Concerto for Orchestra, BB 123

Composer: Bartok, Bela

Conductor: Boulez, Pierre

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

DVD Producer: Moller, Tobias

Television Director: Coles, Bob

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Catalogue Number: EuroArts5609

UPC: 880242560988

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Discovering Masterpieces of Classical Music is a series of audio-visual concert guides that allow the listener to experience and enjoy great music from the Baroque period up to the present day in an entirely new way, offering a combination of documentary material and a complete performance of the featured work. The Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and other eminent musical bodies join forces with acclaimed experts, famous soloists and outstanding conductors to highlight the distinctive features of twenty famous masterpieces by the most important composers through first class concert recordings. Each introductory feature is clearly designed and provides abundant information. Examples from the musical score help the viewer to follow the themes and rhythms and to understand the structure of the work. New film material documenting the birthplaces of the composers and locations of composition is combined with historic film material, works of art and original manuscripts. It allows the viewer to embark on a journey back to the time and place of composition and informs him about the life of the composer while providing a complete introduction to the work.

The Berlin Philharmonic present Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra recorded live at the orchestra's annual Europa Concert in Lisbon in 2003. The work is brilliantly orchestrated and demonstrates a multitude of compositional techniques. Bartók drew creative inspiration from the heterogeneous traditions of symphonic and folk music, and the piece calls for supreme virtuosity on the part of the musicians. The conductor Pierre Boulez, who is also one of the most important composers of our time, demonstrates ?EUR" musically on the podium and in interview in the documentary - why this work is unparalleled for its compositional mastery amongst contemporary works.