In 1997 Valery Gergiev first collaborated with the Vienna Philharmonic on the occasion of a production of the opera Boris Godounov. Gergiev apparently feels at home with this orchestra, because in an interview he said about the collaboration with the Viennese: "I feel very comfortable with them; what I particularly like is that we only concentrate on the music. Nothing otherwise it intervened - no
… rules or unions or problems between the orchestra and the conductor. " In 1998, Gergiev and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra gave a performance of Tchaikovsky's "Fifth Symphony" in Salzburg, which led to a standing ovation from the audience and praise from the press. The live recording of this event was recently released on CD by Philips. (HJ) _more
