DVD Videos

Gustav Mahler’s gigantic Symphony No. 2 in C minor usually fi lls out a concert on its own. But in this recording with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra) under its principal conductor Mariss Jansons, the work is introduced by an exquisite – and fi tting – choral work: A contemporary (1982) 16-voice arrangement of a song by Mahler, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, based on a poem by Friedrich Rückert and originally composed for voice and orchestra in 1901 – performed here by the superb Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Choir).

The nickname “Resurrection” for Mahler’s Second Symphony is derived from the closing chorus of the last movement, in which Mahler set to music verses from Klopstock’s “Messias”. Although the symphony is a challenge to perform, due to the length of the work as well as the exceptionally large musical scoring, it has become part of the standard repertoire. The Second Symphony is a central work in Mahler’s oeuvre, a work whose Munich performance of 1900 brought him the long hoped-for recognition as composer.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.0

Picture Format: 16:9, 1080i FULL HD

Format: DVD 9 / NTSC

Running Time: 96 mins

FSK: 0

Region Code: 0 (DVD)

Worldwide available

“The greatest mix of colours that ever existed” was Gustav Mahler’s description of the third movement of his Fourth Symphony. Riccardo Chailly, one of the most adept interpreters of Mahler of our time, and the Gewandhaus Orchestra transformed the entire Fourth Symphony into this kaleidoscope of sound.

The unmistakable timbre of the orchestra has become synonymous with late Romantic repertoire and Mahler-esque style – it was described by Der Tagesspiegel as “uncommonly present, even in the thread-fine pianissimo, compact, concentrated, satin”. Once more, the connection between Chailly, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Mahler proved to be exceptional: The way Chailly “moulded the music, which is so familiar to him, with loving gestures, confidently alluding to a thousand subtle details, allowing the orchestra to rise and fall – that is perfect.”

BONUS TRACKS

1. The Welte-Mignon Piano Player Device

2. Mahler plays Mahler – Symphony No. 4, 4th movement

3. Riccardo Chailly on interpreting Mahler's 4th Symphony with the Gewandhaus Orchestra

Picture Format DVD: NTSC 16:9

Sound Formats DVD: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1,

Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Running Time: 61:14 min

Running Time Bonus: approx. 16 min

Disc Format: DVD-9

Subtitles: German, English, French, Japanese

Subtitles Bonus: German, English

Hosted by Valerie Solti

The Solti Centenary Concert in Chicago celebrated Sir Georg Solti’s 100th birthday on October 21, 2012, featuring the World Orchestra for Peace. This unique ensemble owes its existence to the vision of its founder, Sir Georg Solti, who believed passionately in peace and the power of music and musicians to be ambassadors for peace.

Charmingly hosted by Solti’s widow, Lady Valerie Solti, and featuring soloists such as Angela Gheorghiu and René Pape as well as members of the Georg Solti Accademia, this memorable evening presents musical highlights, all of which played a significant role in Solti’s life and career.

Besides excerpts from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni or Verdi’s La Traviata and Rigoletto, this concert finds lovely musical moments in the 'Adagietto' from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, Strauss’ Don Juan and Bartók’s masterful Concerto for Orchestra. Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever as the encore closes the performance with a smash.

Conductor Valery Gergiev was a good friend of his advisor Georg Solti. Together with Lady Valerie Solti and the World Orchestra for Peace he carries on Solti’s vision and maintains his memory.

Special Bonus Feature: “Solti’s Vision”, a film about the World Orchestra for Peace

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, dts-HD Master Audio 5.1

Format: DVD 9 / NTSC

Subtitle Languages: DE, FR / DE (Bonus)

Running Time: 112 mins + 21 mins (Bonus)

FSK: 0

Worldwide available

The Berliner Philharmoniker, one of the worlds leading orchestras, and their Artistic Director Sir Simon Rattle, are highly acclaimed all over the world. Their 2010 tour concluded with their first visit to Singapore.

They present Mahler’s unique and breathtaking First Symphony – once dubbed “Titan” in homage to Romantic novelist Jean Paul – as well as Rachmaninov’s hugely evocative late Symphonic Dances.

In this concert, the Berliner Philharmoniker beautifully capture Mahler’s love of nature and Rachmaninov’s nostalgic memories of Russia.

Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9

Sound format DVD: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Running time: 120mins

Includes a complete performance

The Places

The journey starts in Switzerland, in the canton of Thurgau, leading from Steckborn and the Bodensee to the Rhine Falls. From Styria, in Austria, comes Hochosterwitz Castle and from Bavaria Weikersheim Castle, the latter intercut with wild life from the Austrian Assling Nature Park. The tour ends amid the strangely shaped mountains of the Dolomites in Southern Tyrol, a region divided between Austria and Italy.

