DVD Videos

Narration in English with optional German and French subtitles

A true celebration is to welcome the New Year with one of the best orchestras in the world. The Gala from Berlin 2003 presents the outstanding Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle with works by Maurice Ravel (“Pavane pour une infante défunte”; “La Valse”; Daphnis et Chloé, Suite Nr. 2) and Songs by George Gershwin.

Vocal soloist of this evening is the fabulous Jazz diva Dianne Reeves.

Grammy Award-winner Dianne Reeves was born into a musically gifted family in Detroit. With her rich, expressive natural voice, her rhythmic

Grammy Award-winner Dianne Reeves was born into a musically gifted family in Detroit. With her rich, expressive natural voice, her rhythmic virtuosity and improvisational ease, she was clearly born of jazz.

Wonderful cross-over approach - an example of two musical worlds joined to truly entertain - at the highest level.

Picture format: NTSC - 16:9

Sounds formats: PCM Stereo, 5.1 Surround (non-native)

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Running time: 91 mins

German FSK: 0

At the Berlin Waldbühne in 1995 Sir Simon Rattle conducted an ‚American Night‘ at the Berliner Philharmoniker‘s annual summer concert with works by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin.

What is the essence of American music? Bernstein gave his opinion at one of his ‚Concerts for young people‘:‚I don‘t think there is anyone in the whole world who wouldn‘t know immediately that Gershwin‘s music is American. It sounds American, smells of America, and when you listen to it you feel American.‘ With his ‚Rhapsody in Blue‘ Gershwin succeeded in devising a blend between swinging themes, blues and symphonic elements - ‚symphonic jazz‘.

The first performance was given at New York‘s Carnegie Hall on 12 February 1924. Gershwin was at the piano. It was a sensational success and induced many composers to follow similar stylistic paths, ultimately without any notable results. One exception is perhaps Leonard Bernstein, whose music often reveals jazz elements in his fondness for syncopations. George Gershwin‘s genius was at its most creative in the opera ‚Porgy and Bess‘. Spirituals, gospel, jazz, songs but also love duets in conventional operatic style alternate with one another. Although European orchestras performing outside the US at first found it difficult to adjust to jazz, this American folk opera rapidly became a success world-wide and to this day has not lost its fascination. Sir Simon Rattle was the ideal interpreter of this music for the musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Together with them and an ensemble of first class soloists he earned enthusiastic applause at the Berlin Waldbühne.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, PAL

Running Time: 85 mins

FSK: 0

Directed by Reiner E. Moritz

Commentary in English with French and German subtitles

The playing of the young pianist Hélène Grimaud has been described as “fire and ice, passion and reason all in one” (Le Monde de la Musique); “coiled energy eventuating in unbridled excitement” (NewYork Times);“superlative technique.. .she unfailingly delivers original inflected conceptions of the music” (Financial Times). But she is not only an extraordinary pianist, she is also an extraordinary woman, consumed by two loves in life -music and wolves. With her partner, photographer J. Henry Fair, she has founded a Wolf Conservation Centre at her home in South Salem, New York.

Grimaud came to music because it was the last resort of her parents, university professors in the South of France. “I was so easily bored. I was a distraction in the classroom. They tried martial arts, they tried sports. Then someone suggested music.” Music cured her boredom and her facility for playing the piano proved to be astonishing. By the age of thirteen she was accepted by a unanimous vote into the Paris Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique. In 1985 she was awarded first prize in Jacques Rouvier’s class and was invited to participate in masterclasses given by Gyorgy Sander, Leon Fleisher and Jorge Bolet, who said of her, “It has been a long time, a very long time, since I have met a natural talent of such quality and musical sensibility.” Her concert career took off in 1987 and now she performs with major orchestras around the world as well as being in demand for recital appearances. In February 2000 she was named ‘Soloist of the Year’ by ‘Les Victoires de la musique’. Still in her early thirties, she is arguably one of the very top pianists of her generation. To be spontaneous, not to be afiaid of taking risks and always to play as though it is the first time is Helene Grimaud’s maxim.

This encounter with Grimaud captures the essence of a musician and woman who is full of surprises. Refi-eshingly open and engaging, she gives an insight into her life and her music and is seen at work in Europe, performing, rehearsing and recording. At home in upstate New York her passion for wolves and her concern to educate people about these top predators is evident as she introduces her charges.

There are extensive performance extracts featuring Helene Grimaud as a concert soloist, a chamber musician and in recital, playing music by Rachmaninov, Bach/Busoni, Beethoven Brahms and Schumann.

Introduction: Bernstein on Ives' Symphony No. 2

Recording Place & Date:

Royal Albert Hall, London, June 1976 (American in Paris, Rhapsody in Blue, Unanswered Question)

Congress Hall of the Deutsche Museum, Munich, June 1987 (Symphony no. 2)

Hundreds of millions watched the historic concert on television. Now exclusively on DVD: the New York Philharmonic concert in Pyongyang.

Music became diplomacy when this courageous musical project united Americans and North Koreans.

The musicians went from strength to strength in a beautiful programme which illustrated the excellence of the orchestra.

Lorin Maazel once more proved his reputation as one of the best contemporary conductors.

Includes previously unreleased documentary with 53 min of exclusive material.

"Astounding was the fact that the orchestra played the North Korean national anthem and the Star Spangled Banner on a stage flanked by flags of both nations … a rare moment of harmony, proving the power of music that bridges the divides." The Korea Times (South Korea)

"For at least 90 minutes in a theatre in Pyongyang it was possible … to believe that 55 years of cold-war hostility were coming to an end." James Miles, The Economist

“The Brass Ensemble, with their conductor, Thomas Clamor, were phenomenal…done with unbelievable panache and astonishing virtuosity.” The Guardian on the Proms Concert of the ensemble in August 2007