Behold! - Ozawa/BSO M9th concert DVD out this year

[John Kim]

The wait is finally over :

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/product/detail/3808225

This was Ozawa's farewell concert in Boston in 2002. The M9th concert was a huge success, easily the best Ozawa had ever given including his two recordings on Philips and Sony. Those of us who saw bootleg videos of the concert can testify. It was aired in Japan, so I had my friend there to tape it from TV.

Ozaw'a Mahler is very special to me and this M9th is no exception. Broad (the Finales clocks over 26 min.), gorgeous, rich string sound, golden and heavy brass, strong percussion were all married with Ozawa's unique interpretation. The Boston players gave everything they got for the conductor who was leaving the town for good.

I can't wait.

John,

[barry guerrero]

Great. That'll make a nice bookend to the "live" Ozawa/SKO Mahler 9 we saw in S.F. together.

[James Meckley]

John,

Do you have any information on the possibility of a domestic (US) release of this? Failing that, what are the implications of buying a Japanese-release DVD? Is there region encoding to contend with, or are the non-Hollywood titles region free?

James

[John Kim]

James,

I normally order CDs and DVDs directly from Japan using the hmv.co.jp website.

They charge a steep price for S&H but the package comes in the international express so you get it in just 3-4 days.

I am not sure if it will be released domestically. I very much doubt it will be.

John,

[John Kim]

If I were you, I'd pass up the Norrington and save my money for the Ozawa DVD.

It's that good. If I recall from my video, the DVD will have a great look - the camera work was very fluent, the inside of the Boston Hall is Gothic and beautiful and you can see the aging Everett Firth pounding his timpani (he and Ozawa exchange a warm hug after the concert).

I believe it was a Japanese production done by NHK.

John,

[John Kim]

Ozaw'a Mahler is very special to me and this M9th is no exception. Broad (the Finales clocks over 26 min.), gorgeous, rich string sound, golden and heavy brass, strong percussion were all married with Ozawa's unique interpretation. The Boston players gave everything they got for the conductor who was leaving the town for good.

I can't wait.

John,

Actually, Ozawa took as long as 28 min. in the Finale, longer than the 1st movt. which lasted a little over 27 min.

John,

[Russell]

This is great news, John.  I also doubt very much that it will be released in the US--it looks like it's being released by the NHK, and I don't think they've released any DVDs over here.  It would probably have to be licensed from them by some enterprising US label (VAI or Kultur, perhaps, though I'm just wildly speculating)--seems unlikely to me, but you never know.  I wonder what took NHK so long to release it?

Russell

[John Kim]

I wonder what took NHK so long to release it?
Russell

My speculation is that the final few minutes were marred by an excessive coughing from the audience and Ozawa wouldn't approve the release for that reason initially. I hope NHK somehow filtered out the noise for this release.

John,

[James Meckley]

...it looks like it's being released by the NHK, and I don't think they've released any DVDs over here.

Russell

Russell,

If you know, are the previous NHK Japanese releases playable on standard US DVD players (coded "0" or "ALL"), or do you require either a special player or a "hacked" US player?

James

[Leo K]

This is one of the great M9's...thanks for the heads up John!

--Todd

[Russell]

I wonder what took NHK so long to release it?
Russell

My speculation is that the final few minutes were marred by an excessive coughing from the audience and Ozawa wouldn't approve the release for that reason initially. I hope NHK somehow filtered out the noise for this release.

John,

Ah yes--I remember that!  Very disrupting.  Maybe they found a way to overlay that part of the audio track during those moments, or perhaps they found some other way to reduce the volume of those coughs.  I guess we'll find out soon enough!

Russell

[Russell]

...it looks like it's being released by the NHK, and I don't think they've released any DVDs over here.

Russell

Russell,

If you know, are the previous NHK Japanese releases playable on standard US DVD players (coded "0" or "ALL"), or do you require either a special player or a "hacked" US player?

James

I don't have any of the previous NHK DVD releases, but if they're Region '0' or 'All', they should play fine, as Japan and the US are on the same NTSC video standard.  I remember reading somewhere that Japan uses a slightly different black level (or something like that--can't remember exactly), so the colors might look slightly washed out.  I've got a few region-free Japanese classical DVDs myself (from Universal) and they uniformly look that way (easily corrected with the TV's contrast/brightness contols), though they play perfectly fine in all other respects.

Russell

[sperlsco]

HMV also shows a Blu-Ray disc forthcoming, but it is $60+!  The Blu-Ray disc looks to be "ALL Region" encoded -- so hopefully that bodes well for the DVD. 

I'll almost certainly buy one of these, as I am a big fan of Ozawa's previous commercial M9's with the BSO and SKO.  I know that I also have this farewell concert BSO M9 from an Opera Share download -- but the sound quality detracted from my enjoyment. 

[Russell]

HMV also shows a Blu-Ray disc forthcoming, but it is $60+!  The Blu-Ray disc looks to be "ALL Region" encoded -- so hopefully that bodes well for the DVD. 

I'll almost certainly buy one of these, as I am a big fan of Ozawa's previous commercial M9's with the BSO and SKO.  I know that I also have this farewell concert BSO M9 from an Opera Share download -- but the sound quality detracted from my enjoyment. 

Great news, Scott!  I might spring for the Blu-ray, too, expensive though it is.  There's also an M1 with Ozawa/SKO (coupled with the 'Symphonie Fantastique') on an NHK Blu-ray, but at the same ridiculously high price--it got a very nice mention in a recent 'Gramophone' magazine.  BTW, Japan is in the same Blu-ray region as the US (Region A), so we'll be OK with these discs.

Russell

[John Kim]

HMV also shows a Blu-Ray disc forthcoming, but it is $60+!  The Blu-Ray disc looks to be "ALL Region" encoded -- so hopefully that bodes well for the DVD. 

I'll almost certainly buy one of these, as I am a big fan of Ozawa's previous commercial M9's with the BSO and SKO.  I know that I also have this farewell concert BSO M9 from an Opera Share download -- but the sound quality detracted from my enjoyment. 

Blue-ray is even better!!!! 

John,