Rousing live performances at a bargain price This rousing disc of great music sells for pennies at Amazon Marketplace, although I don't know if every seller is including the bonus DVD featuring Georg Solti in the William Tell Over. and the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra. Gergiev's contribution is inspired. There's no other way on records to hear his La Mer, so full of energy and (unusually for this work) outward emotion. The orchestra, a compilation of the world's select orchestras, sounds as fine as you'd expect.
I'm sorry for the snotty, back-handed reviewer here who finds the Mendelssohn too fast--it's not, being as lively and effervescent reading of the Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream as one could hope for. The excellence of Gergiev's Petrushka is a given. This particular live performance begins breathlessly fast, a far cry from Monteux's classic recording with the Boston Sym., and Gergiev conducts in broad outline quite often rather than emphasizing detail--this is propulsive music-making that doesn't try to be slow enough for ballet.
In all, an extremely generous CD/DVD pairing whose proceeds go to world peace. But even if they didn't, the cause of peace is beautifully served by the spirit of these concerts.
They all hate poverty, war and injustice.... I'm always a little leary of groups "for" or "against" the obvious. "Rockers against Drug Abuse." "Consortium for a Greener Earth", "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" (think about it...does anyone of conscience, regardless of his views on meat or fur, believe *he* treats animals *un*ethically?), etc. So the title, "World Orchestra for Peace" got my usual response at first: a roll of my eyes and the question, "So where is the World Orchestra for War?"
But the never-a-dull-moment Gergiev conducts them, or at least has the last couple times they've assembled themselves, and so I thought they deserved a listen.
The band consists of "bests" from orchestras from all over the world. (Sir Georg Solti wanted to put together a "United Nations of musicians", but it doesn't appear that they have difficulty following through, so those choosing the musicians must have sought a much higher quality than he was initially thinking). This you can definitely hear. There is a crispness and clarity in both the DVD and disc (ultimately, different sets of musicians) that one senses would not have been possible without such a degree of virtuosity.
I was pleased about Gergiev's selections on the disc. The Stravinsky highlights him in his element. But "La Mer", recorded at the 2000 Proms by the BBC, is gorgeous, the waves of the sea so clearly discernible in the ebb and flow of the orchestras crescendoes in "Jeux de vagues" I could see the foam atop them. The Mendelssohn seemed rushed, and I got the sense that giving this wild, physically dominating Ossetian a piece about magic and faeries was like loosing a bull in a china shop. To the same effect, I'm afraid.
The DVD is very pleasing, if only for bringing Sir Georg to life again. I know no one who can listen to Guillaume Tell with a straight face, so why they included that I'm not sure, but it is conducted and played flawlessly. As is Bartok.
There are other German selections (read: Wagner) that bring out Gergiev's strengths, if he is concerned about avoiding a Russian-only playlist for the next CD for this group.
Speaking of which, Decca might think of another title for the group AND CD, such as "World Orchestra: There Will Be Peace If You Buy Our CDs". Or, even better, "World Orchestra: There WON'T Be Peace UNLESS You Buy Our CDs."
A bargain for Peace A DVD of Sir Georg conducting the first concert by the World Orchestra for Peace and a CD conducted by his designated successor, Valery Gergiev. Two for the price of one and wonderful performances by a dream orchestra, whose players sound as if they have been together for years (the players are not the same on the two discs). Solti starts off with a superbly exciting "William Tell Overture" and gives a wonderfully poetic interpretation of Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra". "La Mer" is the highlight of Gergiev's concert but "Petrushka" is vivid and exciting too.He is the only living conductor worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as Solti. This was my personal "Record of the Year, 2005". Snap it up before it is deleted!
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