Coppelia
(Delibes/Bart/Opus Arte)/Kinshasa
Symphony (2010/C Major)/The
Philharmonics/Waltzes/Strauss (Accentus/Arte)/Yutaka Sado – Berliner Philharmoniker (EuroArts/Naxos Blu-rays)
Picture:
B-/C+/B-/B- Sound: B (Kinshasa:
B-) Extras: B-/C+/B-/C+ Main
Programs: B (Waltzes: B-)
Our
latest look at some of Naxos Classical Music, Vocal Choir and Dance Blu-ray
releases include variations (no pun intended) on some titles we have seen
before.
Our one
ballet this time out is Léo Delibes’ Coppelia
here conducted by Koen Kessels and choreographed by Patrice Bart from Arthur
Saint-Léon’s original work about a man who falls for a mysterious automation
until his girlfriend intervenes. Of
course, this will remind some of Tales
Of Hoffman or even The Nutcracker
and there is comedy here, but this is a different work and is just not as well
known, but should be. As presented by
the Ballet of the Opera National de Paris, this is a nice production I enjoyed
enough to recommend and figure it is as good an introduction to the work as
any. Extras include an illustrated,
informative booklet in the Blu-ray case, plus Cast Gallery and documentary: The Mystery of Coppelia.
Our one
documentary is Claus Wischmann & Martin Baer’s Kinshasa Symphony (2010) about a group in the Congo that has
existed for 15 years singing the likes of Beethoven, other Western music
classics and very well for that matter, but this is also about the people, the
country and the harsh conditions and changes that this unit somehow endures
against many odds. It is a tight 95
minutes and concludes at the logical time it should, so those interested will
enjoy it and be glad it does not succumb to run-on. The only extras are an illustrated,
informative booklet in the Blu-ray case and bonus 10 minutes section on the
program.
The Philharmonics – Waltzes by
Johann Strauss
arranged by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg & Anton Webern is a short 64:20
running time, but it is still pretty good and takes place in a traditional
restaurant location in the tradition of how the recordings were played going
back to May 1921! That is a plus and
makes this a fun entry instead of the usual big stage presentation 90% of these
releases tend to bee. I hope we get to
see more such releases soon and I liked the atmosphere of the locations to
boot. Extras include an illustrated,
informative booklet in the Blu-ray case, plus trailers for four other Blu-ray
releases.
Finally
we have conductor Yutaka Sado who I
am less familiar with joining the Berliner Philharmoniker in a fine concert
where he delivers great works by Takemitsu and Shostakovich from May 2011 that
is as rich and even as powerful as the best composer-centered Blu-ray releases
we have seen over the last few years and could become the start of another
series built around a talent like Sado. I
liked this one too and would like to see more Sado Blu-rays to see where he
would go if given the chance to tape more of his concerts. Extras include an illustrated, informative
booklet in the Blu-ray case, plus a 16 minutes long interview with Sado.
The Kinshasa Symphony is listed as being a 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition release, but the HD shoot has its issues
including aliasing and staircasing, so it is not as good as the 1080i 1.78 X 1
digital High Definition image on the three concert releases included, though
they have their own limits but better color.
All four also come with two soundtracks: superior DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes and PCM 2.0 Stereo for older, basic playback. All have solid soundfields except Kinshasa
which has location audio limits and some compression, even when the music kicks
in at its best, but that is to be expected form such a production.
- Nicholas Sheffo
