BUY

General		Extras
Category	Music	Theatrical Trailer(s)	None
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	None
Year Released	1999	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	97:55 minutes	Other Extras	Programme Notes Biography
RSDL/Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region	1,2,3,4,5,6	Director	Herbert Von Karajan
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Classic Sony Music	Starring
RPI	$34.95	Music	Johann Strauss (Father and Son) Josef Strauss

    We are treated to front row seats in the great Vienna Concert Hall whilst Karajan does his thing, and I must say that this is a most pleasing and uplifting performance. Predominantly polkas and waltzes, this is a very lively and energetic concert and one which Karajan himself was most anxious to be part of. Indeed, not being a young man, he was in ill-health leading up to this time, and many feared he would not be well enough to work since he cancelled many performances leading up to this. In fact, he was saving his strength and gave his all for this bash, and it shows, with his arms waving around even more vigorously than usual.

    The thing which really pleases me about this DVD, however, is that it has the incredible An der schonen, blauen Donau, otherwise known as the Blue Danube waltz. This is my all-time favourite classical piece, quite simply because I have heard it countless times since it is the backbone of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and every time I hear it I cannot help but visualize that part of the movie. Considering that I have only every heard that piece in mono, from a well-worn VHS, the clarity, force, detail and presence of the version here made the hairs on my neck stand up and was thrilling.

    The performance consists of the following pieces:
 

Video

     Quite unlike the closed quarter studio recordings of the previous discs in this series which I have reviewed, the live video recording on offer here is of rather poor quality by comparison, even though this is PAL where the others were NTSC. The main problem with this transfer is the lack of sharpness. Indeed, the very first opening long shots of the concert hall filled with people gave me a sense of dread which I never really recovered from for the rest of the performance, at least visually. The image is at time dreadfully soft depending on which angle is being presented, which tends to suggest that not all cameras were equal when this was shot. Too much edge-enhancement also goes a long way in reducing fine detail to a washed out, almost VHS-looking picture. However, the picture is certainly watchable, although how many times you will want to see ballerinas doing their thing is something of a variable, and something I really only want to watch once.

    The colours were a bit variable, mostly being slightly undersaturated. Skin tones were also a problem at times, sometimes appearing reddish in hue.

    There were no MPEG nasties, nor were there any other standout artefacts. They were probably hidden by the poor image quality anyway. 

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain
Film-to-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The recording is claimed to be entirely digital, from start to finish, earning it a DDD status, something only usually seen on CDs when the producers can be bothered to list it. Given that Karajan was somewhat of a pioneer in the field of digital recordings, I believe this statement implicitly. Certainly, the sound quality is very good and if turned up will grace your living room with a full sound that is sure to please.

    As with other discs in this series, the Dolby Digital soundtrack is wonderful and a testament to the format's ability to reproduce high quality multi-channel music recordings. I truly felt a part of this performance, almost as if I were there in the crowd. As musicians prepare for each piece, small taps, coughs and sundry noises are sprinkled around the room, giving a very real sense of "being there." Helping this effect further is a great sense of imaging from the front stage, with particular instrument groups localizable, and ambience from the rather large performance hall spilling into the rears. There are no discrete instruments in the rears, rather reverberations and echoes from the front filling out the rear quarters with just enough presence to widen the front stage yet still keeping the performance firmly in front. It goes without saying that this effect is simply not present in the otherwise very good Linear PCM mix.

    My subwoofer, being driven from the left and right speakers, had a lovely evening with this disc, although it is important to note that there is no dedicated .1 channel, and this may or may not be a problem for you depending on your configuration. Suffice it to say that there is bass-a-plenty on this recording, and to fully appreciate this you should have either full range speakers for all channels and/or an integrated subwoofer.
 

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue	N/A
Audio Sync	N/A
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Performance Selections (16)

Programme Notes

Biography

    The video transfer is quite poor, with the main problem being a lack of detail and sharpness. Still, it is watchable.

    The Dolby Digital soundtrack is excellent, and imparts a real sense of space and live presence.

    There are some notes, but nothing much in the extras section.
 

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall