HDVD Arts

This website is about high-definition video recordings of opera, ballet, classical music, plays, fine-art documentaries, painting, and sculpture. We call these recordings "HDVDs." Below this welcome are hundreds of stories about HDVDs. But first check out the Index of Titles/Alphalist to the left, which is the best thing about this site.

With the help of confrere William Alexander Huang, we have set out standards for grading HDVDs of symphonic orchestra recordings. We just applied those standards to a re-review and re-grading of the three New Year's Concert discs we now have. (Check the Alphalist for the new grades, etc.)

At long last, we now have two HDVDs about fine-art paintings; both dealing with the art and life of Vincent van Gogh. The better title is called simply Vincent Van Gogh. It offers 2 and 1/2 hours of wonderful images of paintings and drawings with expert discussion from art historians at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

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Friday

Sep092011

Chamber Music Palisades

Chamber Music Palisades chamber music concert:

1. Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Quintet Op. 57

2. Claude Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola, & Harp

3. Jane Brockman's Feast for Five

Shot in the studio of AIX Reconds, this was the first ever HDVD of chamber music from any label. Stars Delores Stevens, Susan Greenberg, JoAnn Turavsky, Roger Wilkie, Rene Mandel, Paul Coletti, and Peter Stumpf, all top Los Angeles musicians. This disc was recorded and processed entirely in 96 kHz/24-bit audio. Released 2010, output is in 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and 5.1 Dolby Digital. No subtitles; printed material in English only. The DVD apparently had extra features, but the Blu-ray version does not. Plays in all regions. This title is sold only by AIX Records. Grade: X -APH

AIX makes super audio demo discs, usually with excellent artists who are still striving for fame and don't yet charge big fees. AIX insists on using 96 kHz/24-bit sound technology whenever possible. They are also interested in HD and 3D video. Right now only AIX and the Japanese were making fine-arts HDVDs with 96 kHz/24-bit sound.

This title is a top-notch recording of excellent musicians at a reasonable price for the quality of the product. But with only about an hour of music, it still falls in the audio demo category. Please help us by writing a comment that we can place here as a mini-review of this title. We would also be delighted to hear from others working on the bleeding edge of super-high-sampling sound recordings coupled with HD video.

Purchase from AIX

Update on Sunday, December 25, 2011 at 7:36PM by

Henry McFadyen Jr.

AIX has for more than a year been working on a 3D HDVD chamber music title. We took if off the Alphalist because of the delay. But it appears AIX has a breakthrough now with this project and we may well get in early in 2012. We also hope to get some 96kHz/24 bit recordings from folks other than AIX and the Japanese, but so far nothing has materialized.

Henry McFadyen Jr.

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Chamber Music Palisades