Wilson Pereira wrote:

>I would second your recommendation and I wouldn't buy any of these SONY
>DVD issues (Beethoven's 9th and Dvorak's 9th), not only because of the
>poor timing, but especially because of the poor filming.  When the focus
>of the camera is always on the conductor and you never have the feeling
>of a live performance, everything is spoiled.

I'd disagree.  At least the Beethoven 9th DVD which I have I find quite
satysfying.  It's not true that you are waching Karajan all the time.
Almost all the shots are divided by the shots of orchestra without Karajan.
And there is a feeling of a live performance.  It is maybe just to say
however that all the camera views are almost always very static and
repetitive, it's as if the filmmaker set 7 cameras in the fixed spots and
did not move them at all, so you see mostly 7 same views.  But I find it
just that Karajan is the center part of it, specially that conductor in the
performance is directing and therefore is the most important person.

>After all, everything you get is Karajan's egotism and narcissism.

And after all, it's Karajan and I buy the video issue only beacuse I
want to see him, not the orchestra which members are anonymus to me.  It
was Karajan and his art who was so special that somebody has filmed the
performance, and since I had no opportunity to see him live I enjoy the
production that focuses on him.  If the Beethoven work itself was the only
important thing, I'd put a CD in my CDplayer.

And last but not least the way he conducted this symphony I find more
mature and overally better than his early performances.

Maciej Dziekiewicz
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