Search - Schumann, Chopin & Schubert on DVD

Rare Historic Footage of Cliburn Gold Medalist pianist Steve

Thomas Ramey | 02/12/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD has rare footage of Steven De Groote (1977 Van Cliburn competition Gold Medalist) playing Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1983 when he was 30 years old. De Groote died in 1989 at age 36. While visiting relatives in South Africa, he was hospitalized for pneumonia and influenza, eventual cause of death was inflammation of the liver. We lost one of the most promising pianists of his generation.

The program on the DVD is:

Schumann: Hermann und Dorothea Overture op.136

Chopin: Concerto in F minor No. 2 op. 21 for Piano and Orchestra

THEN, you have to let the credits roll (odd navigation menu work here),

and the Schubert clip starts up:

Schubert: Symphony No. 6 in C major D 589

Also on the DVD is an "Audio Special" (video is just a still of a landscape painting) of Schumann's Manfred Overture op. 115

Considering you can get a copy of this DVD for less than $10 (as of Feb. 2010) this DVD is a bargain, for the De Groote footage alone. The audio quality is surprisingly good for 1980's video too, there is a Dolby 5.1 audio track, but surely the original recordings were stereo only. De Groote and the orchestra are in white tie, but there is no audience in the concert hall, and you'll appreciate that (lack of coughing, dropping programs, etc). As far as rating the DVD 4 stars, I nicked the producers a star for the flaws in the menu system, otherwise (musically) it's 5 stars for it's musical history value. Note that there are no program notes included either, merely a one-page catalog of their other DVD's in the series."