Cecilia & Bryn At Glyndebourne – Arias &
Duets/Il Trovatore/Swan Lake
(HD-DVD/Opus Arte/BBC) + A Midsummer
Night’s Dream (Blu-ray + HD-DVD/Opus Arte/BBC)
Picture: B+/B/B/B/B Sound: B+/B/B+/B/B Extras: D/C+/C/C-/C- Ballets/Concerts/Operas: B
NOTE: It Trovatore has been issued on Blu-ray, which you can read about
at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7439/Giuseppe+Verdi’s+Il+Trovatore+(Blu
With zero
competition from any other video company, Opus Arte has dominated the HD-DVD
market and now Blu-ray market with their BBC-licensed, high class, upscale
Classical/Opera Music releases. Not
getting the attention they deserve from hardly any of the media at large, they
stand tall against the best music release sin either format from any company
and we get to look at four more titles (one in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD) in this
look at what should be the last HD-DVDs from the company and the start of a
long line of high quality Blu-rays.
Cecilia & Bryn At Glyndebourne brings together two very strong,
amazing, powerful singers in Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel with the London
Symphony Orchestra (Myung-Whun Chung, conductor) doing a sort of “greatest
hits” from the Haydn, Donizetti, Handel, Rossini and especially Mozart (Don Giovanni, Marriage Of Figaro) catalogue.
The only consistent point is that they keep delivering amazing vocal
performances, but some may get lost, while Opera fans will love it. A whole new generation or so of stunning
vocalists in the field are hardly heard from or known in the mainstream. Directed for TV by Brian Large, solid
releases like this correct that.
It Trovatore is my personal favorite here,
though despite sporting outstanding sets by the film Production Designer/genius
Dante Ferretti (a Fellini associate whose films include Salo, Name Of The Rose, Casino, Kundun, Meet Joe Black, Titus, Gangs Of New York, The
Aviator) is made dark throughout to fit the mood and themes. However, the story of a troubadour, magic
spells and murder is not here to show off any designs and this is one of the
riches such productions I have ever seen of an opera. Though no expert, I have seen my share. José Cura, Dmitri Hyorostovsky, Yvonne Naef
and Veronica Villarroel co-star and the vocals are top rate. Director Elijah Moshinsky work here is very
impressive, while Brian Large directed for TV.
Swan Lake is a very colorful, energetic
version of the Tchaikovsky ballet featuring the original choreography of the
great Rudolf Nureyev, offering new life for the classic. If you have not seen this version, you are in
for a big surprise because it gives nuance and character to it, as well as
bringing out ideas and detail other interpretations missed. A Paris Opera Ballet/Paris Opera Orchestra
presentation with Agnes Letestu and José Martinez leading a very impressive
cast, director Gerard Mortier constantly makes additionally imaginative choices
making this one of the most kinetic HD productions of any stage event we have
seen to date. No cheap editing tricks,
just a flow that makes sense and delivers.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Opus Arte’s Blu-ray debut and the
BBC Concert orchestra with the Pacific Northwest Ballet combine to bring
composer George Mendelssohn’s and choreographer Felix Balanchine’s version of
the Shakespeare classic to vivid life as the exceptional color and dancing says
so much without words. Libby Crabtree
and Judith Harris do the wonderful singing, while the dancers include Patricia
Barker, Paul Gibson, Seth Belliston, Julie Tobiason, Ross Yearsley, Lisa Apple,
Jeffrey Stanton, Ariana Lallone and Batkhurel Bold in a lavish version that
gave me new respect for the work. Filmed
many times, I have not always been happy with its adaptation, but not so here.
The image
in all five cases is 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition video and despite
being the most stable and least imaginatively shot, Cecilia has the best picture, the best lighting and most consistent
color. The rest also demonstrate very
good color schemes, but also can show some noise, especially in dark parts of
the frame. However, all are very
pleasant to watch and embarrass many slicker productions that seem obsessed with
color gutting and shaky camerawork. All
the HD-DVDs have Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and slightly less impressive Dolby TrueHD 2.0
Stereo, while Lake has impressive
DTS 48/24 5.0 and 2.0 mixes that are as good as anything offered here,
especially the Cecilia release. That leaves PCM 16/48 5.1 and 2.0 mixes on
the Dream Blu-ray for which there is
no difference with the TrueHD equivalents on the HD-DVD version. It is the lightest of the four titles here.
Besides
the nicely illustrated booklets in all cases, all have limited extras, except Cecilia with none. Trovatore
has the best extras including an illustrated synopsis of the work, a piece on
the cast and their characters, All About
Schlager – preparations for the fight scene and a fine Designing Il Trovatore featurette including Ferretti being interviewed. Swan
Lake has an illustrated synopsis of the work and cast gallery. Both versions of Dream only add a cast
gallery.
For more
HD-DVD Classical/Opera releases, try these links:
Die Fledermaus/Die Zauberflote
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6600/Die+Fledermaus+(Johann+Strauss+II
Mahler – Symphony No. 2/Pierre Boulez
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6717/Gustav+Mahler’s+Symphony+No.+2
Uncommon Bach (DTS/Jero)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6771/Uncommon+Bach+(HD-DVD/Music
- Nicholas Sheffo
