Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #178169 in Music
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

A new era in Music Listening for all genres
This is the DVD-Audio version of the Ninth Symphony from the Teldec Classics recording of the Beethoven Nine Symphonies with Daneil Barenboim and the Berliner Staatskapelle Orchestra. It is not an "Authenic Instruments" performance. It is rather a return to the more "Traditional" performance style of 40 or 50 years ago when an orchestra and chorus would perform the Ninth at a special concert or occassion. I can say that this DVD-Audio gives you the feeling of being at a special performance. The recording is quite good as is the performance. At first the full sound will be a little overwhelming, but after a while you grow accustomed to it, and wonder why your other recordings sound a little flat by comparision. Barenboim's respect for Beethoven and Willhelm Furtwangler show in this recording the music is treated with proper respect, and displays much expperience with it. As for the reference to Furtwangler the total time on the performance is 75:44 as opposed to the Gardiner recording which clocks in at 59:43. The Teldec DVD-Audio discs will play in your DVD-Video player but you wlll not be able to access all of the features on the disc, but don't let that stop you from enjoying this performance. The soloists do a fine job as well as the choir, but as I say the sound is a little overwhelming at first. One thing this DVD-Audio disc would not let me do is use the remote to go directly to a track on the disc, neither could I use the search function to get to a certain section within a track on the disc. A minor caveat. Some predict that DVD-Audio is intended to replace the CD Time will tell if this happens. one final thing many artists are going to have to learn to be a little more quiet with this new recording format it reveals everything, and I mean everything. Am I going to rush out and start over collecting my music on this new format? Perhaps when the price of the discs comes down a great deal, but then I recall that CD's were rather expensive to start with too. Come to think of it some of them still are.

Good performance, GREAT surround
Well, tidy up the house and brew up a vat or two of coffee, 'cause around 150 people will be dropping by to perform Beethoven's 9th live on request. Or so it seems. DVD Audio ROCKS! I remember when I was a teenager, almost 30 years ago, I thought I was directly connected to the muse when I put on my padded headphones to listen to Simon and Garfunkel on a vinyl LP. Now I'm sitting in the middle of 6 speakers listening to a 96KHz/24-bit surround sound recording of Ode to Joy, and I'm thinking geez, I was an ignorant putz. Unlike many DVD Audio titles, this is no mere remix of a stereo recording -- this was recorded in an acoustically optimal hall specifically for 5.1 surround. And it ROCKS! I swear I'm hearing the orchestra the way the conductor heard it, and I'm hearing the choir as if I was standing on a riser.

Breathtaking technology aside, the performance itself is very good, but less inspiring. Personally, I found the overall sound to be sharp, with not nearly enough bass. And the performance seems to focus more on precision than passion. But hey, if 150 people are willing to perform virtually live in my living room, I'm willing to give them a break. This is the recording of the 9th I'll listen to until someone bests it on DVD Audio. I'm happy with this purchase.

Unbelievable recording!
If you had any doubt to the validity of DVD Audio format (or even the 5.1 surround format) for audio recording, this disc will remove it. Once you have heard (make that...participated) in this recording, you will have experienced Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin live.

As a professional recording engineer of more than 20 years, I find the typical remixes of previous recordings into the 5.1 formats leave much to be desired. However this is not a typical remix. This album demonstrates the need for the recording industry to rethink the process of recording. Close your eyes and this recording will leave the damp stale taste of an old symphonic hall in your mouth. You'll smell rosin and have an irresistible urge to put on your white tie. The tympani on the Molto vivace is more than powerful...its what's for dinner.

If you've invested on higher-end home theater or multi-channel audio and surround, than you must complete the investment. And though smaller systems may have difficulty reproducing the experience accurately, you won't be wasting your money.