Gustav Mahler: Conducting Mahler/I Have Lost Touch With the World
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Actor: Abbado, Chailly, Haitink, Mahler, MutiDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; German (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Dutch (Subtitled)
Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 132 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-10-18
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Juxtapositions
DVD Reviews of Gustav Mahler: Conducting Mahler/I Have Lost Touch With the World
DVD Review: unfocused, boring
Summary: 1 Stars
These are two short films. Neither has a strong point of view, neither adds very much understanding to how a conductor might interpret Mahler. I got through them as a public service not for any enjoyment. There are much, much better DVDs dealing with the subject of the meaning of music and the conductors art. Save your money, don't buy this oneDVD Review: Some rather good and some not so good
Summary: 3 Stars
This DVD features two documentary movies that focus on the music of Gustav Mahler. In the first, film maker Frank Scheffer took the 1995 Mahler festival in Amsterdam as an opportunity to observe and listen to five different conductors during their rehearsals for the festival performances. The result of that effort is, on the whole, illuminating and a pleasure to look at. What is perhaps most interesting is not what these conductors have to say about Mahler's music, but the differences in their intellectual and musical approaches. The most intellectually articulate conductor amongst the five is Riccardo Chailly, then chief-conductor with the Amsterdam-based Concertgebouw Orchestra (hosting the festival). His is clearly a very analytical mind that is able to weave musical, biographical and broadly cultural elements in an encompassing vision on Mahler's work. For example, I found his discussion on Mahler's Eight - focusing on the belcanto elements in the score - imaginative and plausible.
His countryman Claudio Abbado is very much his opposite. Scheffer's interview with Abbado yields no startling revelations at all. The conductor sticks to very general, even bland assertions. But Abbado does this in a exceedingly modest, almost shy manner which is oddly attractive. And what a difference when he is on stage! Scheffer's close ups of the conductors in rehearsal not only make visual sense but they also reveal something very intimate about these people's experiences of the music. Abbado appears enormously focused and authoritative (without in the least being authoritarian). Clearly he has fully internalised this music and is able to transmit that vision to the musicians with startling economy of words.
The third Italian is Riccardo Muti, who is not obviously known as one of the great contemporary Mahler conductors. Nevertheless, his brief insights on Mahler's Fourth symphony - the only work he conducted at the festival - are very articulate and certainly put the work in a new light to me.
On the other hand, I was slightly disappointed by Bernard Haitink's contribution. As longstanding conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra and a respected Mahler-interpreter he played an important role at the event, conducting the Second, Sixth symphonies, Das Lied and the Adagio of the Tenth. It seemed to me Haitink is more of a technician who has a very down to earth conception of Mahler and his music. It's much more rewarding to hear him conduct a Mahler symphony than to listen to him talking about it.
Simon Rattle, still quite young in 1995, filled the final gap with Mahler's Seventh. To be frank, I have never fallen for Rattle's conception of Mahler and his appearance in the movie is thankfully brief. The few shots of Rattle in rehearsal do, however, transmit something of the energy he brings on stage (but that doesn't make me like his performances any better). On the whole this is a welcome, speedy traversal of Mahler's (almost) complete output in the sumptuous setting of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and with top orchestras and conductors to guide us. I certainly enjoyed that.
The second film - "I have lost touched with the world" - is rather less rewarding. And that's a pity as it deals with one of Mahler's most visionary works, his Ninth symphony. The whole movie looks a bit like an afterthought to me. Scheffer put it together on the occasion of Chailly's valedictory performance with his Concertgebouw Orchestra. Chailly's survey of this work is rather hurried, offering some startling insights along the way (I never noticed the Kindertotenlieder quote on the very final page of the Adagio). The trouble is that Scheffer found it necessary to have Mahler's chief contemporary biographer - Henry-Louis de la Grange - comment on each of the symphony's individual movements. de la Grange is very much entrenched in the biographical school, linking each element in the score to actual circumstances in the composer's life. I think this leads to a very speculative and superficial conception of the music. For example, the assertion that with the Ninth's Scherzo Mahler wanted to provide a riposte to his critics, is not convincing and doesn't help us to understand this music any better at all. Chailly is much more nuanced here. For example, regarding the Kindertotenlieder quote in the Finale, he holds that this helps us to capture the mood of these final pages rather than that it links back to a specific event in Mahler's life. I can buy into that. So I could have done with a lot more Chailly and much less de la Grange talking about this work. At the end of the film, we hear Chailly cast his mind back on his years with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and his assessment is surprisingly candid. Apparently their time together had not been without friction. Sadly Scheffer doesn't dig deeper into that. On the whole this movie didn't make a big impression on me. A little bit of a missed opportunity.
Four stars for "Conducting Mahler" and two stars for "I have lost touch with the world ".
DVD Review: Gustav Mahler: a remarkable genius we still learn from
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't improve on the excellent review by Scott Morrison other than to suggest that this is just the DVD for those who like to attend concert rehearsals, those who enjoy enlightened discussions of music, or simply those who love everything Mahler.
