Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 4, 5 & 6

Herbert Von Karajan (1908-1989) recorded Tchaikovsky Symphonies 4, 5 and 6 with the Berlin Philharmonic in the 1960s and again in 1975 for DG; and about 1984 with the Vienna Philharmonic, also for DG. Karajan had a lot of experience conducting Tchaikovsky 4, 5 and 6 over the years!These concerts, done in a studio with an invitation only live audience present, do not duplicate Karajan's audio DG Tchaikovsky. Karajan has the Berlin Philharmonic playing at a high burn level of intensity and some of the Allegro movements are driven, but not excessively so. Karajan's approach is not warm like say Ormandy/Philadelphia (Sony) or Ashkenazy/Philharmonia (Decca) were, but Karajan's is a valid approach to Tchaikovsky.I love the virtuosity of the Berlin Philharmonic in this DVD recording! A listener cannot deny them to be one of the greatest orchestras in the world, along with Philadelphia, the Concertgebouw, and Vienna Philharmonic.Tempos are on the fast side, especially I and IV movements of symphonies. I like the audio sound: either Stereo or DTS 5.1 Surround. Picture quality is very good 4:3, good for 1973 and beautifully restored.

I purchased this DVD based on the very good reviews of it posted here. Unfortunately, I feel that these reviews omit certain aspects of the disk that I think should be mentioned. Firstly, the 4:3 aspect ratio. I'm sure this was done in order to optimize the quality of the picture, but the image really looks crammed with all those musicians being fit into a small rectangle in the middle of my 32-inch flat-screen TV. Secondly, the camera work. Some may think that filming the players from one side is cool, but I disagree. As one producer from the series "Keeping Score" put it, when you see a player playing a particular instrument, then you really hear the music coming out of that instrument (or words to that effect). There are very few individual shots of players on this disc. Rather, whole lines of players (winds, for example) are filmed from a side so that the musicians look like they are in a marching band. Thirdly, this is the first time I see Karajan conduct, and he is simply not much fun to watch. He keeps his eyes shut throughout, so that there is no eye contact between him and individual members of the orchestra (which most other conductors must do in order to cue particular players). I'm sure he was able to do this because he had about a million rehearsals with the orchestra before actually performing these pieces in public. What is my point? Well, one really wants a DVD to be a truly satisfying VIEWING experience. Otherwise one could just get a CD of the performance. One last comment: the orchestra is an all male orchestra! (which is rare nowadays).

I just listened to the Mravinsky and Karajan recordings of the three great Tchaikovsky symphonies and can aver quite confidently that Karajan equals the interpretive power of Mravinsky and the string play of the BPO really outdo their Leningrad counterparts.One would be foolish not to pick up this DVD at such a bargain price. These symphonies are as natural to the famous Karajan orchestral sound as anything German, and for $20 bucks or so, you can gain access to a live concert with Karajan in the Philharmonie!This deserves a place in every music lover's library. As another reviewer reports, Karajan conjures unbelievable intensity in the first movement of the 4th. I watched this DVD before bedtime (foolish me) and was not able to sleep for four hours afterward!

I have been a great fan of Karajan. Once I found out these were finally available on DVD, I grabbed them. One serious omission is the Piano Concerto #1 with Alexis Weissenberg. I did think it would have been included with the "Concert" 2-disc collection as was the Rachmanninov PC #2 with Weissenberg, but, alas, no. The next logical place was in this collection, but, again, no. So, if you are interested in the Karajan/Weissenberg/Tchaikovsky, the only place to find it is on the B-side of the laserdisc with the "Pathetique"A couple of things need to be mentioned that I feel are very important and greatly affect the purchase of this DVD. For comparison, I will be referring to the laserdisc releases.These are not 16:9 transfers. They were originally shot on 35mm film stock and editted for standard 4:3 aspect ration. This is what was used for the VHS/laserdisc releases. Also, this is what we have presented here. Either, DG is just being lazy or the original 35mm film is lost. So, if you have a widescreen TV, expect the sides to have black bars. Video quality is not the best. These have a rather soft focus that I do not remember from the laserdisc. Also, some have stated that the shots looked crammed, but this is the way the video was shot.The most important consideration is the sound and here I must take serious issue with. The sound on this DVD release has been processed by a company that has made a reputation of converting standard stereo into surround. Sometimes it works. Here, it doesn't. Most will want to hear the 5.1 surround. My suggestion is to avoid it. This soundfield deliveres a reverb affect that is completely un-natural to the Philharmonie which generally has a drier, cooler, acoustic. So, that leaves the PCM Stereo tracks. Here, it appears the reprocessing has left its mark as well. While the reverb is much less noticeable, a lot of the impact that was noticeable on the laserdiscs (along with a drier accoustic) is not found on the DVD; the first and last movements of #4 and the third movement of #6 are particualrly affected. Of #4, Karajan opts for the rarely used (but most desireable) cymbal crash/bass drum strokes on the last measure of #4 which here is hardly noticeable.It rather upsets me to rate this with 3 stars, but DG has dropped the ball on this disc. If only they had transferred the original audio onto the PCM soundtrack; this would have been a great purchase.

このカラヤンが演奏する「悲愴」第１楽章の金管楽器の使い方、かなりかっこよくなっちゃってます。カラヤンにかかるとこうなっちゃうんですね。すごいです。

Karajan was the first conductor to pioneer the art of filmming as important part of presenting music as the music making itself, and you can clearly see how masterfully Karajan realised his vision in this film which was directed partly by Karajan himself.Footages of the performances are shot very effectively from various angles, focussing on both conductor and each instrument in accordance with progress of the music. Some footages are cleverly shot from instrumentalists' point of view (or even behind basses) to give you a feeling of being in the orchestra. Throughout the performances, Karajan looks like completely possessed by the music and alone in his own world, oblivious of the orchestra and the audience, but in this film you can see there is an almost telepathic rapport between him and the orchestra. Like a thrown stone making ripples on water, even subtlest nuance of his hand movement is immediately reflected on the orchestra just like a magic. Karajan's intention as a film director is obviously to share some of that magic with us, and that makes these already gripping performances even more captivating and even awe-inspiring.70s' Berlin PO is of course all mens club, which looks somewhat bizaare today. 70's old colour film has a nostalgic feel which does not detract at all from the quality of the filmming. Definitely a must-buy and better hurry before it becomes out of print, as most of classical DVDs are not always reissued after deletion!

I'm sure these performances were electrifying in the Philharmonie but, for me, the shortcomings in the DVD outweigh the virtues. While the picture is more than passable, excellent shots of Karajan, too many shots of instruments which have just played, or no shots of instruments which are playing (I find this annoying on countless DVDs) the main drawback is the sound. Harsh,unbalanced, congested. This is not the fault of conductor or orchestra but of the sound engineers and this mars my enjoyment of what were obviously great performances.

Excellent performances from the 1970sThe sound though generally good does sound a little compressed sometimes but maybe it's the period in which these recordings were made.Mr Karajan was certainly interested in the technical side of the sound and video recording techniques of the day.The filming of Karajans performances are interesting enough but I personally find they become annoying after a while showing close ups of different instruments and the maestro over and over.But that said I wouldn't be without them!

This three performances have been recorded on 35mm film and that makes the picture quality perhaps even better than modern digital technologies. In terms of playing - this is for me a reference work, to which I will compare another works if I want to decide if they are good or not. I already have got the Karajan's CD set with all six Tchaikovsky's symphonies which are of a very high quality. The conducting of this one is very precise and sharp as well. In fact, everyone who likes Tchaikovsky should see this DVD.