A "triumph of remembrance," wrote the daily "Die Welt" in its online
service following a stirring concert that left its audience hovering
between hushed reverence and deafening exultation. The Golden Hall of
Vienna's Musikverein was the dazzling venue for the live recording of one
of four concerts given by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Seiji
Ozawa and with Anne-Sophie Mutter. The series began in Berlin's
Philharmonie before going on to Paris, Lucerne and Vienna, where it
culminated on 28 January. And there, in Vienna, Karajan's "Berliner" never
sounded better, evoking "a time which self-confidently sought the private
and subjective in music, and believed it could find them in the mirror of
the works." (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).
The program begins with Beethoven's Violin Concerto op. 61 performed by
Anne-Sophie Mutter, who was discovered by Karajan and first played with
the Berlin Philharmonic under his direction at the Salzburg Easter
Festival in 1977. Her performance glows with a sensuality and ethereal
beauty that turn her interpretation into a memorial for two men whom she
grew up with, Beethoven and Karajan. As an encore, Mutter plays Bach's
Sarabande in D minor "in memoriam Herbert von Karajan," as she announces.
Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" is given a powerful, full-bodied account under
Seiji Ozawa, who studied under Karajan and was warmly encouraged and
supported by the maestro. Here Ozawa lets the Berlin Philharmonic - the
orchestra that Karajan headed for over 30 years - revel in the rich,
creamy orchestral sound that the maestro cultivated, lush with the savors
of all the timbres and colors of this top-class ensemble. It is a concert
that commemorates Herbert von Karajan for the ages in a supremely moving
manner.
This program is also released as Blu-ray Disc which is available in selected stores worldwide and through Amazon or JPC.