Anne-Sophie Mutter: A Life With Beethoven (DVD)

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In contemporary times, people associate formal attire with classical music. Films like "Amadeus" and "Immortal Beloved" seem to reinforce that notion since viewers see Europeans of centuries past wearing fussy, complex combinations of shoes, pants, shirts, coats, scarves, and wigs. The thing is, those were the fashions of the past, and composers and musicians were as much avant-garde rebels as the rock stars of today. Musicians who perform classical music have been imprisoned in the same mode of thinking as their fellow 20th/21st Centurians, and I´m still waiting for young up-and-comers to wear comfortable clothing during concerts and recitals. Therefore, I´m grateful that the rock-star personalities and modern sensibilities exuded by Yo-yo Ma and Anne-Sophie Mutter are liberating, exhilarating influences.

Video:
Forward-thinking engineers in Europe (where high definition widescreen TVs have been embraced more readily than in the United States) have transferred concert footage to DVD with a 1.78:1 (anamorphic widescreen) ratio. Except for a few soft spots, the picture looks outstanding. There isn´t a sign of video noise, dust, hairs, scratches, dots, or compression problems. Everything is so clear that, in high-angle long-shots, you can clearly see Ms. Mutter´s silhouette against the rear curtain at the back of the stage.

Of course, there is little real variation to the video presentation. You see the same stage for each sonata, two tuxedos worn by Mr. Orkis, and two dresses worn by Ms. Mutter. Also, the footage has a "TV" feel rather than a "film" feel that you get with watching a theatrical feature, leading me to believe that the performances could´ve been shot on video.

Audio:
Encoded as a PCM stereo surround (uncompressed 2.0 surround) track, the audio sounds clear, crisp, and brilliant. Since these were live recordings in a concert hall, you can hear some miss if you walk up to your speakers and place your ears next to them. However, sitting where you would normally sit while watching your monitor, there seems to be no distortion at all. Understandably, the music mostly comes from the front channels, but a few echoes have been sent to the rear speakers to simulate a concert hall environment. The audience´s enthusiastic responses to the performances fill the room at the end of each sonata.

Note: Some of you may have to adjust your home theatre hardware settings to be able to decode the audio stream.

Extras:
The only real extra included on the disc is the "A Life With Beethoven" documentary. Running for about an hour, the documentary follows Ms. Mutter to museums, to concert halls, and even to the Beethoven-Haus as she talks about art, interpreting music, her beginnings as a pianist at age 5, and the conflict that she sees in Beethoven´s original manuscripts for the sonatas. There are also glimpses of Ms. Mutter and Mr. Orkis during practice sessions as they discuss their approach to the sonatas. They even reveal that they have a few disagreements about how to perform some passages, but they also show how to fuse differing styles into demonstrations of virtuosity. Surprisingly, Ms. Mutter even admits that she and Herbert von Karajan regret an early recording that they made together. (Optional German and French subtitles accompany the documentary.)

There is also a gallery of other music-oriented DVD titles available from Deutsche Grammophon (part of the Vivendi Universal conglomerate).

--Miscellaneous--
A glossy booklet provides chapter listings and essays about Beethoven and the "A Life With Beethoven" documentary in English, German, and French.

Entertainment Value:
"Anne-Sophie Mutter: A Life With Beethoven" provides a seductive taste of Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis´s collaboration on the Beethoven piano/violin sonatas. (Think of this DVD as a "single".) The Mutter/Orkis interpretations of the "Spring" and "Kreutzer" sonatas can be played repeatedly because the performers offer so many innovative shadings to the music. Those of you who enjoy these performances can buy the "Anne-Sophie Mutter: Beethoven--The Complete Violin Sonatas" DVD release (a 2-disc set), also reviewed here at DVD Town. (Beethoven--The Complete Violin Sonatas) You can also buy the 4-CD box set of the German performances. You can´t really go wrong with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis!

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