A Musical Journey – Italy: A Musical
Tour of Tuscany, Umbria and Rome.
Chapter 1: Orvieto. Lake Bolsena and Tuscan Landscape
Chapter 2: Rome and Caracala Baths
Chapter 3: Montalcino, Church of St Antimo and Landscape
Chapter 4: Rome
Chapter 5: Landscape, Montepulciano, Siena, Florence and Tuscan landscape
Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony. Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra/Anthony Bramhall.
Naxos CD 8.550055
Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. Takako Nishizaki (violin) Slovak Philharmonic
Orchestra/Kenneth Jean. Naxos CD 8.550153
No recording dates or venues given
Director: George Gacot
Cameraman: H.T. Aschwanden
Video Format: NTSC. Colour 4:3
Audio Formats: DTS 5.1. Dolby Digital 5.1. PCM Stereo 2.0
NAXOS DVD 2110276 [57.26]
The variety of these Naxos Musical Journeys is immense, regrettably
so is the quality. I recognise that they seek a marriage between existing
audio recordings of music and existing photographic images. That said, there
seems to be a discordance between my expectations, and those of others I talk
to, and what we actually get. I recently awarded one such issue (Norway 2.110274)
the imprimatur of Recording of the Month. There the conjunction of
the music and the many images of related places struck an adroit note. In
the present case I was again seeking images of the places actually mentioned
on the box as well as knowing something of the diversity of countryside and
architecture and history that abounds. For example, I hoped to see images
of Siena; blink and I would have missed them (CH.5). Meanwhile, in the thirty
minutes of an enjoyable performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto
most of the images were of clouds at dusk, daybreak and during an electrical
storm. I felt short changed by these pictures, which were frankly tedious
from an area rich in places of great beauty and interest. At least there were
images of Florence, the shops on the Ponte Vecchio, the magnificent Duomo
cathedral church of Santa Maria del Fiore in pristine and cleaned state, and
without scaffolding, along with the gilded bronze doors of the Baptistery
and the Uffizi. Nothing though of the Boboli Gardens and nearby Palace, or
the statue of the adolescent David.
Earlier there were interesting photographic images matched to the craggy landscape
and battlements of Tuscany and its towns and vineyards. It would have been
nice to roam the streets rather than flit past over the towns (CH.1). The
extensive Baths of Caracala, famous for summer opera performances as well
as a concert by The Three Tenors, gets more detailed treatment. One
can only regret that the remains lack the marble and mosaic cladding long
gone (CH.2). The final movement of Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony accompanies
a tour of Rome by day and night (CH.4). The scenes include the Spanish Steps,
the Trevi Fountain, the mighty Colosseum and Arch, the Pantheon along with
the Dome of St Peter’s and the great piazza. These images and music with associations
and perhaps mood should, I contend, be the basis of these Musical Journeys,
not endless clouds or fields; these may have a part to play, but certainly
not a dominant one.
Robert J Farr
In an area rich in historical and archaeological interest, too many of the
visual images are tedious and lacking in relevance. They could be anywhere.
see also review by Ian Lace