Take the Hagen String
Quartet, the Sabine Meyer Wind Ensemble,
many of the first desk players of the
Berlin Philharmonic, and fill the remainder
out with young players from the Gustav
Mahler Youth Orchestra and European
Youth Orchestra and you have the potential
for a superb ensemble. Finish off the
mix by engaging Claudio Abbado as conductor
in chief and the stage is set for a
significant experience.
When I first watched
this DVD I thought that the performance
of Le Martyr de Saint Sebastien was
excellent. However, nothing prepared
me for the absolutely stunning performance
of Debussy’s masterpiece, La Mer.
Abbado has performed this work in the
concert hall before, but I have never
heard him conduct a performance like
this. It tingles with excitement from
start to finish, and the last movement
conjures up the fury of the sea like
no other performance I know.
His players are inspired
to yield playing of superb quality and
Abbado, looking much better than he
did in the Beethoven Symphony series,
but still not back to his former health,
conducts the piece with an abandon that
I have rarely heard from him. We are
indeed lucky to have this concert preserved
for us to enjoy repeatedly.
Lucerne had an orchestra
before, but it was usually made up from
players of top Swiss orchestras, engaged
for the annual Festival. The festival
was put on the map by conductors such
as Furtwängler, Walter, Karajan,
Fricsay, Kubelik and others. The contribution
made to the Festival by its own orchestra
dwindled to just a couple of concerts
each year as the star conductors started
to bring their own ensembles with them
to participate. The most famous of these
was Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic,
and it was this combination which assured
that the Lucerne was put on the map
as an international festival.
In 1998 the new Lucerne
concert hall was opened and Abbado gave
the inaugural concert there with the
Berlin Philharmonic. The hall came about
through artistic forethought and financial
backing of the Lucerne authorities.
The commitment was fantastic in this
day and age (compare the British Government
with its strategies and action plans
backed up with nothing - is it any wonder
that the state of music in this country
is haemorrhaging?). This DVD celebrated
the inaugural concert of the ensemble
in its new home.
Not only was there
to be a new hall; the Festival Committee
resolved to create a new ensemble, specifically
for the Festival. The plans that are
in place for this ensemble are exciting:
overseas tours, recording sessions,
educational activities and the like.
I can only wish them every success and
urge you to see this superb DVD which
has production qualities and sound quality
to match the performances. Very highly
recommended.
John Phillips
Lucerne Festival Orchestra/Claudio Abbado.
[119.00]
