Director: Kirk Browning
Studio: Unitel/EuroArts (Distr. by Naxos)
Video: 4:3 color
Audio: DTS 5.1, DD 5.1, PCM Stereo
On-screen titles: German
No region code
Length: 81 minutes
Rating: *****
This DVD provides a fine opportunity to see the great Ormandy in action on the podium, which I never had. The conductor, whose term with the orchestra lasted an unprecedented length, from 1938 to 1980 (he died in 1985), doesn’t go for exaggerated gestures of motions but he is eagle-eyed at all times. The videotaping in the orchestra’s home, The Philadelphia Academy of Music (where Stokowski’s audio recording experiments had taken place in the 1930s), was excellent, though some may find it somewhat dark compared to current concert videos. Resolution is quite good and the DTS surround is first rate. It was probably derived from a two-channel master, but the results are convincing. It seemed odd that the auditorium was nearly empty. There were a couple spots where the director didn’t seem prepared for the music – such as the opening of Neptune of The Planets with a closeup of Ormandy and then a long slow pan across the orchestra to finally get to the unaccompanied flutes which start the piece out.
The Planets has become such a potboiler that I frankly wasn’t looking forward to hearing it again. But with this wonderful conductor and orchestra in action it took on a wholly different feeling and provided most enjoyable. The rich Philadelphia strings gave the work an extra dimension – continuing the pioneering efforts of Stokowski years earlier. The Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, who provided the vocalise sounds for Neptune The Mystic, must have pre-taped their one-movement contribution in advance, because we do not see them when we hear them during that movement.
Of course Debussy’s La Mer is a better piece of music. His musical admiration of the painters Turner, Monet and Hokusai isn’t the wettest-sounding La Mer on recordings in this performance; the ocean seems to be a bit more calm here. It’s fascinating to see what instruments and sections of the orchestra Debussy used to create his impressionistic portrayal of the various moods of the sea.
This is a valuable video record of a great conductor and orchestra, and it is a pleasure to have it in color with good resolution and with a DTS surround track, rather than the B&W and mono sound of many historical classical music videos.
– John Sunier
