Herbert von Karajan must be gazing down (or up) in a state of envy: first, the Digital Concert Hall, and now his orchestra filmed in 3D! We reported recently on the screenings in the UK of a 3D film of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle, made during a Far Eastern tour in the acoustically stunning Esplanade Theatres on the Bay in Singapore. Yesterday was a press screening and it was well worth dragging myself out of the glorious sunshine for a couple of hours.

I can't claim to be a huge expert of 3D films but I've seen a handful and have always had the uneasy feeling that the medium was leading the message: so often chases were conjured up, things thrown, in order to demonstrate the effect of people and things emerging from the screen and flying over the our heads. Well, there's not a lot of call for chases or spears in Mahler's First or the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances, so it augured well! 

The Mahler is filmed 'straight' and once you get used to the slightly unreal depth of the image – people seem more 'cut out' than in real life – it does give a good feel for the spatial arrangement of the orchestra. Certain players seem to capture the cameras' attention more than others: the Berlin Phil's handsome first clarinet Andreas Ottensamer has a starring role in both works and features heavily, as does the band's magnificent oboist Albrecht Meyer. And when the camera moves alongside the seven superb horn players in the Mahler there's a wonderful sense of depth, each instrument set apart from its neighbour. When the picture comes forward out of the screen – as it does for a number of different shots of Rattle (either through the orchestra or from the stalls) – it is slightly disconcerting, almost as if someone's standing up in the front row and blocking the view. But there's no denying the sense of depth it creates, even though Rattle does look a bit puppet-like on his podium! 

The Berliner Philharmoniker is a magnificent orchestra, no doubt about it, full of great musicians and some real musical personalities: I think I could name more individual players here than in any other orchestra. And the Mahler is a glorious performance. Some may find Rattle's approach a little studied, but there's a rewarding sense of these musicians having played this music many times together, but never enough to dull its vivid originality. And the dynamic range is mighty impressive: the Singapore hall, ravishing from the outside is surprisingly traditional inside and the sound is gorgeous. 

Come the Rachmaninov and things warm up a few degrees: Rattle looks much more relaxed, the scoring is of course much lusher and the film takes on a more intrusive stance. At times throughout the three dances we leave the hall and explore Singapore in all its high-rise majesty (I lived there about 35 years ago and the place is now unrecognisable). There are some lovely images that exploit the 3D technology well – I particularly loved a long shot through a modern bridge of white struts with a glass covering, and a few coloured parasols just set it off with great flair. The movements' subtitles point out the 'Noon', 'Twilight' and 'Midnight' setting for the three dances but apart from an opening shot at presumably the correct time, this was quickly forgotten. The final movement of the Rachmaninov gave us a whistle-stop tour of Singapore's main religions (Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic and Christian), though while we lingered in shrines and temples of the first three, the church doors were rather pointedly closed on us – I wasn't sure how to take that! There's also a rather charming Indian dance sequence nicely synched to flow with the music, as was a Tai Chi session led by a gentleman in a very striking silk garment of the palest of pinks. It did occasionally feel a bit tourist boardish, but you couldn't get a classier soundtrack than this!

I loved the performance of the Rachmaninov, far swifter than Rattle's now vintage CBSO recording, and ravishingly played by the Berliners, full of gloriously playing, rhythmically vivid and wonderfully detailed. This really is one of Rachmaninov's masterpieces and what a treat to hear it done as beautifully as here. 

If you've a free evening, it's well worth experiencing the Berlin Phil in 3D, and if you don't care for the pictures you can always close your eyes and enjoy some very, very classy orchestral music-making. Here's a list of the cinemas showing the film starting on May 9.