New York Philharmonic

The Joy of Christmas
$7.99
There's no denying the strengths and abilities of the people involved (Bernstein, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the NY Philharmonic), and I can't really fault the presentation either . . . . It's their whole approach to the material that I have a problem with. Now, I don't mind a little bombast in my Christmas music (the Robert Shaw Chorale's "Festival Of Carols" is one of my favorites, and the arrangements on that album are quite big), but in the case of "The Joy Of Christmas" the whole thing is so in-your-face that I want to step back from the speakers when I listen to it. This music doesn't sound very happy or festive, and is lacking in the warmth I associate with Christmastime and Christmas music. I much prefer the more chipper stuff like Percy Faith & His Orchestra or Arthur Fiedler & the Boston Pops.

The Pyongyang Concert - New York Philharmonic & Lorin Maazel [Blu-ray]
$39.99
The visit of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to North Korea was hoped to be a sign of thawing of relations between the countries and a catalyst for better communications. Sadly this has not been the case.
The formal concert by the orchestra is enjoyable but the announcements, followed by translations into Korean inbetween each item are offputting as are the generally grim, stoney faces of most of the audience - thankfully erupting into joyous applause at the end. But I guess the FF button can be used to skip through those boring translation/announcements.
It is well recorded with fine sound and high quality video although really not extraordinary apart from the unusual setting. By itself the concert would not make the disc any more attractive than the many others like it but the 52 minute very interesting accompanying documentary does make acquisition more worthwhile.
On the player used here the setup menu did not immediately appear and the remote had to be used to invoke it - a minor irritation.
So, recommended but more for its curiosity value, particularly the documentary, than for the concert which is fine, but nothing "out of the box" either content wise or audio wise.

Gustav Mahler and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra Tour America
$50.00
This book documents composer/conductor Gustav Mahler's tours with the New York Philharmonic during the 1909 and 1910 seasons. It details the conditions surrounding touring, the preparations for the tours, the outcome of each concert, and the perceptions of audiences beyond New York City, as well as a history of touring and orchestral development at the turn of the twentieth century.

The Pyongyang Concert - New York Philharmonic & Lorin Maazel
$24.99
Going perhaps further than any UN drive during the Korean War, the NY Phil takes Pyongyang for a few days. Not sure what was the reason for why this event was organized. Certainly it was a big publicity event for the orchestra which was touring in the Far East anyway and decided to add the North Korean capital to its concert list. The event is certainly not without interest. The concert certainly contains very well known and popular classical music, with interesting overtones for the audience it was being played for. Obviously the North Korean Minders did not see anything wrong with the music selection with its distinct homage to American culture.

The concert has all the standard elements of a well thought out program. The opening national anthems with both flags on stage really does set the tone for the event. This is followed by the Wagner Overture which serves as a good warm-up for the main pieces that follow. Dvorak's "New World Symphony" and Gershwins's "American in Paris" certainly have strong American connections and it is interesting to watch the North Korean audience react to the music. This is a well dressed, party member elite for sure, and it is surprising that the Dear Leader himself was not present but perhaps that would have made things too political! Do those people really enjoy the music or are their stone cold expressions merely a tolerence for it! This is hard to say. Lorin Maazel tries to be engaging, and he certainly appears more animated than at many of the concerts he conducted in NYC over the years! This is certainly a nice feather in his cap, and an important farewell statement before he hands the orchestra over to a new, and younger Alan Gilbert.

The audience finally comes a bit to life with the encore music. In particular the Korean Folk Music set to ochestra seems to move those solid expressions somewhat! The final appluase seems pretty impressive. These reserved and repressed people took a whole evening of music to finally feel some emotion. But emotion it seems to be, and even members of the orchestra felt impressed by it.

The extra features highlighting NY Phils visit to North Korean is perhaps the best part of the video. This 50 minute extra discusses some of the preperation that was involved, and provides interesting views of Pyongyang. The orchestra was treated to an impressive meal, and given a show of Korean culture, or propaganda depending on how you look at it! No doubt all the food and lighting was quite a sacrefice for the slender resources of this nation.

The concert master was invited to the central North Korean Music center and allowed to interract with some of the students there. This was interesting as the hesitation and strictly scripted responses was quite evident. This is a closed society, and in lieu of this its surprising that Western Classical Music is even considered as a national prestige item. While technically good in their interpretations of Classical Music its evident that these North Koreans lack exposure to performance technique and render somewhat robotic versions of the music. This is something one can note even with many Asian classical musicians in the West as well!

In general an historic event, well documented, with a good selection of well known classical pieces, and a very interesting look at one of the last truly closed dictatorships in the World. Worth having as an historic document of surprising emotion and interest.