Capriccio

Richard Strauss Capriccio opera to a libretto by Clemens Krauss and Richard Strauss. This is the Met John Cox production with 2011 stage direction by Peter McClintock. Stars singers Joseph Kaiser, Russell Braun, Peter Rose, Renée Fleming, Morten Frank Larsen, Sarah Connolly, Olga Makarina, Barry Banks, Ronald Naldi, Paul Corona, Steven Goldstein, Christopher Schaldenbrand, Grant Youngblood, Scott Scully, Brian Frutiger, Kyle Pfortmiller, Micahael Devlin, and Bernard Fitch. Solo dancers are Laura Feig and Eric Otto. Also stars stage musicians David Chan (violin), Rafael Figueroa (cello), and Dennis Giauque (harpsichord). Andrew Davis conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, with stage band conductor Jeffrey Goldberg. Set design by Mauro Pagano; costume design and interior décor by Robert Perdziola; lighting design by Duane Schuler; choreography by Val Caniparoli; dramaturgy by Paul Cremo; television direction by Gary Halvorson.  Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A

You need to be a fairly experienced fan to well enjoy this ultimate insider's joke about the art and aims of opera. It wouldn't hurt to study the libretto in advance because there's a lot going on here in words and music only with only the thinnest plot. If you already know this opera, I think you will consider this an A+ title. I'm just a novice opera buff; but with the sub-titles on, I got a lot of laughs out of this---far more than the Met audience seemed to have.

We need a opera expert (real or imposter) to write us a truly helpful mini-review of this rich and sophisticated quasi-comedy.

Pavarotti Tribute

Pavarotti died September 6, 2007. The Pavarotti Tribute is our name for The Tribute to Pavarotti concert presented in 2008 in Petra, Jordan by Nicoletta Mantovani Pavarotti and Princess Haya Bint al Hussein of Jordan. (We changed the name slightly to make it easy to find on the Alphlist.) Stars José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Cynthia Lawrence, Andrea Griminelli, Jonanotti, Sting, Zucchero, Angela Gheorghiu, Andrea Bocelli, Laura Pausini, and Alem Kandour (juvenile artist).  Here are the musical selecions:

1. Prague Philharmonia:  "Overture" to Il barbiere di Siviglia

2. José Carreras: "Chitarra Romana"

3. Plácido Domingo: "Amor, Vida de mi Vida"

 4. José Carreras and Plácido Domingo: "Non Ti Scordar di Me!"

5. Sherrill Milnes: "Shall We Gather at the River?"

6. Sherrill Milnes: "Surely the Presence of the Lord"

7. Cynthia Lawrence: "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca

8. Andrea Griminelli (flute): "Gabriel's Oboe"

9. Andrea Griminelli (flute): "Czardas"

10. Jovanotti: "Guarda che Luna"

11. Sting with Edin Karamazov on lute: "Have You Soon the Bright Lily Grow?"

12. Zucchero: "Va, pensiero" from Nabucco

13. Angela Gheorghiu: "Granada"

14. Andrea Bocelli: "Mattinata"

15. Zucchero and Pavarotti "Miserere"

16. Laura Pausini: "Il Mondo che Vorrei"

17: Sting and Angela Gheorghiu: "Là ci darem la mano" from Don Giovanni

18. Andrea Bocelli: !"E lucevan le stelle!" from Tosca

19. Zucchero: "Nel così blu"

20. Jovanotti: "A te"

21. Cynthia Lawrence: "My Man's Gone Now"

22. Andrea Griminelli (flute) and Aleem Kandour (violin): "Vivace"

23. Laura Pausini and Andrea Bocelli: "Vivere"

24. Laura Pausini and Jovanotti: "Caruso"

25. Quartet: "Dunque è proprio finta!" from La Bohème

26. Pavarotti (from DVD on big screen): "Nessun dorma" from Turandot

Eugene Kohn conducts the Prague Philharmonia. This title also has a long documentary with memoral comments about the decedent by family members, friends, and colleagues. Released 2009, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!

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Nutcracker

Nutcracker ballet. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to libretto and script plan of Marius Petipa. Adapted by Mihail Chemiakin with new choreography by Kirill Simonov. Performed 2007 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Peterburg. Stars Irina Golub, Leonid Sarafanov, Vladimir Ponomarev, Elena Bazhenova, Anton Adasinsky, Anton Lukovkin, Alexander Kulikov, Natalia Sveshnikova, Igor Petrov, Tatiana Goryunova, Ilmira Bagautdinova, Eduard Gusev, Andrei Yakoviev, Ekaterina Kondaurova, Elena Adrosova, Daria Vasnetsova, Ekaterina Petina, Daria Sukhorukova, and Olga Balinskaya supported by other artists of the Mariinsky Ballet and students of the Academy of Russian Ballet. Valery Gergiev conducts the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre. Sets, costumes, and production design by Mihail Chemiakin; directed for TV by Denis Caïozzi. Although most of this show was shot in high-definition, the pictures of the theater interior and all the shots showing the whole stage were shot in standard definition. The music is fine. Released 2008, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

There is no "standard" Nutcracker. Anybody can paint what he will on the canvas of Tchaikovsky's score. Just about every ballet company in the West has to do one every year, so there are hundreds of versions around, including about 12 from major houses that are well known to ballet fans from live performances and recordings. Most of the well-known versions are more or less conservative. But there are quite a few that are wildly idiosyncratic. Well, this Chemiakin version is one from that group, and it seems to be aimed at the anarchists, deranged psychologists, paranoid schizophenics, and serial killers in the audience.

