Zubin Mehta with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Rehearsal DVD

Without being at all tricksy or showy, Arthaus Musik's In Rehearsal documentary series offers enthralling, profound insights into music-making of the highest calibre. In this case, with Zubin Mehta conducting the Israel Philharmonic in a rehearsal of Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel, those insights are sharpened by the knowledge that the orchestra is playing the piece for the very first time: the music of Richard Strauss had been banned in Israel until 1994 as a reaction to his involvement with the Nazi party. Thus, though the initial run-through is somewhat scratchy (and... causes an hilariously neurotic hissy fit on the part of the principal horn player), the fact that the ensemble has no performance tradition of this piece means that every phrase has to be taken apart, explained, and put together again. We therefore see Mehta's ability to make a phrase more comic or fuller of pathos by simple nips and tucks of note lengths, and hear his reasons for shaping the piece the way he does. The documentary also offers a window on Mehta's genial but steely relationship with the orchestra: when he criticises the first flute (who is auditioning for a place in the orchestra), her terrified face is like a portrait by Francis Bacon. On the DVD: Mehta rehearses the orchestra in English, and the documentary has subtitles in French, German and Spanish. There are also four trailers for other Arthaus music videos. --Warwick Thomson [show more]

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