Martha Argerich & Mischa Maisky (Accentus) + Hector
Berloiz: Les Troyens/Gergiev (Unitel Classica) + Pierre Boulez/The Cleveland
Orchestra – Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn/Adagio from Symp. No. 10
(Accentus) + The Great Mass:
Mozart/Scholz (EuroArts) + Puccini:
Madama Butterfly/Callegari (Unitel Classica) + Francis Poulenc: Dialogues Des Carmelites (BelAir/Naxos Blu-rays)
Picture:
B- (Argerich & Mass: C+) Sound:
B (Mass: B+) Extras: B-/B-/C+/C+/C/C Concerts: B
And now
for some of the latest classical Blu-ray releases distributed by Naxos…
Martha Argerich & Mischa
Maisky (Accentus)
has the great pianist and cellist making a rare appearance in concert. Joining the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, they
world premiere a new work by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin and we also get
classics from César Franck, Antonin Dvorak and Dmitri Shostakovich. Extras include a making of featurette and
trailers, plus the usually informative booklet inside the Blu-ray case.
Conductor
Valery Gergiev’s version of Hector
Berloiz: Les Troyens (Unitel Classica) is the second time we have seen the
work on Blu-ray. You can read about the
first at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9870/Naxos/ArtHaus/2L/Opus+Arte+Blu-ray/
This
version is as ambitious as the last version, but tries to place the tale in a
post-modern future mixing “future” technology with similar costumes, and set
pieces that retain the original’s intents while stretching the ideas to today
and beyond. It succeeds more than you
might think and the singing is top rate.
Staged by La Fura dels Bous, it is a collaboration between St. Petersburg’s Mariinski Theater and Warsaw’s Wielki Theater. Extras here also include a making of
featurette and trailers, plus the usually informative booklet inside the
Blu-ray case.
Pierre Boulez/The Cleveland Orchestra –
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn/Adagio from Symp. No. 10 (Accentus) is oddly the first
time we have covered the work of Pierre Boulez on Blu-ray, but we have covered
him before on other formats, as these links will show:
Mahler Symphony No. 2 HD-DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6717/Gustav+Mahler%E2%80%99s+Sympho
5 Great Films On 20th
Century Composers
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7950/%C2%ADBoulez,+Carter,+Glass,+Mess
So it has
been a long time since we have seen and heard the maestro in action, but here
he is and the concert is every bit as good as the still not on Blu-ray HD-DVD
which is now going for more money than most releases in that format. I have been raving about the Abbado Mahler
Blu-ray series, but this disc is so good, it belongs on the shelf next to that
series and hopefully will not be the last Boulez Blu-ray. This program was taped February 2010. Extras include a Boulez interview and informative
booklet inside the Blu-ray case.
This is
also the first time we have covered Mozart’s The Great Mass (EuroArts), which combines ballet by Uwe Scholz
(added much later) and choir music.
Performed by the Leipzig Ballet, it runs 130 minutes and despite being
somewhat minimalist as compared to the other releases here, it is very well
done and compelling throughout. A
pleasant surprise. Extras include
trailers, plus the usually informative booklet inside the Blu-ray case.
Also
amazingly, this is the first time we have covered and version of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (Unitel
Classica), the all-time classic about the title character and her (aka
Cio-Cio-San) struggle to find happiness in ugliness. Raffaella Angeletti is amazing as the title character
and has rightly received great praise for performing the role worldwide. Pier Luigi Pizzi staged the show with the
Fondazione Orchestra Regionale Delle Marche
with conductor Daniele Callegari. The
result is a great show and great introduction to the real thing for those who
have always wanted to see what the live classic can deliver. Extras include the usually informative
booklet inside the Blu-ray case.
Finally
we have Francis Poulenc: Dialogues Des
Carmelites (BelAir), a second version of the opera we covered in a
different version at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9981/Handel/Admeto+(Unitel+Classica/C+Ma
I liked
some of the ideas of the first version (stage directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff,
conducted by Simone Young and featuring the Philharmoniker Hamburg) but was
surprised how effective and interesting this one was. Surreal and fascinating, the singing often
happens behind screen doors and panels, a nice twist, but Conductor Kent Nagano
and stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov (who designed the sets) simply manage to
make this subtly fascinating in ways I did not expect and I recommend it
highly. Shot at the Bayerische
Staatsoper in 2010, the singing is once again solid. Extras include the usually informative
booklet inside the Blu-ray case.
The 1080i
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on all six have good color, but not
great as there are more than a few cases of motion blur and other image
anomalies that hold back the overall performance. For some strange reason, Argerich & Mass
unfortunately have additional shimmer troubles they should not have, which is a
disappointment. All also have DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 mixes and PCM 2.0 Stereo mixes that are not bad and the Boulez Blu-ray may not have an
exceptional mix, but it is still a rich, consistent and well-recorded one that
is smooth and clean. That could be said
about the others, though Dialogues
is the second best sonic presentation here.
The best is Mass, with an
exceptional soundfield that really delivers enveloping music, so that makes its
image troubles all the more unfortunate.
- Nicholas Sheffo
