Concerto!

The idea must have looked good on paper: inviting the viewer behind the stage to watch a soloist and a conductor hammer out the arrangement for a classical piece of music and then see that piece being performed in rehearsal. The result, however, is boring beyond belief and would appeal to a very small audience (possibly only the principal players in these tedious programs). Three Mozart concertos are performed by Ian Hobson and the Sinfonia da Camera, each featuring a different member of the musically gifted Frank family as a soloist. The format, and even some of the commentary, remains the same for all three tapes. In the opener Claude Frank is the soloist on piano for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K. 453. The program begins with brief comments from Frank and conductor Hobson about the glories of Mozart and then shifts to a working session in which Frank and Hobson go over the piece measure by measure. Imagine how excited you would be if you had the opportunity to eavesdrop on a pair of K-Mart auto mechanics tracing a fuel-line problem: this is very much the same. The camera literally eavesdrops--neither Frank nor Hobson scale down their conversation for the viewer. On the contrary, their comments are dressed in the full regalia of professional music terminology, and they often talk in shorthand, at that. This is roughly about as interesting as watching a glacier form. Following the shop talk, viewers see the performance of the first movement--regularly interrupted for tete a tete's between the soloist and the conductor. Then it's back into the shop for a dissection of the second movement.... So, in order to appreciate this program, one would have to be a professional classical musician and/or know this particular piano concerto down to the measure. The other two tapes feature the other members of the family: Lilian Kallir (piano soloist, Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major), and their daughter, Pamela Frank (violin soloist, Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major). Not too many folks are going to want to sit through these long rough drafts. Not recommended. (Available from: Instructional Video, Inc., 727 "O" St., Lincoln, NE 68508; (800) 228-0164.)