Sergiu Celibidache Conducts Bruckner

Epic Mastery!!!
Having these performances on LD, I'm ecstatic they are finally being released on DVD. I even took the time to transfer them to DVD myself some years ago. However, since they were recorded in an early HD-format (HDVS), Sony is missing the opportunity to release them on Blu-ray.

But, as a point of clarification: the 4th is represented here on 2CDs, not DVD. So, the five disc set is the original 3 LDs transferred to DVD. The remaining two discs are the CDs for a previously unreleased live performance of the 4th from February 1989 at the Musikverein, timing out at around 41min and 43min from info posted elsewhere.

Shame on Sony
I do not like to write a review which would be less than 5 stars, but I have to make an exception in this case. I own the 6th and the 8th on laserdisc and the quality is fantastic. I do not know what kind of source Sony used for this release but I would say it is a total travesty. Truly the picture quality here is on a bad VHS level. The performance of the 6th is great, the 7th OK, and the 8th sublime on a par with Celi's own Lisbon concert. So all the more disappointing. I would put the 4th on CD here above the EMI version but tad below the one on Meteor label.

Grateful and disappointed
The people reviewing this set are those who have already accepted Celibidache's way with Bruckner, and I am among them. Like some of the other reviewers, I had these videos on Laserdisc (better quality than VHS) which were clearly identified as high definition video. The Laserdiscs looked better than these DVDs. I transferred the LDs to DVD myself and I think I got a better picture than these DVDs. I don't know what source Sony started with, but they could have done better by starting with the LDs. I have to believe that Sony could have produced a very good Blu-ray edition of these videos.

Each of the three videos on Laserdisc contained a 2-3 minute introduction that talked about Bruckner and showed pictures of St. Florian Abbey where Bruckner was the organist and where he is buried. The background music for that short video was a Bruckner organ piece and was very effective. I wish Sony had included this short video on at least one of the DVDs.

Furthermore, I...

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