Live Concert from the Semper Opera Dresden

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful program, yet moderate perfromance....
Review: This performance of the Dresden Statskappelle from the Semper Opera, Dresden is surprisingly disappointing. Sinopoli seems to have difficulty communicating his vision to the orchestra, and as a result the orchestra sounds reserved and insecure. Of the Alpine Symphony performance, many of the great moments are troubled by insecure brass playing, a problem also evident in the Wagner. This frequent instability causes the brasses to sound individualistic rather than cohesive as a section, and cohesiveness is the key to this work. The strings are generally excellent throughout and the sound quality of the disc is ok, yet not up to par with other Arthaus DVD's.