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- Cat.no: SVD 48421
- Cert: E
- Running time: 43’30
- Year: 1985
- Pressing: 1998
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 4 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo
- Languages: N/A
- Programme Notes: English, French, German
- Presented in Fullscreen
- 16:9-enhanced: No
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Scene index, Biography, Programme Notes
Herbert Von Karajan: Dvorak: Symphony No.9 in E Minor, Op.95 “From The New World” features the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in a 44-minute performance recorded between February 6th-9th, 1985, at the Grober Musikvereinssaal, Vienna, Austria.
The picture quality of this disc easily matches Sony’s Michael Jackson DVD, looking as crystal clear as a brilliant broadcast TV picture. There’s no artifacts on display and the average bitrate is an extremely high 8.24Mb/s. Given that the performance is displayed in 4:3, the disc is obviously not anamorphic – a process used for prints with a ratio of 16:9 or wider which allows extra resolution on widescreen televisions.
Sound options are available for Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1. The quality could not be bettered as the orchestra belt out this classic work.
Extras :
There are 4 chapters, one for each movement, so I have no complaints about there being so few as you’re unlikely to want to join in the music part-way through. The track listing is as follows :
1. Adagio – Allegro motto (10’33)
2. Largo (12’49)
3. Scherzo. Molto vivace (8’44)
4. Allegro con fuoco (11’24)
For a programme without dialogue, there is no ‘language’ as such. However, the subtitles menu relates to the biography and programme notes and are available in English, French and German.
The first option displays an extensive seven-page biog of conductor Herbert Von Karajan, while the latter provides nine pages of information about the composer Antonin Dvorak.
The menu is static and navigation between the different sub-menus is problem-free.
Overall, Dvorak’s Symphony No.9 “From The New World”, is one of my favourite pieces of classical music and the excellent presentation makes this a great demo disc. For those not quite into classical music, it may jog your memory to know that the first movement was partly used for a dog food commercial many years ago, while the second movement recalls the music from the Hovis adverts, which (Dom puts his Trivia hat on) were directed by Ridley and Tony Scott. FILM : ***** PICTURE QUALITY: ***** SOUND QUALITY: ***** EXTRAS: ** ——————————- OVERALL: ****
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
Check out the Sony Music DVD Web site and the Sony Classical Web site.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.