The first of these Frank Scheffer films steps into the world of concert rehearsals of conductors who really enjoy interpreting and better-understanding the works of Mahler. We see Bernard Haitink's occasionaly jerky, brusque, and sometimes even jovial conducting, and later we hear Simon Rattle tell of his first Mahler experience as a ten-year-old: his friends could tell he was a changed lad.
The second half features Ricardo Chailly and renowned Mahler scholar, Henry-Louis de La Grange, as they analyze Mahler's music with special attention to the ninth symphony. I don't think I'm spoiling anything to state that de La Grange argues forcefully against those who would suggest that Mahler was neurotic. Certainly no one who could survive a decade at the helm of the Vienna Opera, while at the same time writing some of the most inventive and evocative music ever--such a man was truly remarkable--and that's what this film is about. We're still learning from Mahler today.
DVD Review: Two of Frank Scheffer's new music documentaries, focusing on the possible father of it all
Summary: 3 Stars
The Juxtapositions series issues on DVD noteworthy documentaries about contemporary music, with installments covering such modern figures as Carter, Boulez, and Schoenberg. The series seems to adopt the ever more popular view that Gustav Mahler was the founding figure of the whole wave of innovation in the 20th century, as it has dedicated two DVDs to the composer so far (the other being Attrazione D'Amore/Voyage to Cythera. On this one, we get two documentaries directed by Dutch filmmaker and contemporary music fan Frank Scheffer.
The first film is CONDUCTING MAHLER. It documents the interpretations of four conductors who have dedicated much time to Mahler's music: Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado. Riccardo Muti also appears a bit. As one reviewer already complained, the focus is entirely on the face and hands of the conductor. The only clue there's a real ensemble being addressed is the sound produced and the pauses where the conductor amusingly scolds the players.
It's a shame Boulez wasn't involved in this kind of production, since I find his Mahler readings the most faithful to the score. The four conductors here go on and on about the "emotion" of Mahler, blah blah blah, when it's just notes. A brief interview with Riccardo Muti even has him claiming that one must discover what is "behind the notes", an excuse to engage in all manner of distortion of the work.
The second documentary is "I Have Lost Touch with the World". This explores Mahler's Symphony No. 9. Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw provide musical extracts, while the Mahler biographer Henry-Louis de la Grange provides background information. While I Chailly's interpretation of Mahler and his comments on the musical material is interesting, I find Henry-Louis de la Grange's attempts to connect themes from the symphony to Mahler's life extremely speculative.
If you are a fan of Mahler, especially one that likes seeing the different approaches various conductors have towards his works, these two documentaries are entertaining. I can understand, however, that some might find this an unessential purchase and better viewed from the library. Still, even though I'm not the biggest Mahler fan in the world, I still got the DVD just to better support a company that has brought us so many good DVDs of contemporary repertoire.
DVD Review: Once in a lifetime
Summary: 5 Stars
I was fascinated and enthralled. How many opportunities does one get in a lifetime to hear 5 world-class conductors expand eloquently in a completely relaxed setting on how they first came to Mahler, understand Mahler and interpret Mahler? Just the idea behind it was worth 5 stars.
As for myself, I love the close-up visuals on Haitink, Chailly and others regardless of whether I could see the full movement of their hands while conducting. I can see them as the orchestra sees them and how much they conduct with their facial expressions as well as their gestures, especially by staying fixed upon their faces during the extended excerpts from the various symphonies -- and not without capturing the humor as well. I was riveted to my chair. The visuals of Addado were more full-bodied -- what expressive hands -- because he conducts less with his face, imo, than the others.
Upon repeated viewings I found it easier to associate each conductor's name with their distinctive face. If in doubt about who's who, it made this listener want to find out more about each one, and I must say that I developed enormous respect for them all.
The sonics are absolutely vivid and first-rate. I would love to have been at this once-in-a-lifetime festival. (Maybe in another 75 years!) You can hear everything. I could easily imagine a youngster watching these performances and not only falling in love with Mahler but with the life and sensibilities of such a rare breed of human being as an orchestral conductor -- perfect for the classroom, perfect for anyone who loves classical music and the additional impact that comes from watching these performances as well as being profoundly touched and amazed by the music. I plan on watching more dvd performances.
Also of value is that I felt stimulated to reexamine the recordings by these superbly articulate musicians in a new light now that I understand more of what's behind their interpretations of the Mahler universe. It's evident the impact the composer has had on them as conductors and in life.
Here is a superb glimpse into the creative process on all levels, from the front line of being a composing genius... to the genius necessary to bring Mahler to life. While there are some photographic omissions or lapses, the perfection of the recorded sound, the interviews and performances are superb. Recommended.
NOTE: After doing a bit of research, I found out what I wanted to know: there is a 16-CD box set of these tremendous 1995 "Mahler Feest" recordings that are available... to the 3000 media Radio Partners of Radio Netherlands Music. I'm glad to know a set was somehow produced so the Mahler lovers who were unable to attend the festival will have the chance to immerse themselves in -- judging from the excerpts -- these presumably fine performances. However, I regret that private individuals will never be able to purchase a set for their own collections.
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