Mihail Chemiakin is an iconoclastic Russian painter and designer who stood up to Soviet power when doing that was dangerous and keeps standing up to everything that came later. He appears at the curtain call in this video in his trademark black hat and garb. His style is 51% folk primitive mixed with 49% surrealism. His work tends to be interesting sometimes, but always ugly. Nevertheless he is highly regarded, and the Mariinsky appears to have given him carte blanche for the design and libretto here.

And what a glorious mess Chemiakin made! Masha (the Russian name for Clara) is the neglected and desperately unhappy daughter of a lecherous father and vain mom. Drosselmeyer, a spastic ghoul figure from the silent movies, is a sexual predator who sees Masha's vulnerability. To get access, he tries to ingratiate himself with Masha at the drunken party at her home. But his gift to Masha of the nutcracker doll backfires when the doll decides to move in. Masha is a pre-slut---one of those pretty clueless girls who start to ooze sexuality and have no one to protect them. At age 14 you see trouble coming; when you see them next at age 17, the damage has been done. After the Prince wins the battle with the rats, Masha is ready. She does a provocative thank-you dance for the Prince. This includes, to some of Tchaikovsky's most sonorous and elevated music, the most shocking incident in any ballet I've seen. She wallows on her back before her swain, spreads her legs wide, and flashes her crotch directly at him---a move that has for all time been universally taboo for girls and respectable women. This wins the Prince over and away they go in a shoe.

Next up is the snowstorm. Chemiakin dresses the female corps in all black (yes--tutus). They bump and grind, wallow on their backs to display black petticoats and panties, and otherwise "dance up a storm" while the members of the children's choir parade around made up like living corpses in white burial shrouds.

Finally we make it the the sweet shop in Act. 2. There's plenty of weirdness there too, but with the incidental dances we get a wee break from the battle of the sexes. Soon the nutcracker doll is revealed as a real handsome Prince. With both straps of her dress hanging off her shoulders, Masha dances lasciviously in the Pas de deux. But strangely, the Prince exceeds expectations. He dances properly and chastely as any decent handsome Prince is want to do. And right away there follows a grand wedding march and Masha has got her guy! Why is this little tramp Masha so lucky?

Outside in the cold, Drosselmeyer is having a fit over the loss of his easy target. He crashes the party. All the characters in the story have been turned into candies. The newlyweds, who have been transformed into dolls, stand on the top a giant wedding cake. Rats are busy eating the cake. H'mm. The Prince was so nice because he's a fraud! Masha, who only wanted security and love, has been transformed into a token of conspicuous consumption. She will see the trappings of wealth. But the Price will beat her every day except Sunday, when he will start the week off right by beating her twice. She will be his slave until the rats have finished the cake, and then he will discard her. (If you don't like this interpretation, make up your own.)

As problematical an this version is, several things are clear. Irina Gulub as Masha is an excellent dancer who is fun to watch. Also, the music on this disc is played and recorded exceptionally well in loss-less sound.

And so, dear reader, you probably see by now that this Nutcracker is not for children or a good idea for your happy holiday party in your home theater. If you watch this show, be prepared to decide if it is reprehensible rubbish, trenchant social satire, or something else.

2011 New Year's Concert

2011 New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic (Wiener Philharmoniker) conducted by Franz Welser-Möst. Recorded January 1, 2011 at the Goldener Saal des Weiner Musikvereins. Here's the program:

1. Johann Strauss II "Reitermarsch" ("Calvalry March")

2. Johann Strauss II "Donauweibchen" (Waltz) ("Danube Maidens")

3. Johann Strauss II "Amazonen-Polka" ("Amazon's Polka")

4. Johann Strauss II "Debut-Quadrille" ("Debut Quadrille")

5. Joseph Lanner "Die Schönbrunner" (Waltz) ("The Inhabitants of Schönbrunn")

6. Johann Strauss II "Muthig voran!" (Polka) (Forward with valour!")

7. Johann Strauss II "Csárdás"  from Ritter Pásmán ("Csárdás" folk dance from the opera Ritter Pásmán)

8. Johann Strauss II "Abschieds-Rufe" (Waltz) ("Farewell Waltz")

9. Johann Strauss I "Furioso-Galopp nach Liszt's Motiven" ("Furious Galop on Motifs by Liszt")

10. Franz Liszt "Zwei Episodes aus Lenau's Faust" (" Two Episodes from Lenau's Faust")

11. Franz Liszt "Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke (Mephisto-Walzer Nr. 1") ("The Dance in the Village Inn" (First Mephisto Waltz)")

