Classical Destinations – An armchair guide to classical music (2007)

by | Sep 10, 2007 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews | 0 comments

Classical Destinations – An armchair guide to classical music (2007)

Narrators: Simon Callow, Matt Wills, Niki Vasilakis
Studio: BBC Worldwide/EMI 0946 3 92442 9 4 (2 DVDs + 2 CDs)
Video: 16:9 anamorphic/enhanced, color
Audio: English DD 5.1, PCM Stereo
Extras: Series introduction by Callow, Classical Destinations Theme – preview of the most exciting locations, TV series trailer, Short cameo on Leos Janacek
Length: 13 episodes = 338 minutes, extras = 10 minutes
Rating: *****

This is a new, exciting and very classy combination of travel show and music appreciation which is currently airing on many public TV stations in the U.S.  The 13 episodes are split across the two DVDs, and there is a companion double-CD album in a separate jewel box with more complete versions of some of the music heard in the series. Top performers such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, John Eliot Gardiner, Kurt Masur and Andras Schiff are featured, and the selections include excerpts from a Mozart piano concerto, his Requiem, Dvorak’s New World Symphony, a Bach Orchestral Suite, Rachmaninov’s Vespers, Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto, and so forth – with close to the 80-minute maximum on both CDs.

Although there are really three hosts, the main narrator is actor, writer and music lover Simon Callow – he was seen in Amadeus.  He introduces each segment in a different European city or region – such as Tuscany in Italy, and he also discusses some of the details of the composers’ lives. On the scene in the cities are the other two presenters, with Niki Vasilakis – also the producer of the series – often playing a short violin solo of a famous work by the composer being discussed, often in a room or hall where the composer lived and worked.

An original musical theme was composed for the series; it always reminds me of the theme for the Stargate motion picture.  The videography is of the highest quality – hi-res panoramic images of the many spectacular destinations, mixed with close ups of details such as the keyboard of one of Bach’s own instruments. The basic goal of the series is to give a taste of the world of these famous composers and how it affected the music they created. The information about the composers’ lives is presented in an enthusiastic and informal manner which communicates the basics yet wouldn’t put off the knowledgeable music lover at all.  Some of the episodes focus on the one single famous composer of that area – such as Grieg for Norway and Sibelius for Finland. Others cover a variety of composers, such as the Russians for whom St. Petersburg was home.  The occasional on-screen musical performances may be excerpts from a famous concert series such as the Salzburg Festival, or a violin solo by Bach played in the chapel where his remains are buried. 

The site and music connections are mostly to be expected – Smetana and the Moldau, Johann Strauss and Vienna, Vivaldi and Venice – but the confluence of spectacular images with snippets of the music and simple commentary work so well together that one cannot be other than captivated.  The amazing amount of preservation of the ancient buildings in Europe – some going back to the Seventh Century and even Roman remains – aids in giving an impression of what the composers’ surroundings were like. We even visit the same old coffee house where Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann hung out. The fine surround sound helps as well, especially in environs such as inside Venice’s St. Marks, with the music of Monteverdi and Gabrieli.

The approach of Classical Destinations is so broad and inclusive that it would be appropriate for young people as well as adults, and for those with no classical music education whatever (a rapidly growing part of the population). There is even a special supplementary series of Classical Destinations CD-ROMs, interactive and printed materials aimed at 9 to 16 year-olds for the schools.  For today’s young AV sophisticates, the series certainly beats those scratchy 78s of Marche Militare and Peter and the Wolf the visiting music teacher used to play in the classroom once a week when I was young.

Episodes: Salzburg: Birthplace of Amadeus; From Salzburg to Vienna; The Real Song of Norway; Finlandia; St. Petersburg I; Venice, Monteverdi, Vivaldi and The Four Seasons; Prague; Germany I – Eisenach and the towns of Bach’s travels; Germany II – Leipzig and Mainz; Vienna; Tuscany: Verdi & Puccini; Bonn and Berlin; St. Petersburg II

 – John Sunier

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