Educational Media Reviews Online

The cello concerto, op. 129, by Robert Schumann, was written in 1850, and is one of the most cherished and treasured pieces of the solo cello repertoire. This video performance of the three movement work is performed by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, with soloist Steven Isserlis and conductor Christoph Eschenbach. What is different about this performance is the location deep within the bowels of a derelict submarine bunker. This provides for striking and surreal visual, aural, and emotional interpretations of the music.

The concerto is performed in its entirety without stops; the effects are due to the placement and postures of the conductor, soloist, and orchestra throughout the performance. The camera provides closeups of various performers, either alone or together, as well as the conductor and soloist. The first movement includes video of the orchestra at various times standing, sitting, alone, and together in families (strings, woodwinds). The second, slow movement is dramatic due to the fact that conductor, soloist, and orchestra appear to sleep or be in a trance during the most emotive and lyric section of the movement. In the third, fast movement, the orchestra has moved to a large circular water pool in the submarine bunker, around which they are seated. The use of timpani is striking in this last movement, as the conductor is opposite the percussion player across the pool. The acoustics in this performance were amazing, and Eschenbach is well known for his high standards of excellence in performance. The most wonderful scene showed the conductor directing a non-existent orchestra in the middle of a huge empty section of the bunker, with the music still playing. The soloist was extremely good, but often distracting in the first and third movement, while whipping his hair around to the music. The surreal landscape of the performance, the wonderful romantic experience this music creates, and the cinematography all combine to present a extraordinary introduction for all ages to this piece of music, to classical music in general, and to the modern interpretation of classical music.