Also available on 9/7/2010 (released in conjunction with her new CD of Paganini Caprices)is a DVD of Julia Fischer performing Saint-San's Violin Concerto no. 3 as well as Grieg's Piano Concerto on the same concert. Filmed live on New Year's Day 2008, this concert marked the professional debut of Julia Fischer as a concert pianist. In his review of this concert Arno Widmann of the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper described the atmosphere in the concert hall: "The excitement of the audience was palpable. After all, everyone was aware that only two extremes were possible: either this would turn out to be the total disgrace of one of the greatest living violinists; or it would mark the triumphant birth of a new pianist. From the beginning of the Adagio of the Grieg piano concerto, everyone present knew they were witnessing the overwhelming triumph of Julia Fischer." Price: $29.98
![Mendelssohn Violin Concerto & Bach Concerto for Two Violins / Mintz, Stern [VHS]](/51KFQ2YH30LSL500.jpg)
Mounted in high lavish style, from the opening strains to coda, The Red Violin pays homage to the careful uses of color and composition without bothering to support these qualities with any real substance. Oh, it's a class act on the surface all the way, while failing on nearly every other level to convince. The story tells the story, revealing precious little else. The 17th-century Cremonese instrument-maker Niccolo Bussotti finishes his final violin with a curious red varnish, the secret of which spans the film, yet will come as a surprise only to the very sleepy. The odd voyage of this unique violin through history is then explored from one episode to the next, from child prodigy to gypsies to Victorian virtuoso to a clandestine enclave of art lovers in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution. This is all framed by the violin's rediscovery in present day by instrument appraiser Charles Morritz (Samuel L. Jackson), for whom the perfect instrument strikes a resonant chord. The main scheme of the film, an object connecting a number of seemingly disparate stories, has been used many times, most notably in Max Ophuls's La Ronde. But while this approach is employed elsewhere to cause one scene to reverberate against another, The Red Violin is content to leave each episode thematically unconnected with any of the others. On the decorative level, the film may satisfy many viewers with its sensuous attention to tone and detail, as well as its eclectic and expertly performed score. But as narrative it is very slight. Just pierce the pretty crust of this puff pastry and gaze in wonder at the pocket of air within. --Jim Gay