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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Leoš Janáček Věc Makropulos opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed by Cristoph Marthaler at the Salzburg Festival, 2011. Stars Angela Denoke, Raymond Very, Peter Hoare, Jurgita Adamonytė, and Johan Reuter. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker. Released in 2012, disc has 5.1 PCM sound. Grade: Help!
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Wagner Tannhäuser opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2008 by Robert Carsen at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Stars Peter Seiffert, Petra Maria Schnitzer, Béatrice Uria-Monzon, Günther Groissböck, and Markus Eiche. Sebastian Weigle conducts the Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu & Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!
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Mozart Die Entführung aus dem Serail opera to libretto by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner. Directed 2011 by Christof Loy at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Stars Diana Damrau, Olga Peretyatko, Christoph Strehl, Norbert Ernst, Franz-Josef Selig, and Christoph Quest. Ivor Bolton condcuts the Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!
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Beethoven Piano Concertos 1-5. Rudolph Buchbinder plays piano and conducts the Wiener Philharmonker in all 5 Beethoven piano concertos at the Vienna Musikverein. The concerts were recorded live over 4 days in May 2011. There are 186 minutes of music plus a bonus 30-minute documentary with a conversation between Buchbinder and music critic Joachim Kaiser. Directed for video by Karina Fibich; audio by Martin Gamperl; home video producer was Hartmut Bender. Released 2012, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!
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Verdi La forza del destino opera to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed 2008 by David Poutney at the Wiener Staatsoper. Stars Nina Stemme, Salvatore Licitra, Carlos Álvarez, Alastair Miles, Nadia Krasteva, Tiziano Bracci, Elisabeta Marin, Dan Paul Dumitrescu, Michael Roider, and Clemens Unterreiner. Zubin Mehta conducts the Orchester der Weiner Staatsoper and the Chor der Weiner Staatsoper (Chorus Master Thomas Lang). Wiener Stattsballsett choreographed by Beate Vollack. Set and costume design by Richard Hudson; lighting design by Fabrice Kebour; video direction by Karina Fibich; video shot by Momme Hinrichs & Torge Møller; video editing by Gernot Arendt; sound by Gregor Hornacek. Released in 2011, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!
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The Little Mermaid ballet. Choreography by John Neumeier. Music by Lera Auerbach. Performed 2011 at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco. Stars Yuan Yuan Tan, Lloyd Riggins, Tiit Helimets, Sarah Van Patten, and Davit Karapetyan of the San Francisco Ballet (Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson). San Francisco Ballet Orchestra conducted by Martin West. Choreography, sets, costume design and lighting by John Neumeier; video direction by Thomas Grimm; produced by Judy Flannery and Bernhard Fleischer. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!
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Kinshasa Symphony documentary video by Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer. Features the Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste with conductor Armand Diangienda. Script by Claus Wischmann; camera by Martin Baer; sound by Pascal Capitolin; edits by Peter Klum; music by Jan Tilman Schade; production management by Karl-Martin Lötsch; executive production by Stefan Pannen and Holger Preuße; editorial department work by Jutta Krug, Lothar Mattner, and Petra Schmitz. Released in 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: X-B-
I'm glad I watched this documentary because it gave me 70 minutes of eye-opening images of ordinary life in a giant modern-day undeveloped-country catastrocity (here Kinshasa, the capital of the Congo). It's heart searing to realize that maybe a third of all the souls on earth live like this. True, it's also heart warming to see how the folks trapped in these vast slums retain their humanity and strive to improve. And if some of these folks learn to make their own instruments and try to perform classical music, then by extension, maybe they can also learn how to keep the lights on.
With one exception, there's not much in this film for fine-arts lovers. But there is a short passage in the film that proves something I'll never forget: the ladies of Kinshaha can sing Handel (or just about anything else I think) as well as anyone on earth. With proper casting and coaching, I think one could form a Kinshasa Choir that could one day tour Europe (and I don't mean 100 years from now).
The makers of this film avoided platitudes and wisdom mongering. They tell their story by following members of the orchestra through their daunting daily lives and showing clips from rehearsals and performances. The indivdual stories are tied together with brief comments from Armand Diangienda, the conductor, who is also, I believe, a religious and perhaps political figure in the Congo. The quality of the video and sound recording is quite good.
This is, of course, an "X" title. I want to give it the grade of "C"; but to keep from feeling too guilty, I'll bump it up to "B-." That's a real achievement considering where this all started.
We certainly would like to hear from anyone who knows more about the the Kinshasa Symphony, the arts in the Congo, or Armand Diangienda.
Henry McFadyen Jr.