Leonard Bernstein Conducts Brahms - Boxed Set
by Leonard Bernstein
List Price:
Our Price: $80.34
You Save: $69.64 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $78.98 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Gidon Kremer, Krystian Zimerman, Mischa Maisky, Vienna Philharmonic OrchestraDirector: Leonard Bernstein
Brand: Universal Studios
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: German (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), DTS 5.1
Format: Box set, Color, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 529 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-09
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
DVD Reviews of Leonard Bernstein Conducts Brahms - Boxed Set
DVD Review: Bernstein's lyrical, Romantic Brahms
Summary: 5 Stars
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was an enigmatic composer, both in his person and in his music. His music often requires that we tease out its meaning from its motivic and compressed architecture. His life is similarly mysterious and difficult to define. What induces a man as classically handsome as Brahms to hide his features behind a massive patrician beard? Brahms was already the endpoint of the great Germanic musical tradition at the end of the 19th Century. He was the inheritor of a line that begins with Bach, through the Classicism of Haydn and Mozart, culminating in Beethoven, continuing through the Romantic era of Schubert, Mendelssohn and, especially for Brahms, Schumann. Thus, Brahms was a kind of post-modern composer, aware of his position, constantly referring to older styles of music. Part of his enigmatic style is due to this. His relationship with the Schumanns and his life long love for Clara also took its toll on his life. Brahms burnt most of his musical sketches and his letters and papers to insure that the mystery would continue.
Leonard Bernstein chose to record this collection containing most of Brahm's orchestral music with the Vienna Philharmonic because of their homogeneous sound. The musicians are similarly schooled and, most important, the majority of their instruments are uniquely handmade: many of them dating back to the era of Brahms. In a strange (but very real) way, this collection presents Brahms played on original instruments, performed in an historically informed fashion. You cannot fail to be impressed how right everything sounds. The strings all have a similar silky sheen. The horns sound restrained and warmer. The winds have a burnished tone; their effect more diffident, less forward. This is a Brahmsian orchestra, without question. Bernstein conducts in typically demonstrative fashion. His tempos are extremely broad (the First Symphony lasts 56 minutes, 12 minutes longer than von Karajan's DGG recording). He is expressive, always emphasizing Brahms' Romantic side. These are passionate, probing performances. Sometimes, Bernstein performs Brahms in these Symphonies as if Brahms were Mahler. It takes a little getting used to. Allegros occasionally sound more like andantes, or even adagios. But once the adjustment is made, the beauty of these performances become apparent and win you over.
All of the performers are splendid. Krystian Zimerman, in the Piano Concertos, has a feathery touch capable of powerful outbursts that are stunning in their emotional Range. Gidon Kremer in the Violin Concerto and Double Concerto (with Mischa Maisky) subsumes his usual analytical style and partakes of Bernstein's Romantic persona, producing splendidly expressive performances with long legato lines emphasizing the vocal, song-like Brahms. These recordings made in the early 1980's have staying power. They were originally released on CD by DGG two decades ago. It is wonderful to be able to see them. The video is now digitally clear, free from artifacts, well filmed by Humphrey Burton. Sound in both PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 is exemplary, just slightly thinner than today's sound. Total Time of the 5 DVDs is 529 minutes.
These are superb and moving performances of a great composer. A life affirming release in every respect. Most strongly recommended.
Mike Birman
Description of Leonard Bernstein Conducts Brahms - Boxed Set
BRAHMS - DVD MovieClassical Music CDs
Bestsellers in Classical Music CDs
Winterscapesby London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops:
The Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebeeby Dini Petty
Childrens Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops:
Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs CdrRelease date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
![Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] Image](/images/Jose-Carreras-Jubileum-Concert-VHS-1584481471-X.jpg){kind=small}
Jose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops:
![Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] Image](/images/Tchaikovsky-The-Nutcracker-Nureyev-Park-Royal-Ballet-VHS-156127092X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops:
![Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] Image](/images/Lonely-Town-Lonley-Street-Sergeant-Early-Dream-VHS-1561270857-X.jpg){kind=small}
Rambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops:
Winter Music: Composing the Northby John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.62
Price in other shops:
![Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Puccini-La-Fanciulla-del-West-Santi-Domingo-Neblett-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720382-X.jpg){kind=small}
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Verdi-Falstaff-Giulini-Bruson-Ricciarelli-Nucci-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720358-X.jpg){kind=small}
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Mahler - The Symphonies / Das Lied von der ErdeUniversal Studios; Release date: 2005-11-22; DVD
Best price: $105.17
Price in other shops:
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos 4 & 5Universal Studios; Release date: 2008-11-25; DVD
Best price: $14.29
Price in other shops:
Martha Argerich - Evening TalksRelease date: 2008-07-29; DVD
Best price: $16.73
Price in other shops:
Grieg, Chopin & Saint Saens Piano Concertos / Previn, Rubinstein, London Symphony OrchestraUniversal Studios; Release date: 2006-09-12; DVD
Best price: $14.09
Price in other shops:
Julia Fischer - Saint-Saens: Violin Concerto No 3 / Greig: PianoUni; Release date: 2010-09-07; DVD
Best price: $14.77
Price in other shops:
Krystian Zimerman: Chopin/ SchubertUniversal Studios; Release date: 2008-08-12; DVD
Best price: $12.10
Price in other shops:
Bernstein/ BeethovenUniversal Studios; Release date: 2008-11-18; DVD
Best price: $112.36
Price in other shops:
![Beethoven: The Piano Concertos [DVD Video] Image](/images/Beethoven-The-Piano-Concertos-DVD-Video-B000V9B7PW-X.jpg)
Beethoven: The Piano Concertos [DVD Video]Universal Studios; Release date: 2007-11-13; DVD
Best price: $24.98
Price in other shops:
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 5 & 7 - featuring Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna PhilharmonicRelease date: 2010-05-25; DVD
Best price: $20.78
Price in other shops:
Brahms: SymphoniesUniversal Studios; Release date: 2007-10-09; DVD
Best price: $26.38
Price in other shops: