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![Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9; Te Deum [DVD Video]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/3147yHhYxFL._SL160_.jpg)
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Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9; Te Deum [DVD Video]
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Sale Price: $24.97
List Price: $39.98
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To mark the 100th anniversary of Herbert von Karajan Deutsche Grammophon continues the exploration of its video catalogue and unearthing these remarkable Bruckner concerts from 1978/79 with the Wiener Philharmoniker is a more than welcome event. What I find amazing about these filmed documents is that they disprove more than anything the complaints often laid against Karajan as the inhuman control freak.Here is a conductor, in the autumn of his career, entirely on top of his game, serving as the most dedicated guide through these fascinating works, obtaining magnificent results from one of the finest orchestras of the day. Karajan knows as none else to blend sense of architecture with orchestral detail and transparency. His Bruckner may not always be the most mysterious (compared to Eugen Jochum, for example) but for all his mastery of structure, these readings preserve a degree of spontaneity, warmth and glow, humanity even, undoubtedly linked to some extent to performing live. This is best realised in the 9th symphony, where Karajan's unerring sense of pace really drives the listener toward the abyss. The playing of the Wiener Philharmoniker is in this respect nothing short of outstanding. It's perhaps not so much about orchestral precision (although very little really dramatic here either, considering these are live concerts) but about colour, transparency (the strings are sublime), sweep, and dynamics. The moments of silence are as powerfully gripping as the tutti. The "Te Deum" is also a first-rate performance, reminding us in Karajan's dealing with the Wiener Singverein, what a great opera conductor he was. The main drawback of this issue, however (and for a release under Karajan's artistic supervision this is quite exceptional), is the visual quality of the films. Taped in 1978/79 in the Musikverein in Vienna and in the St Florian Stifstkirche near Linz (so to speak Bruckner's temple) they sadly show their age, quite unlike the earlier Karajan/Berliner Tchaikovsky and Brahms Symphonies also on DG, which were captured on 35mm film. These Bruckner concerts suffer from poor colour definition and contrast, while the 9th and the "Te Deum" shot at the Musikverein, are much too dark. The camerawork is generally also a lot more conventional than in the other often visually stunning Karajan concerts. Fortunately, the sound is fine, without being exceptional, but the sheer beauty of the orchestra can be appreciated.Performance-wise this a five star release, but since we are considering DVD's which also have to be seen, I need to give it a four.
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