The Music

In a remarkable way Mahler, in his symphonies and songs, has seemed to reflect the world of today in all its bewildering variety and has now won an established place in concert repertoire. Distinguished as a conductor, his fame as a composer has grown over the years since his death. The music included here is Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, nick-named Titan, not for its massive power, but after the book by Jean Paul, a strong influence over earlier romantics and over Mahler at this stage in his career. The symphony breathes the spirit of the Austrian countryside, reflected in Mahler’s songs.

Video Format • NTSC / Colour / 4:3

Audio Format • DTS 5.1 / Dolby Digital

This could well be the most ambitious recording of any Mahler symphony ever and a once-in-a-generation classical event and an unforgettable night for the city of Caracas.

This truly unique account of Mahler’s most extraordinary symphony is part of Gustavo Dudamel's planned Mahler cycle, this time featuring BOTH orchestras with which he is most closely associated - the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, who have both played acclaimed Mahler concerts with Maestro Dudamel in the US and in Venezuela. The performance also features an immense vocal force including a massed choir of young Venezuelan voices and a line-up of international soloists.

The performance was seen in hundreds of theaters in the United States and Canada, as well as those in Brazil, Colombia and Argentina. In Venezuela, it aired on the state television channel, Tves, to mass audiences.

This special DVD and Blu-Ray will be released to coincide with the Opening Concert of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra season in September 2012.

Extra Material: 17 minutes documentary on the DVD and Blu-Ray which gives a unique insight into this world-beating Mahler recording.

Top cast with Pierre Boulez, Wiener Philharmoniker, Dorothea Röschmann and upcoming soprano Anna Prohaska.

After two works by Mahler’s pupil Alban Berg, featuring Röschmann and Prohaska, the main event of the concert is Gustav Mahler’s Das klagende Lied – a “great spectral opera for the mind’s eye” (Wiener Zeitung)

The Salzburg Festival is regarded by many as the world’s most renowned music festival.

Running Time Total: 95 minutes

Picture 16:9, HD

Sound DVD: DTS 5.0, PCM Stereo

Subtitles G, E, F, Sp, Kor., Chin.

This amazing set gathers together the 3 collaborations between film director Chantal Akerman and cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton.

As an interpreter of an extremely broad repertory that reflects her imaginative world, a designer of projects, and a musician sought after by many contemporary composers, Sonia Wieder-Atherton occupies a place apart on today’s musical scene. She has played as soloist with the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre National de France, the Belgian National Orchestra, the Liege Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Lisbon Gul-benkian Orchestra, the Luxemburg Philharmonic, the Hanover NDR Orchestra . . .Pascal Dusapin, George Aperghis and others have written numerous works for her.

She has been invited by many festivals to perform the musical projects that she conceives and stages, in venues such as the Cité de la Musique, the Théâtre de la Ville, the Strasbourg Musica, the Bath Music Festival, Cheltenham, Houston Opera and Dortmund Opera. She has recently signed an exclusive contract with the record company Naïve.

2 DVDs and CD:

DVD1 - Avec Sonia Wieder-Atherton

DVD 2 - A l'Est avec Sonia Wieder-Atherton

Bonus CD - Extracts from the soundtrack of Chantal Akerman's film 'A Couch in New York'

This series of DVDs will make the publicly broadcast BSO concerts from this era available for the first time since they were broadcast. This rare material represents some of the earliest concert footage that exists with Klaus Tennstedt from this key chapter in his career and has been restored using the greatest care and state-of-the-art techniques. It is of exceptional musical interest and historic value.

This DVD is only the third filmed performance featuring Tennstedt with the BSO to be made available to the public and represents some of the earliest concert footage with this great conductor. Tennstedt has been compared with Barbirolli, Furtwängler, Karajan and Klemperer by the Gramophone Classical Music Guide, whilst BBC Music Magazine described ICA Classics’ recent DVD release featuring Tennstedt directing the LPO in Mahler 5 as ‘epitomising the combination of immensely detailed precision and overwhelming expressive intensity that Tennstedt’s many admirers found so special’.

Tennstedt and the BSO formed a close association, together covering much of the Austro-German symphonic tradition, such as the works included on this DVD, which are described by Michael McManus as a ‘classic Tennstedt programme’.

The only available (audio) recording with Tennstedt performing Mozart’s ‘Haffner’ Symphony is a concert performance with the LPO from 1984.

The Penguin Guide describes the second of only two recordings with Tennstedt performing Mahler 4 (with the LPO, 5 years after the recording on this DVD) as ‘a strong, spacious reading which yet conveys an innocence entirely in keeping with this most endearing of the Mahler symphonies’.

Tennstedt was well known for the depth and animation of his concert performances, to which his studio recordings seldom compare – this DVD provides a rare opportunity to witness the great man in action.

Two of ICA’s BSO DVDs featuring Charles Munch as conductor have been awarded the Diapason d’Or in France’s Diapason magazine.

Sound format: Enhanced Mono

DVD format: NTSC

Picture format: 4:3

Running time: 78’

Subtitles: n/a

Menu languages: English

Booklet languages: E/F/G

Region code: 0

Territory Restrictions: None