Salzburg Festival

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

There's a parallel thread casusing confusion

Hang on, people. There's an identical thread started by MickyD on this very topic.

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...zburg-Festival

Can we agree to a rationalisation of threads and agree to post all pertinent comments on the MickyD thread please?

As a "host", I've tried to merge the two, but it's beyond my "powers". But it would be better to post here, as this thread was started first.

[gradus]

My apologies for confusing things, I somehow missed the earlier thread.

[BBMmk2]

I must catch this on iplayer!

[Bert Coules]

Absolutely fascinating, and I'm looking forward to part two. But what a pity that - as with the same director's recent documentary about the Wagner family - so much of the archive material was in the wrong aspect ratio, stretched horizontally to fill a 16:9 screen. So unneccessary, and so surprising from a film-maker of Tony Palmer's stature.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

But what a pity that - as with the same director's recent documentary about the Wagner family - so much of the archive material was in the wrong aspect ratio, stretched horizontally to fill a 16:9 screen. So unneccessary, and so surprising from a film-maker of Tony Palmer's stature.

I really don't know why they do this. It happens a lot and suggests a degree of incompetence somewhere along the line. Do they think people don't notice? Having said that, many people do watch 4:3 radio programmes in stretched 16:9

[Bert Coules]

Having said that, many people do watch 4:3 radio programmes in stretched 16:9

Er... I don't think so! But of course I know what you mean: it is fascinating that some people simply can't seem to see the distortion.

[Stunsworth]

I really don't know why they do this. It happens a lot and suggests a degree of incompetence somewhere along the line. Do they think people don't notice? Having said that, many people do watch 4:3 radio programmes in stretched 16:9

World at War was recently remastered and cropped to 16:9. I imagine there are lots of talking heads missing part of their heads.

[Bert Coules]

That's regrettable, but I think it's preferable to stretching material to fit the wider screen: at least the people with missing tops-of-heads aren't distorted horizontally. But I don't understand why, in a specialist programme of historical interest such as this, archive footage wasn't transmitted correctly, with blank strips at each side of the image.

[amateur51]

I was rather shocked by seeing Furtwangler in colour.

Furtwangler is always in black & white and in mono, surely>

Mrs Furtwangler was very interesting, both in what she said and how she said it, but I'm not sure that I'd have felt comfortable popping round to the Furtwanglers' unannounced on a Sunday morning, hoping for a sherry and some gossip

[Stunsworth]

But I don't understand why, in a specialist programme of historical interest such as this, archive footage wasn't transmitted correctly, with blank strips at each side of the image.

Neither do I, but I suspect it's because many people with widescreen TVs expect to see 16:9 programs.

It was also released on Blu-Ray, which I would have thought was unnecessary given the origins of much of the material - I'm assuming that the interviews done for the series were shot on 16mm.

[Bert Coules]

Neither do I, but I suspect it's because many people with widescreen TVs expect to see 16:9 programs.

I'd have hoped that an audience sophisticated enough to want to watch the programme in the first place would also have been rather more understanding about how it was presented.

The archive material which took me slightly aback was the sequence with Knappertsbusch: the stills I've seen of him presented a healthy-looking, almost rotund figure: in that footage he looked like Boris Karloff in The Mummy.

[Petrushka]

I was rather shocked by seeing Furtwangler in colour.

So was I! I watched this on the i-player this afternoon having stupidly forgot Friday night's broadcast. As far as I know there are no stereo recordings from Furtwangler. It was almost as much of a shock to see a highly animated Karl Bohm. The only two occasions I saw him were at the very end of his life when he conducted sitting down.

[Petrushka]

I'd have hoped that an audience sophisticated enough to want to watch the programme in the first place would also have been rather more understanding about how it was presented.

The archive material which took me slightly aback was the sequence with Knappertsbusch: the stills I've seen of him presented a healthy-looking, almost rotund figure: in that footage he looked like Boris Karloff in The Mummy.

You obviously haven't seen the DVD of a 1963 Vienna Walkure Act 1 where the Boris Karloff resemblance is uncanny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYH2-TqAIdc&feature=fvst

[Daring Tripod]

What really makes me think (as I sometimes do), was when I heard all those well known remarks churned out about why many of these artists performed for the Nazis during the war etc. The case of Karajan is quite clear. He was a dedicated Nazi who supported them before Hitler ever set a foot in Austria, but as for the others. But then I stop to think “what would I (or you) have done”? To resist would have meant certain punishment or death. How many of us would have stood up to that sort of pressure?

The hypocrisy of the whole business is that Hitler attended a performance of a Wagner Opera conducted by Mahler and said he enjoyed it! Also, that Mendelssohn was never allowed to be played during the Nazi times when he was a born Christian!

I know that this subject has come up again and again on the old R3 site but this film devoted quite a portion of its footage to the subject which brought it all back to my mind again. I am sure there may be more to come in ‘The Karajan years’ on Friday?

[amateur51]

You obviously haven't seen the DVD of a 1963 Vienna Walkure Act 1 where the Boris Karloff resemblance is uncanny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYH2-TqAIdc&feature=fvst

It's a shame, but understandable, that so much of the camerawork fixes on the orchestra rather than on Kna. His cues are often given just with his eyes or a shrug of the shoulders but the orchestral results are magnificent.

Kna was famously reluctant to rehearse, as I think was mentioned in the film. I think there was a story of a horn player who was shocked to find that Kna didn't plan to rehearse the 'solo' section in the slow movement of Tchaikovsky symphony no 5. 'But I've never played it, Maestro' he quailed. 'Really?' said Kna 'Oh you'll love it!' and off he went to the races!