11/25/2015

Christmas Idea: Berlin Philharmonic on DVD in Exotic Locales

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 6:36 pm

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If you have any classical music lovers in your family or circle of friends, who might appreciate a (relatively) inexpensive DVD set from the Berlin Philharmonic for Christmas, you’ve come to the right place.

Every year the Berlin Philharmonic performs a “EuropaKonzert” at some exotic locale in Europe. As explained here:

The purpose of this unique concert series is to perform at places which have a special cultural history and compel through their stunning architecture in order to provide the audience with a visual experience out of the ordinary.

The locales include the Escorial in Madrid (1992), the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg (1996), the Vasa Museum in Stockholm (1998), St. Irene Church in Istanbul (2001), and Hieronymus Monastery of Belém in Lisbon (2003).

I am currently listening to fantastic soloists performing the Brahms Triple Concerto in a stark former factory in Berlin called the Kabelwerk Oberspree. Earlier this evening I listened to Verdi, Berlioz, Schubert, and Wagner performed in the Basilica at El Escorial, the magnificent monastery/royal palace outside Madrid. El Escorial is where many famous kings and queens of Spain are buried, including Phillip II (who had it built), and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (who took on Martin Luther).

Above: El Escorial

The complete 25-DVD set from 1991-2014 set can be bought for $107 (about $4 per DVD) here.

I get nothing out of this, other than the satisfaction of knowing I have made classical music fans happy.

Comments (12)

12 Responses to “Christmas Idea: Berlin Philharmonic on DVD in Exotic Locales”

1. Ding.

   Patterico (86c8ed) — 11/25/2015 @ 6:36 pm

   
   

2. Can’t wait to get the disc with the works of Wagner performed live from a mosque in Molenbeek.

   JVW (d60453) — 11/25/2015 @ 6:47 pm

   
   

3. You can hear Haydn, Mozart, and Berlioz performed at the Hagia Eirene Church in Istanbul.

   Oh, you were joking.

   Patterico (86c8ed) — 11/25/2015 @ 6:49 pm

   
   

4. The Berlin Philharmonic recently did all of Beethoven’s symphonies over a week at Carnegie Hall. It happened to coincide with a week I was there, so Jared and I saw the 2d and 5th. Their performance of the 5th was phenomenal, as were the acoustics

   aphrael (4eae3a) — 11/25/2015 @ 7:00 pm

   
   

5. I’m not sure that it’s right to commit this cultural expropriation.

   nk (dbc370) — 11/25/2015 @ 7:03 pm

   
   

6. Hey, Gustavo Dudamel of the LA Philharmonic is one of the conductors in this series, as is another former LA Phil director Zubin Mehta! And neither Randy Newman nor Ravi Shankar makes a guest appearance!

   I recently received a gift certificate to Amazon, so I’m definitely going to consider this. I’ve been to a few of the locations where the concerts were filmed.

   JVW (d60453) — 11/25/2015 @ 7:12 pm

   
   

7. Damn, you can only buy it from the Berlin Philharmonic website apparently. Shipping is $9 if you go without tracking and insurance and about $16 with. Probably still worth it.

   JVW (d60453) — 11/25/2015 @ 7:18 pm

   
   

8. Not to detract. But presented for your enjoyment.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eweNfeaztoY

   Schubert Rosamunde Overture

   Vienna Philharmonic conductor:Riccardo Muti
   2005 Japan tour

   You can’t buy this at any price that I’m aware of. But the Berlin Philharmonic…

   Steve57 (c38dcb) — 11/25/2015 @ 7:27 pm

   
   

9. I’m not qualified to judge music. I only know if it makes me feel good to be alive.

   Steve57 (c38dcb) — 11/25/2015 @ 7:31 pm

   
   

10. And what would be Christmas without this.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=676&v=OZ5Se2ErinU

    Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker New York City Ballet, 1993

    Steve57 (c38dcb) — 11/25/2015 @ 8:36 pm

    
    

11. Shipping is $9 if you go without tracking and insurance and about $16 with.

    I went without. It was fine.

    Patterico (86c8ed) — 11/25/2015 @ 9:23 pm

    
    

12. https://shop.berliner-philharmoniker.de/25-years-europakonzert.html

    The above link provided in this post takes me to a page that says it cannot be found. From the comments, it appears that other readers have found the correct page. I cannot find a DVD collection anywhere on that site — perhaps they have sold out and deleted the link.

    I did find DVDs for individual years (but not a complete set) at Amazon, and Google Shopping has links to many different sellers for individual years. Collecting a full set would not be difficult, but I think it would be considerably more expensive than the $107 set that Patterico linked.

    Does anyone have a working link to a page that sells the full set at an affordable price?

    pa (c29c82) — 11/29/2015 @ 12:51 pm