Strauss, R : An Alpine Symphony (Nagano)

Introduction

Strauss`s extraordinary final tone poem filmed during a live concert in Berlin.

This disc is also the final in a series of six concerts and documentaries produced by Arthaus Musik DVD. The others haven`t come my way unfortunately, but consist of five major symphonic works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Bruckner.

Video

Very fine throughout, although some of the fast, sweeping camera moves come a little unstuck with it being an NTSC disc.

Audio

The sound is superb. I`ve never watched a live concert on DVD which has shaken the room so much in DTS mode, and the details which can be picked out of Srauss`s huge orchestration are amaing. I`m sure it helps to have well placed microphones of course, but the audience wouldn`t have had that advantage, so despite the fact that I still believe there`s nothing like `being there`, the DVD has one up on them at least.

Features

The main extra is a fairly interesting insight into Kent Nagano`s feelings towards the work, which he didn`t conduct for 15 years after what seems to have been a less than satisfactory first stab at it.

There are also some not very interesting comments from various orchestral members (appallingly dubbed - no idea why we just don`t have subtitles for these sections) and a couple of equally uninteresting, random animated sequences. In these, we see Strauss chat to a reporter before the first performance of the Alpine Symphony, and another set in `the appartment (sic) of Richard Strauss`. Both tell us nothing about the man himself.

The documentary is well-padded with large chunks of music from the performance.

There are also trailers for a few of the other discs in the series.

Conclusion

I`m pretty sure there should be some sort of health warning at the beginning of this disc as it would be very easy to suffer from motion sickness watching the constant sweeping across the orchestra (who even appear upside down) and frantic cutting (not quite) in time to the music.

Ellen Fellmann (the director) acts as if she`s playing with a new toy, and although the cameras are very well placed for close ups of some of the players, it`s a shame to say that I may have preferred the music without a lot of the visuals distracting me.

The performance itself is excellent. I haven`t heard the work in full for some years, but this disc reminded me of what a masterpiece it is. The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester`s playing is second to none and shows that Berlin, with at least three world-class bands, is justly considered one of the greatest cultural centres of the world.

Nagano, judging by what was said in the documentary, obviously had plenty of time to rehearse, and is not a conductor who lets things go until he gets everything he demands from the players, yet the performance itself still sounds fresh and exciting. This, together with the excellent sound, means that the disc can be highly recommended.