Gala Concert from St. Petersburg / Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Mischa Maisky, Victor Tretyakov, Elisso Virsaladze, Yuri Temirkanov, Nikolai Alekseev, St. Petersburg Philharmonic
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Donizetti Verdi Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Alekseev, Victor TretyakovDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-11-15
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Euroarts
Movie Reviews of Gala Concert from St. Petersburg / Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Mischa Maisky, Victor Tretyakov, Elisso Virsaladze, Yuri Temirkanov, Nikolai Alekseev, St. Petersburg Philharmonic
Movie Review: The Russians Keep Coming
Summary: 5 Stars
O happy serendipity that led me to this stellar opus! For those fortunate enough to have hearts open to the transforming sublimity of music, this is a must-see/hear, a real lift. Despite strange & wooden "performances" by both conductors,1 who appeared too blas? to warrant any separate attention (at least they displayed `good hair'...kindly overlook the inscrutability of some Russians), the artists giving their best in this opulent theater more than make up for this sole drawback. As a whole, this marvelously eclectic concert does justice to the long artistic and cultural history of St. Petersburg, and its name-sake philharmonic orchestra of accomplished and attentive musicians is interesting to watch.
Seasoned violinist Viktor Tretyakov (b. 1946 in Moscow), an early musical talent and exemplary interpreter of Tchaikovsky (having won at age 19 the 3rd Int'l P.I.T. Competition, where he is for several years Jury President), has played with every major orchestra in the world, and he does not disappoint here, playing Saint-Saens' Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op.28 with his characteristic impeccable technique and deep insight (note the reverence and deference on the face of the Concertmaster, fortunately captured by the filmmaker). In an unexpected segue from her masterful interpretations of Chopin, Schumann, Beethoven, and Mozart to a rarely-performed piece by Ravel, the next performer, Georgian Elisso Versaladze (b. 1942)--an exceptional pianist, professor at Moscow Conservatory and more recently the University of Music & Performing Arts in Munich (since 1995)--is stunning on Ravel's Piano Concerto in D Major (for left hand). The electricity she generates lights up the orchestra, who shine in tandem. The final instrumentalist is a long-time audience favorite, the petite Latvian cellist Mischa Maisky (b. 1948) with world-class credentials. He plays with obvious passion, big gestures, and a commitment to the music's intention added to his personal conviction. He delights with the seldom-heard Adagio con variazioni, Op. 133 by Ottorino Resphighi (1879-1936), a composer who studied briefly with Max Bruch2 and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov--but spellbinds with an unexpected performance in still anti-Semitic Russia (St. Petersburg's atonement?) of the aforementioned Bruch's Kol Nidrei, Opus 47 (subtitled Adagio on Hebrew Melodies for Violoncello and Orchestra), a popular work for cello & orchestra that is based on the Kol Nidre prayer.3 Maisky's ties to the city of Peter the Great date back to 1965, when at age 17 he won its national cello competition (when the city was known as Leningrad). He studied under Rostropovich but suffered a period of harassment by Soviet authorities and in 1970 was imprisoned for 18 months in a labor camp near Gorky. After his release, he emigrated to Israel, where he holds citizenship. In 1973, he debuted at Carnegie Hall, after which concert an anonymous admirer gave him a Montagnana cello from the 18th C., an instrument he still uses today. Maisky4 also studied for a time with Gregor Piatigorsky in Los Angeles, becoming the great master's last student...and the only person to have studied under both him and Rostropovich.
The concert's only two vocalists upheld the caliber of the earlier performers with their sensational biological instruments. The beautiful and effortlessly glamorous Anna Netrebko5 is a national--no, international--treasure, and she shines here, singing with unforced mien and the famous purity of voice coupled with sincere feeling, imperceptible acting, wisdom, even. She weaves a subtle, fascinating aura with her unspoiled yet provocative appearance and breathtaking voice as the tragic heroine Lucia de Lammermoor as well as the flirtatious Musette from La Boheme. Never more radiant than in her duet with Siberian-born baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who matches her in all-around gifts (despite some sweat on his upper lip...wouldn't you, next to her?), she is captivating as the seductive Nedda in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci, to his Silvio; the sexual tension here is excruciatingly tender and ultimately chaste as it ends in the most delicate but real kiss on film I've ever seen. Cultivated...yet breathtaking. The dark-eyed, silver-haired passionate and imposing Hvorostovsky, one of the voices of the century according to critics and one of the world's most beautiful people per People magazine, is a magnificent blend of technical command and magnetic presence, and his 2 well-chosen solos (as Count Jelezky with Ya vas liubliu--I love you--from Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame aka The Queen of Spades, and as Rodrigo in O Carlo, ascolta from Verdi's Don Carlo) aptly demonstrate his ability and appeal.6
This outstanding program concludes with a triumphant & wonderfully crisp Rachmaninoff Fanfare (Bis! Bis!), but the bows & credits almost spoil the mood by diffusing it; oh, well...editing & direction play second fiddle, if you'll pardon the poor allusion, to the fact that at least the producers knew enough to film this once-in-a-lifetime joy. One wonders, however, why Ms. Virsaladze is missing at the final bow; perhaps her left hand was bothering her. How interesting to notice that the St. Petersburg concert audience (one of favored favorites, as it was impossible for regular Russians to get tickets to this event) is as desultorily appreciative bunch as any American audience at a comparable event; plus ca change, plus la meme chose. Nevertheless, one is compelled to clap in rhythmic unison along with the Russians (of several ethnicities, the camera will have you notice) after every perfectly showcased piece--and not stop applauding at the end. Bravissimo!
1 Conductors Yuri Temirkanov (Principal Conductor & Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic) and Nikolai Alekseev
2 Max (Christian Friedrich) Bruch (aka Max Karl August Bruch, 1863-1920), prolific German composer-conductor in the Romantic classicist tradition, later a teacher of composition: Kol Nidrei, Opus 47, was so successful that it had his contemporaries assuming Jewish ancestry though there was no evidence of it.
3 The Kol Nidrei prayer is recited, plaintively and touchingly, at the beginning of the evening service on Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement)--and often employed by Christians to support their assertion that the oath of a Jew cannot be trusted. It developed from a longing for a clear conscience on the part of those seeking an annual reconciliation with God. The necessity for such a reconciliation was predicated on the strong tendency of ancient Israelites and other Orientals to, due to their passionate nature, make binding vows to God. Later, Jewish religious code found it necessary to protest against any religious value in such self-imposed--and often frequent and rash--obligations, due to the many difficulties their resulting non-deliberate consequences created in people's lives. Hence, a historical and earnest plea to the Almighty for dispensation from such unintended responsibilities.
4 Mischa Maisky currently lives in Belgium and has 3 children (Lily, a pianist; Sascha, a violinist; & Maxim).
5 Anna Netrebko made her operatic debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2002.
6 "Do not grieve," a symphonic work by Giya Kancheli written for Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, premiered in May 2002. The distinguished Russian composer Georgi Sviridov wrote a song cycle, St. Petersburg, especially for the baritone, who often includes it and other works by Sviridov in his recitals. He has also released the CD Sviridov: A Vocal Poem. Hvorostovsky has also starred in Don Giovanni Unmasked, an award-winning film based on the Mozart opera, tackling the dual roles of the lecherous nobleman and his disapproving manservant.
More Gala Concert from St. Petersburg / Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Mischa Maisky, Victor Tretyakov, Elisso Virsaladze, Yuri Temirkanov, Nikolai Alekseev, St. Petersburg Philharmonic reviews:
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