Belcanto
D'Amore: Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Turandot, Aida
(2008 - 2012/Naxos/United Classica/C Major Blu-ray Box Set)/BP
Supershow: Jill Perryman & June Bronhill Live In Australia
(1966, 1961/Umbrella Region Free PAL Import DVD)
Picture:
B-/C Sound: B/C Extras: C+/D Main Programs: B/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The BP
Supershow
Import DVD with Jill
Perryman and June Bronhill
is now only available from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment in
Australia, can only play on DVD players that can handle the PAL DVD
format and can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
an interesting duo of classical releases you should know about...
We
start with a new Blu-ray box called Belcanto
D'Amore.
It offers 5 titles, two of which we actually reviewed before. They
are:
Aida
(Picture: B Sound: B Extras: C Concert: B)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10144/Aida/Verdi+%E2%80%93+Carlo+Rizzi+(C+Major/U
Turandot
(Picture: B Sound: B Extras: C+ Concert: B)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9307/Humperdinck%E2%80%99s+Hansel+&+Gretel/Bare
New
to us are Rigoletto
and La
Traviata,
two titles from the ambitious, extensive 100th
Anniversary series in honor of Verdi we missed despite covering so
many of the releases previously, as delivered so well by the
Orchestra E Coro Del Teatro Regio Di Parma. They also have
featurettes about the origins of the plays as supplements.
Rigoletto
(Picture: C+ Sound: B- Extras: C+ Concert: B-) is here in
a early HD recording (2008) that is not bad, but does not hold up as
well as some of our previously reviewed performances including this
gem from the Zurich Opera House and conductor Nello Santi:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8070/Giuseppe+Verdi+%E2%80%93+Rigoletto+(Naxos/Ar
Hard
to believe we have only covered two versions of the classic in all
this time. Fairing better is a work we have covered more often, La
Traviata
(Picture: B- Sound: B Extras: C+ Concert: B), which holds
its own more so against the following versions previously covered...
Lorin
Maazel
version with the Teatro Scala
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7681/Giuseppe+Verdi%E2%80%99s+La+Traviata+(Blu-ra
reissue
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9772/Joaquin+Achucarro+%E2%80%93+Brahms+Piano
and
Royal Opera House version with
Renée
Fleming
(!) conducted by Antonio Pappano
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10976/Alfano:+Cyrano+de+Bergerac/Placido+Domingo
That
would still make for a solid box set, but then we have our first
outright Madama
Butterfly
(Picture: C+ Sound: B Extras: C Concert: B-) show that
looks (if not is) like an early HD recording with its motion blur.
At least the DTS-MA 5.1 mixes on all three discs sound good
(Rigoletto
is simply not microphoned closely enough) are fine (PCM 2.0 Stereo is
also included, but never as good in all cases) and the show itself
from the Speristerio Opera Festival Macerata conducted by Daniele
Callegari is trying to do the opera, yet be a bit clever and
deconstructionist about it. Though smart, this never works as it
might have been originally intended. Still, some will like it as an
alternate version and that might appeal to those who have seen many
variations of the original. Still, having this all in one box down
to the original booklets is a good idea and a great catch-up set for
Blu-ray collectors.
Older
but no less interesting is the BP
Supershow: Jill Perryman & June Bronhill Live In Australia
DVD takes two episodes from two different
years and pairs them rightly onto one disc. The Bronhill
show is from 1961 and happens to do an Aria from La
Traviata!
She also delivers Richard Rogers' Spring
is Here,
Dvorâk's Songs My Mother Taught Me and Arthur Young's seasonal tune
Christmas
in the Bush
with Horrie Dargie on harmonica joining Bronhill on vocals. A classy
show all the way and we even get a ballet. Basil Rathbone was also
on this show, but this copy is very sadly missing his footage.
Perryman's
upbeat 1966 show has her celebrating her Down Under turn in Funny
Girl
and doing several songs from it, plus classic Cole Porter showtunes
from Can-Can,
Hello
Dolly
and The
Pyjama Game.
A smart combination of broadcasts, it is worth going out of your way
for.
There
are sadly no extras, the 1.33 X 1 black and white image
is a little rough from surviving 16mm kinescopes of the original
broadcast and the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound can be a little
challenging, so be careful of volume switching. Otherwise, a very
worthwhile release yet again from Umbrella and we hope, an
increasingly long list of BP Supershows.
To
order the Umbrella import DVD of the BP Supershow above, go to
this link for it and many more solid music releases and more:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/p-3893-bp-supershow-jill-perryman-june-bronhill-live-in-australia.aspx?keyword=june+bronhill
-
Nicholas Sheffo
