Bruno Walter - The Maestro The Man (2003) [DVD5 NTSC]
Video: 4:3 NTSC B & W
Format: Black & White, Classical, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Video Artists Int'l
DVD Release Date: April 22, 2003
Run Time: 55 minutes
Special Features
In rehearsal with the Vancouver International Festival Orchestra: Brahms Symphony No. 2, 1st and 4th movements (7/16/1958)
In conversation with Albert Goldberg
Bonus audio-only performance of Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique (1939)
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VAI's DVD is a fascinating look at conductor Bruno Walter (1876-1962) with whom I have been familiar for over 30 years from his Columbia Symphony recordings of Beethoven and Brahms Symphonies and Wagner Overtures and Preludes. Here, Walter is shown conducting a July 1958 rehearsal of the Vancouver International Festival Orchestra (Vancouver, British Columbia)in movements I and IV of Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D Major, which is very interesting. Walter was nearly 82 when this was filmed, and the previous year he had a serious heart attack which nearly ended his career. Walter had just retired from conducting concerts on a regular basis, but was still making recordings.
The film quality is below the best television had in 1958: black and white, sometimes slightly blurry, some of the shots too distant for maximum impact. But the picture is clear most of the time, and Walter is quite dynamic on the podium. He speaks quickly and clearly, and though he is kind and polite, one is never in doubt about what he wants, or when he isn't pleased with something, i.e. "the flute is much too loud!" He knows the music from memory, and asks the violins to play a certain passage with a given bowing stroke different from what they were doing in one spot, and constantly works/re-works some parts, to his liking. The sound is acceptable mono, but not as good as his Columbia Symphony recording of this work.
There is a very interesting interview of Bruno Walter with Los Angeles Times music critic Arnold Goldberg in the back garden of Walter's Beverly Hills home. Walter talks about his career as a conductor in younger years in Germany and Austria, mentions conductor Karl Muck, his personal disdain of serial and 12 tone music, his thoughts on jazz. He talks about how a conductor has to be more than a musician, technician, leader, a combination of all the above and more, and how a violinist, cellist, pianist, etc. can practice in private perfecting his/her technique, yet a conductor can only really "practice" with a 80-100 piece orchestra, and personalites can get in the way: difficulties of working with other people. He talks about California, and why he decided to live there. These are very interesting topics, and Walter speaks clearly and plainly to Mr. Goldberg's questions. One can tell both of them are enjoying the interview and discussion.
The DVD concludes with Walter's rehearsal of mt. IV of Brahms' Symphony 2, back in Vancouver. Walter is again dynamic, stopping the orchestra frequently to talk about articulation and staccato, where the trumpets and horns are too loud, etc. The closing credits are shown as the coda of IV is played by the orchestra with great brio, and concludes with the rousing closing chords played by the orchestra.
Despite less than state of the art sound and picture quality, I found this fascinating and will watch it again and again. I'm also going to pull out my Walter/Columbia Symphony (CBS) in Brahms Symphony 2 for a listen, and play Walter's Brahms 1,3,and 4 while I'm at it.
PS - VAI includes a bonus performance of Walter/Paris Conservatoire Orchestra in Berlioz' SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE, recorded in 1939. This is a mono, audio only recording, (no visuals) but a great bonus of 45 minutes of so of music. The sound, derived from 78 RPM records, has been remastered, and is very pleasant to listen to: I really enjoyed it, a great example of Walter with a French orchestra from an earlier period in his life and career.
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