New Year's Concert 2008 / Pretre, Wien Phil.
by Brian Large
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ballett der Wiener Staatsoper, Ballett der Wiener Volksoper, Georges Pretre, Lang Lang, Wiener PhilharmonikerDirector: Brian Large
Brand: Universal Studios
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); German (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Anamorphic, Classical, Color, DVD, HiFi Sound, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 129 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Decca
Movie Reviews of New Year's Concert 2008 / Pretre, Wien Phil.
Movie Review: Superb concert, highly recommended
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to concur with the positive reviews here. The most wonderful NY Vienna concert since Carlos Kleiber, by far. (Well, Wiener Philharmoniker's having had, relatively recently, the sinister Nikolaus Harnoncourt scientifically massacring Strauss' charming music, with his sledgehammer beat, wasn't exactly stiff competition.)
George Pretre seems to me not boring, rather the opposite of boring. Bringing excitement, as a conductor, does not involve waiving your bloody hair (if you still have it, which as a rule older conductors don't, fortunately) in the air, and waving your arms "passionately," without a good reason, in a plethora of gratuitous visual agitation, with no discernible effect in the sound.
Pretre's genuine conducting mastery is almost without equal among living conductors, insofar he gets more results with a wink or with a nudge than others with huge gestures. He makes the orchestra play exactly as he wants it to play, with at the same time youthful/fresh AND "wise"/magically economical gestures.
Pretre doesn't need to sweat on stage, reminding one of Richard Strauss' dictum - according to which not the conductor, but the audience should be sweating [with emotion]. The precious, well-balanced mixture of precision and flexibility, of warmth and elegance, makes his "2008" Vienna concert indeed the most memorable one since Carlos Kleiber's two (1989 and 1992) concerts. Even without having seen the DVD itself (and thus even before being able to comment on the production values per se), this DVD is on my most urgent "to get" list.
I won't comment on individual works, except for saying that, while Kleiber was perhaps even more inspired in some polkas and in the "Blue Danube," Pretre's version of the Imperial Waltz must be the warmest, most elegant I remember, notwithstanding classics such as Bruno Walter, Krauss, or even Furtwaengler's rare (and monumental) studio recording.
That a conductor as enriching, as inspiring as Georges Pretre is, can still be in such good a physical form at his age is something of a minor miracle, and orchestras everywhere should take full advantage of his being active, before it will be too late.
Summary of New Year's Concert 2008 / Pretre, Wien Phil.
The New Year's Concert in Vienna has been a glorious tradition for over six decades. A best-selling classical event, the concert has a unique global appeal. It has been broadcast on TV and radio to over 50 countries, and is viewed by tens of millions of people all over the world. The 2008 New Year's Day Concert will be conducted by the eminent conductor Georges Prêtre, the first French conductor to receive this honor. The concert program for January 1, 2008 will be the customary collection of Strauss delights, but this time with a French theme. Receiving its first performance at a New Year's Concert, Napoleon March op. 156 by Johann Strauss II will open the program. The traditional encores of Blue Danube Waltz and Radetzky March will be joined by the Sport Polka as a nod to the European Football Championship to be held in Vienna in 2008. The Summer Olympics in Beijing is also being saluted by the orchestra with an early work of the elder Johann Strauss, his exotically colored Chinese Gallop.Similar DVD Movies
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