Zach Top Masterworks [DVD] [2014] [NTSC]

This box set includes some of the greatest works by Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Sanderling, Hartmut Haenchen and Erich Leinsdorf. Richard Strauss (1864-1949) and Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) were two of the finest conductors and composers of their day and they often conducted each other's music. Mahler conducted many of Strauss's works including the tone poem Ein Heldenleben featured on this set, while Strauss was a great supporter of Mahler's music, referring to himself as 'the first Mahlerian'. Despite their very different personalities, the two remained friends from their first meeting in Leipzig in 1887 as young conductors until Mahler's untimely death in 1911. Michael Tilson Thomas gives exciting performances of Till Eulenspiegel and Ein Heldenleben, along with extensive rehearsal footage and educational insights. Gramophone reported that this double-set is 'a fascinating DVD' and Michael Tilson Thomas 'an ideal narrator' (Ivan March, Gramophone, October 2011). Kurt Sanderling is known to have had a real affinity for later Mahler and his reading of Das Lied von der Erde is inherently musical. In his review for Gramophone (January 2014), Ken Smith wrote: 'Sanderling makes it all seem relatively effortless, elevating Mahler to the proverbial Olympian heights with no visible means of support.' Erich Leinsdorf had a long and distinctive career as a Mahlerian conductor. Born in Vienna (where Mahler spent ten years of his life and was appointed director of the Court Opera) just over eight months after Mahler's death, Leinsdorf played a leading role in building an audience for Mahler's symphonies during his tenure at the Boston Symphony Orchestra which came just before the Mahler boom in the 1960s. The performances on this DVD were much lauded in the classical music press (Pizzicato, Gramophone, Fanfare, Classica etc.) and received a Diapason d'or. Eye-catching packaging combined with stunningly low pricing makes this 5DVD set an unmissable bargain. Picture Format: NTSC 4:3 Sound Format: LPCM Stereo LPCM Mono Ambient Mastering Region Code: 0 Menu Languages: English