Berlin Philharmonic's New Year's Gala 1997

Starring:Berlin Philharmonic
Studio: Arthaus Musik
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Not to be confused with the more famous Vienna New Year's Day concerts, this is a recording of the Berlin Philharmonic's New Year's Gala from December 31, 1997. The concert was billed as "Dances of Life, Love and Death," a homage to Carmen. Beginning with six of the most famous selections from Bizet's opera, the all-star cast features mezzo-soprano Anne Sophie Von Otter, baritone Bryn Terfel, and tenor Robert Alagna. Other than being passionately romantic, there is no direct link between Carmen and Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, but a warm-hearted performance by pianist Mikhail Pletnev requires no excuse. Delivered with fiery virtuosity by violinist Gil Shaham, Pablo de Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy then transforms Bizet's melodies into a concentrated instrumental extravaganza. The mood continues with Ravel's Rhapsodie Espagnole and De Falla's Ritual Fire Dance, with the closing Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms maintaining the theme by gypsy association. This is a wonderfully sultry concert for a cold winter's day, conductor Claudio Abbado delivering pure romance, winning uplifting performances from his fabulous gallery of musicians and stellar soloists.

Amazon.com

Not to be confused with the more famous Vienna New Year's Day concerts, this is a recording of the Berlin Philharmonic's New Year's Gala from December 31, 1997. The concert was billed as "Dances of Life, Love and Death," a homage to Carmen. Beginning with six of the most famous selections from Bizet's opera, the all-star cast features mezzo-soprano Anne Sophie Von Otter, baritone Bryn Terfel, and tenor Robert Alagna. Other than being passionately romantic, there is no direct link between Carmen and Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, but a warm-hearted performance by pianist Mikhail Pletnev requires no excuse. Delivered with fiery virtuosity by violinist Gil Shaham, Pablo de Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy then transforms Bizet's melodies into a concentrated instrumental extravaganza. The mood continues with Ravel's Rhapsodie Espagnole and De Falla's Ritual Fire Dance, with the closing Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms maintaining the theme by gypsy association. This is a wonderfully sultry concert for a cold winter's day, conductor Claudio Abbado delivering pure romance, winning uplifting performances from his fabulous gallery of musicians and stellar soloists.

Customer Reviews:

Just Wonderful!.......2006-03-05

Let me start by saying that Amazon's reviewer has made some terrible mistakes in describing the picture. It IS NOT 16:9. It is 4:3 as clearly stated on the dvd's back cover. So, there is no problem with the image being distorted. Also, even though I played this dvd on a cheap player without progressive scan, there was absolutely no graininess, no out of focus pictures. In fact the picture was extremely sharp and clear.

Performance - Claudio Abbado & Berlin Philharmonic - top of the line.

Two soloists really stood out. Anne Sophie Von Otter's voice was warm and rich, and Gil Shaham's virtuosity on violin was breathtaking.

Other reviewers have remarked that this is as good any performance dvd of classical music they've ever seen and I eagerly agree.

This Gala has a hidden gem.......2002-11-20

I bought this New Year's Gala DVD because I liked the themes associated with Bizet's Carmen, which were prominently featured in the program. Also, well known names like Bryn Terfel, Claudio Abbado, Anne Sophie von Otter and Robert Alagna added to the luster of the evening's performance. The concert was very nice: great orchestra with a world renowned conductor, wonderful singers and then.....there was Gil Shaham

I remember as a teen buying an album for a particular song and every so often (rarely) you would find a hidden gem that was unexpected and quite often better than the piece you had originally purchased the album for. Such is the case here: Gil Shaham is a violin virtuoso extraordinaire! His performance of Pablo de Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy op 25 it simply breath taking. The piece is full of joyous energy, technical skill and shows a man that is one with his instrument. An unbelievable performance of a beautiful piece of music that must have been thrilling to have witnessed live.

The rest to the disk is very good but this one piece is worth the price of the entire DVD.

Wow... I love this !!.......2002-03-10

The concert in the DVD is full of variety and features world's famous musicians. Otter is really amazing with Carmen. So is Bryn Terfel. Carmen fantasy by Gil Shaham is also my favotite part of the concert. He did wonderful performance with it. Of course, Pletnev's Rachmaninoff is fabulous too. The technical quality of both sound and vision is superb.

All in all, this is the best classical music concert DVD I have ever seen and you must own.

Ahhhh, What a DVD !!!!.......2001-12-01

If you not have this DVD in your collection, believe me, buy it.
First, the performace of the Berlin Philharmonic, impresionant.
You will hear the Carmen highlights arias with Anne Sophie Von Otter, Bryn Terfel, Robert Alagna, then the Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Paganini Theme only for the climax of the Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy; perfectlty performed by Gil Shaham, if you put attention you really see that all the performers of the DVD enjoy his own sound. If you like the Berlin Philarmonic perform, wait for the Hungarian Dance V, conducted by Claudio Abbado, i repeat the guys really enjoy playing music.

Once again Berlin Philharmonic is superb.......2001-06-29

This DVD is excellent and the reasons are numerous; the sound (PCM) is brilliant, clear and potent; the musicians put their hearts and all their energy when they play; the director make his job absolutely professional and the solo players, in special the violinist are GREAT. Of course I recommend this DVD and obviously deserve 5 stars or more, buy it and check it; you will remember this words

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Final Analysis