Francesco Cilea – Adriana Lecouvreur: Teatro Regio Torino
(2009/ArtHaus Musik Blu-ray)
Picture: B- Sound: B Extras: C Opera: C+
First
introduced back in 1902, Francesco Cilea’s Adriana
Lecouvreur has been issued by the ArtHaus label on Blu-ray from a 2009
Teatro Regio Torino performance that is interesting at best, uneven overall and
has fine singing despite not delivering the twisted tale of murder and class
division that helps it endure over a century later. Told in four acts, the title actress (Micaela
Carosi) is killed and the rest of the story is about how this will and will not
be dealt with.
In
fairness to the production, it turns out that the original written work is
considered all over the place and some variances also exist, including some
that have been lost leaving the actors with more of a burden in pulling the
show off than usual. Fans will want to
see it, but this production just did not work for me. However, it is a complete one, so it is not
inherently flawed either.
The 1080i
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in HD and has its share of
motion blur and detail issues, but they are not awful and color is usually more
consistent. Some shots look really good
too, but it is not as good as some Operas I have seen on Blu-ray of late. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 7.1 mix
fares better, surviving the soundmaster being stretched out two extra
channels. This is better than the PCM
2.0 Stereo also included, but I wonder if a DTS-MA 5.1 would have been a richer
choice. Extras include an illustrated
booklet on the classic opera and this production with technical information and
some text in several languages.
- Nicholas Sheffo