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Rating: 
Summary: Piano enthusiast
Review: Although this DVD is nice and reveals the efforts put forth behind the scenes, Tchaikovsky's piano concerto has been performed better than that seen on this video. Stanislav Ioudenitch (performer) smeared several notes throughout the concerto. You don't need to be a seasoned pianist or have a trained ear to pick up on several sloppy key strikes. He doesn't really stay with the tempo of the orchestra at times, prefering speed over accuracy. I don't know if he was nervous or had too much adrenalin running through him, but, his hands tremble (noticeably) in sections of the 1st movement. Having said this, I'm unable to play this piano concerto just yet, and he did great for a composition of this magnitude.
Rating: 
Summary: Poorly Packaged, a shame for Harmonia Mundi
Review: Harmonia Mundi's debut DVD release and it is a shameful historical testament to their label--concerned about costs I suppose. Poor tracking capabilities onto the DVD (none as a matter of fact), poor packaging with a very disgraceful label with cheap cover/liner notes (appears to have been reproduced on mediocre equipment). In short, not worth the expense unless you are a collector of this type of recital. I suspect Harmonia Mundi wanted to rest upon the 'laurel of performance' and this aspect is ok. But for the cost of this item they should have brought quality of 'all' aspects to bear. I had to--upon reflection--change and edit my above text. The performances onto the DVD especially side two (the dual Gold Medalists) of Olga Kern and Stanislav Loudenitch are magnificent. James Conlon does a particularly magnificent job in conducting Olga Kerns performance. It is apparent by watching and listening that the Rachmaninov piece is a labor of love to Ms. Kern: It is palatable in this performance: Very emotive. I guess he listened to the expressions of this love of the piece by Ms. Kern and complied with passionate direction of the skilled symphony--a performance you will not soon forget! The film contained on side one of the DVD is of high quality. Great skill was used in the documentary stylings and the individual portraits of the Van Cliburn competition participants was fine. Better than many Hollywood big ticket box office draws. So I amend my harsh criticism and I love the DVD. The packaging leaves much to be desired thereby lowering the 'star' quality.
Rating:
Summary: Praise for Olga Korn
Review: I searched out this DVD after seeing the last portion of it on a PBS broadcast. I love it BECAUSE of the facial expressions and body contortions which Olga Korn contributes to her performance-- for me it enhances and does not subtract from the enjoyment of the music.
Rating:
Summary: Great Video
Review: The documentary is excellent, but the best part is Stanislaw Ioudenitch playing the Tchiakovsky concerto in its entirety. Amazing virtuosity!
I orginally bought this video because I am a major fan of the Rachmaninoff concerto, but I was very dissapointed by Olga Kern's performance; not so much by the way she plays the piece, but by her facial expressions which have caused me to skip through all of the footage of her playing. The documentary side of the disc has some GREAT footage, although none of it is full footage. For example there is a great 2 min clip of Ioudenitch playing Liszt's Hungarian rhapsody no 6, but all they show is the last 2 minutes with all the quick octaves, which is fine, but it would be nice to see full footage for sure.
Otherwise, Great DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: Concerto performances 5 stars, documentary not as great
Review: The PBS broadcast of the 1997 Van Cliburn Competition was a superior documentary than the one found on the current DVD. The 1997 had more in-depth and more intriguing interviews with competitors than the 2001 one. Not all the 2001 interviews are bad, but a couple of the competitors come off with rather uninteresting personalities and too much time is spent on them, while not enough screen time is given to some of the pianists that really interested me. Also, the musical excerpts in the documentary are far too few; brevity of the excerpts is understandable, but what worked quite well in the 1997 documentary was a montage of musical excerpts.
As for the Ioudenitch and Kern concerto performances, these alone were worth the price of the DVD. It's true that both pianists make a lot of facial gestures that could be distracting to the listener watching them, but their performances are worthy of the gold medals they received. These concertos played by these two performers are not available except on DVD (at the time of writing). And Kern delivers a far more interesting Rachmaninov 3rd than Jon Nakamatsu did in 1997.
Rating:
Summary: EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCES AND DOCUMENTARY
Review: THIS DVD IS GREAT. IT GIVES A GOOD LOOK INTO THE LIVES OF THE CONTESTANTS DURING THE VAN CLIBURN PIANO COMPETITION. THE BONUS FEATURE PERFORMANCES ARE EXQUISITE. OLGA KERN IS MAGNIFICENT WITH RACHMANINOFF'S 3RD PIANO CONCERTO AND STANISLAV IOUDENICH IS GREAT WITH TCHAIKOVSKY'S 1ST PIANO CONCERTO.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite DVDs
Review: This is a two-sided DVD, with interviews and performance excerpts of the 11th Van Cliburn finalists as they proceed to the finish on side one. The artists were brilliant; it seems impossible to pick the "best". The judges made an unprecedented decision to choose two Gold Medalists, Olga Kern from Russia, and Stanislav Ioudenitch from Uzbekistan. Side two contains complete performances of the first Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto, and the third Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto, by the two Gold Medalists. Side two alone is worth the price. Strangely, the disc does not offer chapter selections.
Rating:
Summary: A superb achievement
Review: This video not only takes you behind the scenes at the Cliburn, it does much more. It shows you personal glimpses of several of semi-finalists and the finalists, what their experience is like not only in Fort Worth but leading up to it. You hear them talk about their preparation, their fears, their confidence. This is a fascinating study, into a world rarely seen, the world behind what it's like to be a world-class piano competitor, where the least player among the 32 competitors could take the stage tomorrow with a symphony orchestra and play a well-executed concerto. The viewer's anxiety starts to rise with that of the on-screen subjects, as the viewer picks his own favorite, and thus the viewer is transported briefly into that world of play-and-wait. As I followed my favorite, Olga Kern, I fell in love with her musical passion, which followed in stride with her technical mastery. As the camera captured the passion in her face when she played Rachmaninoff in the finals competition---a Russian playing a Russian---I was moved to tears and have been every time I see it. The producers did an incredible job with this video and it is well worth seeing for any lover of music and of passionate expression.
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