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 - Amazing!Okay, I bought this DVD for the Schnittke piece only. Hard to find a performance of his work on DVD or video. This is incredible! Schnittke's viola concerto is one of my favorite pieces and I have many recordings of it. I think this is the best rendition I have ever heard. Bashmet is simply amazing! The sound quality is excellent. I will probably watch the other two pieces eventually but who knows. If you are into Schnittke, you NEED this! Rating: - 20th century concert performance at its bestThis is my favorite among the 120 classical concerts I have on DVD (mostly imports). The sound is amazing, the playing by the VPO impeccable, and the conducting by Gergiev is that of a man who feels this music in his bones. Other than a very lazy tempo for the opening of the Prokofiev Symphony #1, he nails everything he attempts. The camera, of course, loves him as much as it does the entire orchestra, but music like this allows such indulgence. The Schnittke is new to me, but the world's foremost violist certainly must know his late friend's only concerto for viola. There is no want of emotion and commitment. It is in The Firebird that Gergiev creates the performance of a lifetime with his Viennese compatriots. All the textural nuances of this amazing score (the complete ballet) are highlighted without losing the thread of the piece as a whole. Most memorably, he rouses the VPO to inspired and appropriately overwhelming sonic splendor in the finale. No one involved left anything on the stage after this performance. If you love The Firebird, this is the performance of a lifetime and the sound, which is highest state of the art, will leave you breathless. I can't recommend this DVD strongly enough.
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