Unlike opera and ballet, where the visual component is arguably at least half the show, the justification for concert videos is a bit less obvious. "Who wants to see a player dumping spit from a horn?" I remember Beecham querying in a discussion of the subject, specifically the future of music on television.
Yet today, nearly 30 years after his death, what wouldn't we give to be able to see Sir Thomas conducting a concert, horn spit and all? And although it is patently staged, that is the argument used to persuade Arthur Rubinstein to have his art photographed in a 40-year-old black-and-white film documentary: "Mr. Rubinstein, what would you give to be able to see Chopin play?" To which the pianist responds, "I see what you mean."With that in mind, it is not surprising that among contemporary fiddlers Itzhak Perlman was among the first to have his art documented on video, initially, I believe, through his filmed studio performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto (Thorn/EMI and Pioneer Artists), then via tapes from Israel's Hubermann Festival, likewise available on both tape and disc.
Now here are two more, both emanating from live concerts. Indeed, the second goes beyond simply capturing a single interpretation, with its attendant technique, to what seems to me the other great justification for concert videos: What it preserves is an historic event, in this instance the opening concert of the New York Philharmonic's 1980-81 season, a 60th-birthday tribute to Isaac Stern.
I can't say I'm terribly impressed with the picture quality of this Paramount/Bel Canto release, which, surprisingly for a laser disc, is no sharper than a good VHS tape. Nor am I happy about the absence of (1) chapter stops on a disc containing four three-movement concertos and (2) any specific program information on the liner - i.e., you actually have to get into the disc to find out what the pieces are.
But at close to two hours no one can complain of short measure, or that the producers have failed to convey the original's sense of occasion. They have even found room at the beginning for conductor Zubin Mehta's brief introductory speech to the audience in honor of the evening's star performer, Isaac Stern.
What follows features Stern and one-time proteges Perlman and Zukerman in the Bach Double Concerto (Stern/Perlman), Mozart's K. 364 Sinfonia Concertante (Stern/Zukerman) and Vivaldi's F major Concerto for Three Violins, then, following intermission, Stern as soloist in the Brahms Violin Concerto.
Despite the hoopla, most of the performances can be bettered elsewhere. For all its sturdiness this Brahms Concerto, for example, is not up to Stern's earlier CBS recording with Ormandy. And although it is arguably the finest performance of the evening, even as a video this Sinfonia Concertante seems to me less desirable than Pioneer's Hubermann Festival laser issue with Perlman, Zukerman and Mehta.
Still, it is fascinating to see and hear these performers together. Not surprisingly Perlman comes across as the silkiest of the three (although he comes remarkably close to matching his colleague's more incisive tone in the Bach), with Zukerman the most assured. But happily everyone seems up for the Vivaldi, which, in addition to being lively and alert, profits from the best microphone and ensemble balances.
Philips' all-Tchaikovsky program, by contrast, seldom conveys much more than the performances, albeit those in state-of-the-art video technology and sound. Which is to say, thanks to a superabundance of close-ups, one seldom sees much of the orchestra - here the Philadelphia under Ormandy - or the hall. Even the applause following the concerto is cut off somewhat prematurely, remarkable given the comparatively short length of the sides.
Also surprising is the fact that Perlman makes cuts here he doesn't make on his EMI recording of this concerto, also with Ormandy from around the same time, 1979. That still seems to me one of the best it has had, but the present performance is if anything even finer, combining that one's sweetness and penetration with just a little more fire.
Indeed, I wouldn't have minded a little more of that in the accompanying "Romeo and Juliet," a solid if unspectacular traversal that in places could have used more electricity and drama. Even so, I doubt Perlman's admirers will be disappointed, or Tchaikovsky's. And that is probably the ultimate justification for any recording, audio or video - namely, is it a great performance that is being preserved?
For my money, on at least one side of this disc, the answer is yes.