Conductors:
Collector's Edition (1945
- 2003/EuroArts/standard definition Blu-ray)/Merchant
Of Venice/Erik Nielsen
(2013/Unitel Classica Blu-ray)/Poppea
Poppea 3D/Gautier Dance
(2013/EuroArts Blu-ray 3D/all Naxos)/Queen:
Live At The Rainbow '74
(Eagle SDBlu-ray w/CD)/Wagner's
Jews (2013/First Run DVD)
3D
Picture: B- Picture: C+/B-/B-/C+/C+ Sound: C+/B-/B-/B (CD:
B-)/C+ Extras: C/B-/C/B/C+ Main Programs: B/B-/B-/B-/B-
Here
are some new classical releases, with some adding classical
aspirations...
Conductors:
Collector's Edition (1945
- 2003) does something with Blu-ray that would have been unthinkable
when the format began: stuffing the formats high capacity with a
bunch of standard definition programs. Now that Blu-ray is
mainstream and an Ultra HD 2160p version is due in 2015, we've seen
such programs upscaled for Blu-ray (including one on this list) and
now, Naxos and EuroArts have dug into their archive and combined 9
programs running over 14 hours (686 minutes/15 hours, 28 minutes) for
easier storage and archiving.
A
relatively new documentary on Yevgeny Mravinsky is here, but the rest
of the programs are concerts that are in so-so shape that might
otherwise be passed on for the age of the fidelity of the way they
were recorded, yet are vital records of the work of the men who kept
the arts alive by delivering amazing orchestra performances of
classic pieces by the likes of Beethoven, Brahms, Ravel, Berlioz,
Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Wagner, Mussorgsky and more.
The
other 8 conductors (a few of the programs also have documentary
moments) include Herbert von Karajan, Charles Munch, Gennadi
Rozhdestvensky, Carlo Maria Giulini, Otto Klemperer, Eugen Jochum,
Igor Markevitch and Leopold Stokowski. HD and Blu-ray fans might
find this a bit disheartening, but in this case, I think it is a good
idea.
Hard
to believe we have never covered any version of any kind of The
Merchant Of Venice,
but the World Premiere of an English Language opera conducted by Erik
Nielsen from the late Andre Tchaikowsky (1935 - 1982) based on one of
William Shakespeare's more controversial works (it includes Shylock,
a Jewish stereotype) is odd to see in English, with the stereotype,
but is consistent and the production design (spinning old safes,
gold-plated strong boxes) is always interesting. Too bad the root
work is problematic and tainted, but this is worth a look for what
does work, produced as part of the Bregenzer Festspiele with the
Wiener Symphoniker.
In
a post-modern dance interpretation of the last days of Pompeii, the
Gautier
Dance organization gives
us Poppea
Poppea 3D
(2013), an interesting if too short (at 78 minutes) with the Dance
Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart. I like the approach, attitude and
free form of the work, even if is not totally successful. It is
intelligent, on the dark side and breaks the pretentious monotony you
might expect from some ballet. Shumann and Monteverdi are among the
composers used for this work and as choreographed by Christian Spuck,
is also worth a look.
Queen:
Live At The Rainbow '74
has the band in its early prime with Freddie Mercury transforming
into the great lead singer/performer we all know know him for being.
Running 90 minutes, the 24 songs include a cover of Jailhouse
Rock (Mercury's interest
in Elvis Presley was always there), Killer
Queen, Keep
Yourself Alive and other
early Queen favorites in what turns out to be an amazing early
performance that more than deserved this special upgrade from Eagle's
SD Blu-ray series that tries to improve standard definition-captured
shows while taking advantage of the extras space for lossless music
audio and the music sounds especially good here. The CD (at 74
minutes) is not bad, but not as sharp, clear or as good as the audio
on the Blu-ray. It is a nice surprise and not only will Queen fans
be thrilled, but anyone who plays this one on a home theater system
is in for some big surprises.
Finally
we have Hilan Warshaw's Wagner's
Jews (2013), a short
hour-long documentary that tells of the role Jewish people (including
audiences that made his early success possible) in the rise of his
music and then nightmare success with Hitler and the Nazis. The
programs opens with the unthinkable, a Wagner concert in Tel Aviv,
Israel. Holocaust survivors stop it, but in parts of this program
(including the extras), there is this problematic argument that it is
and should be fine with play Wagner music in Israel despite its vital
role in exterminating world jewry in sometimes tepid, shallow and
even condescending ways. Talk about the past being forgotten and
repeating itself.
Put
that one on the very, very bad ideas list, though addressing it would
take a separate essay. For the history and questions asked, this is
still a program worth a look. However, Director Warshaw in the
extras suggests by not knowing if we should play Wagner music in
israel (among other places when you think about it) that we are still
playing some game of Wagner's. I find that dead wrong, insulting and
noted how the crowd's reaction was cut off quickly in that clip's
presentation. Hmmm.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 MVC-encoded 3-D - Full Resolution digital High
Definition image on Poppea can work, but has at least some
ghosting and alignment issues, is not the most colorful presentation
and part of it is simply that the 3D releases we have seen has run
into trouble with people dancing. This one a little more so, but I
like the look here though the 3D covers up some flaws of the
also-good (if not great) 2D version on the same disc. As a result,
the 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Venice
can more than compete despite its detail issues and motion blur here
and there. It is the most colorful entry on the list and shows off
its stage production values when it can, but neither offer classic HD
presentations.
Queen
has upscaled an old analog PAL videotaping of 625 lines of analog
progressive video to 1080i HD in a 1.33 X ΒΌ X 3 framing centered and
pillarboxed in the 1.78 X 1 frame. Though some flaws can obviously
be seen, there is limited noise or artifacts versus what it could
have been. The same cannot be said for 8 of the nine shows on the
Conductors Blu-ray, presented at 1.33 X 1 with most cases
being analog black and white videotape, a few on color videotape and
the rest on film, save the
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the BBC documentary on the
life of Mravinsky. That has a mix of every format.
That
leaves the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Jews
looking as good as any standard definition material here.
In
the sound department, the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) or 5.1 lossless
mix on the Queen
SD Blu-ray is the sonic winner here, delivering the true sonic range
and character of a great music recording, but then surprising
with even more dimension and depth than expected. Poppea
has the same kind of mix, but it is quieter, less dynamic and limited
by the nature of the show. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.0 lossless mix on Venice
can ties for second place with Poppea
for having a good recording, but not wildly impressive and the
soundfield is good, but not great.
The
Conductors
offers PCM
2.0 Mono at best and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono at worst, all
showing the age of their respective releases.
The Mravinsky program may have some simple stereo at times, but it
is limited overall. Jews
has both a
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
mix, but the 5.1 is a little better.
Extras
with all releases save Jews
include illustrated booklets on the respective releases, with Venice
adding a 50-minutes-long Making Of documentary, Poppea
adding 5 minutes Behind The Scenes, Queen
adding the CD version & 4 tracks from a filmed performance the
same year at the same venue, but different night that has mostly been
lost and Jews
offers a brief essays in its paperboard case, while the DVD adds two
musical performances (Joseph Rubinstein's Parsifal
& Death
In Venice),
a long Filmmaker Interview and Extended Interviews with Dina Porat,
Zubin Mehta and Yossi Beilin.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
