Europakonzert 2016 from the Church of Røros

The Berliner Philharmoniker celebrate their founding day (1 May 1892) in a European city of cultural significance every year. In 2016, they travelled to Røros in Norway, a Norwegian mining town whose intact picturesque old town makes it a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to play in the town’s beautiful baroque church.

Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang made her debut with the Berliner Philharmonker at this year’s concert, joining them for Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor. Her playing is characterized by warmth, elegance and effortless virtuosity: ideal requirements for this work.

Sir Simon Rattle and the orchestra performed the “Eroica”, a symphony from the Beethoven cycle which caused a sensation in Berlin and on their international tour.

Director: Klaus Lindemann

Picture: 16:9 – NTSC
Sound: PCM Stereo, DD 5.0, DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 90 mins

Reviews

Frang, whose disc of the Korngold and Britten concertos (Warner Classics, 2/16) won the Concerto category in last month’s Gramophone Awards, is predictably fine in the Mendelssohn, technically accomplished and emotionally engaged. And what a joy it must be to play this concerto with the Berliners, whose sensitivity to Mendelssohn’s instrumental imaginings is second to none. The result is a performance that is vital and alive yet also steeped in melancholy. ... the performance [of the Eroica Symphony] yields nothing to Rattle’s recent Berlin recording (Berliner Philharmoniker, 6/16) in depth of sound and richness of palette, while surpassing it as a superbly engaged re-enactment of the music. Richard Osborne

Gramophone October 2016