Valery Gergiev's career knows few bounds, and this concert from the 2000 Salzburg Festival finds him guiding the Vienna Philharmonic through three 20th-century Russian classics with typically edge-of-seat charisma. After a ponderous start, Prokofiev's Classical Symphony goes with style and subtlety. Alfred Schnittke's Viola Concerto has the extreme emotional range expected of this still-controversial composer, but soloist and dedicatee Yuri Bashmet covers all bases in this powerfully focused account. The concert ends with Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird in its complete 1910 version (ignore what it says in the next-to-useless booklet note). If lacking the vividness that Gergiev's Kirov orchestra would bring to it, there's no doubting the sophistication or the commitment of the Vienna players. Gergiev's conducting grows more unorthodox by the year--at times evoking a shamanistic Max Bygraves--but his energy and communicating zeal are something else.

On the DVD: Valery Gergiev conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is presented on DVD in a 16:9 aspect ratio that reproduces Brian Large's incisive direction with the expected clarity; plus there's a choice of PCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1 or DTS options. The special feature--subtitled in four European languages--consists of a chat with Gergiev on Prokofiev and Stravinsky, and a lengthier conversation with Bashmet on his association with Schnittke and the genesis of the Viola Concerto, with enough amusing anecdotes to keep listeners intrigued while listening to the music. --Richard Whitehouse