, almost driving Bruckner to suicide. But instead he set to work thoroughly revising the symphony and completed a new version in 1890. Habakuk Traber explains this masterpiece by introducing Bruckner’s personality and his unique style of composing.

Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9

Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Running time: 30 mins (documentary) + 80 mins (performance)

FSK: 0

For a full sixty minutes Celibidache rehearses Bruckner’s Ninth – a key work for the composer, who did not complete any more compositions after he finished the Adagio. It is also a key work for Celibidache, who towards the end of his life frequently returned to working on Bruckner’s late symphonies, performing them in guest appearances all over the world with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. In no other documentary film about Celibidache does one experience with such immediacy the moment of music being created.

“I breathe with you, and that is the secret of phrasing: where you breathe and how you breathe.” “We always think that there’s an interpretation. An interpretation of what? How can you interpret a landscape? If you have to go from Plön to Eutin, are there interpretations? Or do you have to come up with the lakes, the forests, the pathways and so on? You can’t interpret them. You can experience them – and that’s the difference!” Sergiu Celibidache

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 5, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: DE, GB, FR, ES, IT, JP

Running Time: 60 mins

FSK: 0

The programme of the concert that Günter Wand (1912-2002) conducted to open the 2001 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival – the last time he was to do so – was a private profession of his faith in Schubert and Bruckner. Both composers and both works were particularly close to his heart. Neither symphony was finished, yet, for all their stylistic differences, the movements that were completed create the impression of fully rounded works and do so, moreover, in startlingly similar ways. The result is what might be termed two “finished unfinished symphonies”. Time and again towards the end of his life, Günter Wand combined these two works in a single programme, his interpretation of them confirming their affinities in the finest manner imaginable.

The films of his concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, from 1987 onwards, can truly be regarded as Günter Wand‘s legacy to the NDR Sinfonieorchester, „his“ orchestra for almost 20 years, on which he has left a mark like no other.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Running Time: 100 mins

FSK: 0