The Art of Conducting: Legendary Conductors of a Golden Era (1996 Video) User Reviews

Some Rare, Extensive Cuts--Not So Much A Typical Documentary

[museumofdave · 8/10 · 18 February 2013]

This film is really an oddity, as it is hardly a documentary in the normal sense, with little or no narration about what it is that makes a conductor legendary. On the other hand, the evidence is plain: many conductors are shown in long takes controlling the sound--the mood, the volume, the structure--as each man communicates it from the podium to each member of the orchestra, and that in itself is lesson enough. I thought I was familiar with the great ones--Toscanini, Reiner, Furtwangler, etc.--but was dazzled by the tall, quiet giant from Russia, the conductor Evgeny Mravinsky, shown conducting fairly lengthy segments from Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich. The almost two hours of music are worth watching simply as a document of great conductors no longer on the planet--except with their music. 10 stars for the music--five for the documentary aspect

Just as great as The Art of Conducting: Great Conductors of the Past

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 25 July 2014]

Both programmes make for engrossing and interesting viewing and is invaluable for any classical music fan or any aspiring musician. Great Conductors of the Past features more conductors, more insight and contrast on their personalities(though not much from a biographical standpoint) and more commentaries while still being truly fascinating with a mix of things you know and things that came as a surprise. Legendary Conductors of a Golden Era definitely could have done with more commentary and more on technical sides of being a conductor, and the sound quality on some excerpts was not as great as it could have been(Mravinsky's didn't quite show off how he handled dynamics when listening but you can clearly see it, he was very exciting yet very technically controlled and you can see it). But more time is focused on the conductors(of which there are significantly less talked about) and there's a little more music, a lot of it in full rather than in excerpt form. The footage looks good and well edited and mostly the sound is fine, surprisingly good in particular in the Furtwangler segments. There is nothing to complain about the music either, especially loved the Tull Eulenspiegel segment, and again there was a mix of old favourites and new discoveries. The most intriguing of the conducting footage were for Cellibidache, see the difference of appearance and conducting style from 1947 to 1991, the latter of which understandably restricted. The commentaries featured were all interesting and to the point, what was said was also illustrated brilliantly in the footage(particularly for Mengelberg and Furtwangler, Munch as well) which is something that is slightly improved from Great Conductors of the Past. As said on Great Conductors of the Past my favourite was Yehudi Menuhin, with the way he expresses things he is the sort of person who you can listen to for hours and still want more. Daniel Barenboim's quote for Cellibidache(about him being a mixture of "a scientist, a gypsy and a philosopher) was priceless as well, it does sound ridiculously hyperbolic in hindsight but when you see the footage actually it couldn't be more true. Like with Great Conductors of the Past, Karl Bohm's omission is surprising though. All in all, if you loved Great Conductors of the Past you will find this just as great and fascinating. 9/10 Bethany Cox