12. Josef Strauss "Aus der Ferne" (Polka) (" From far away")

13. Johann Strauss II  "Spanischer Marsch" ("Spanish March")

14. Joseph Hellmesberger II "Zigeunertanz" from Die Perle von Iberien ("Gipsy Dance"  from the ballet The Pearl of Iberia)

15. Johann Strauss I "Cachucha-Galopp" (Cachucha Galop)

16. Josef Strauss "Mein Lebenslauf ist Lieb' und Lust" (Waltz) ("My Life is Love and Joy")

17. Eduard Strauss "Ohne Aufenthalt" (Polka) ("Non-stop Polka")

18. Johann Strauss II "An der schönen, blauen Donau" ("Blue Danue Waltz")

19. Johann Strauss I "Radetzky Marsch" (Radetzky March")

This title also has these bonus features: 2 ballet performances of about 5 minutes each and a 24-minute documentary called The Vienna Philharmonic on Tour. All the video is in HD. The surround sound was apparently recorded using 48kHz/24 bit sampling; 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio output is available for all the segments except the documentary, which is in stereo. Directed for TV by Brian Large. Grade: C+

Brian Large also was TV director for the 2009 New Year's Concert disc by the Weiner Philharmoniker. (This was also published by Decca.)  Although I liked both the musical program and the bonus features on the 2009 show, I graded it down to B+ because it was not recorded with 96kHz/24 bit sampling technology and the video content suffers from "DVDitis." To learn more about 96kHz/24 bit sampling technology and DVDitis, please refer to 2009 New Year's Concert mini-review.

Unfortunately, subject 2011 New Year's Concert title is considerably weaker that the 2009 show. The music selected for 2011 doesn't seem as interesting as it should be. In 2009, a lot of beautiful variety video (dancing, nature scenes, etc.) was used during the main show to prevent monotony; there's only a bit of this in 2011. The bonus segments in 2009 were valuable and interesting in their own right. The bonus dance segments in 2011 are very short. The bonus documentary has mildly interesting shots of the orchestra and guest conductors Thielemann, Gergiev, and Buchbinder, but the stereo sound is execrably bad, bad, bad. So the 2009 bonuses amount to pointless filler thrown by the marketing department to puff the product.

Now back to the sound  and the video content issue in the main show. The 2011 sound is pretty good, but I had trouble with hearing the harps sometimes even when they were on camera. With state-of-the art sampling and carefull handling down the line, I would expect better sound of a caliber that the Weiner Philharmoniker deserve.

The DVDitis problem seems worse in 2011 than before with way too many shots of Welser-Möst, too many extreme close-ups, and too many instrument-only shots (especially that piccolo!). For a field-of-focus flub, see 36:12 where there's a nice picture of a horn player, but dominating the image is an out-of-focus bassoon snout sticking up in the way. And, oh dear: see 3:49 for that monster chandelier blocking out half the band.

Of course, in the Golden Hall on this occasion, you will want plenty of shots of the flowers, the elite audience, and building itself. I have no complaint about any of that even if it distracts from the orchestra so often by showing their backs. But as you can see at 3:01, 4:41, 16:28, and 25:28, Large has all the cameras needed to provide the mid-range and longer-range shots that best take advantage of high-definition video. Alas,  these shots don't look good on DVD, so they are too few and too fleeting.

Having heaped so much criticism (constructive I hope) on this title, I want conclude with one point of sincere praise. The basic picture quality (resolution, color balance, and absence of picture and motion artifacts) in this show is about as good as it gets. I still have no doubt that Large could turn out an A+ title based on this New Year's event. But for that to happen, the orchestra will make the necessary investment in sound quality, really draw on the resources of the Ballet for interesting bonus video, and allow Large to tailor his video recording plan to the strengths of high-definition television.

In summary then, for all the deficiencies noted, I was inclined to give this title the grade of "C." But because of the excellent raw PQ, I bump the grade up to "C+."

2009 New Year's Concert

2009 New Year's Concert by the Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Daniel Barenboim.  Recorded January 1, 2009 at the Goldener Saal des Wiener Musikvereins. Here's the program:

1. Johann Strauss II "Ouvertüre" to Eine Nacht in Venedig ("Overture" to A Night in Venice)

2. Johann Strauss II "Märchen aus dem Orient" (Waltz) ("Fairy Tales from the Orient")

3. Johann Strauss II "Annen-Polka" (Anna's Polka)

4. Johann Strauss II "Schnellpost-Polka" ("Express Mail Polka")

5. Johann Strauss II "Rosen aus dem Süden" (Waltz) ("Roses from the South")

6. Johann Strauss II "Freikugeln" (Polka) ("Magic Bullets")

7. Johann Strauss II "Ouvertüre" and "Einzugs-Marsch" from Der Zigeunerbaron ("Overture" and "Entrance March" from The Gypsy Baron)

8. Johann Strauss II "Schatz-Waltzer" ("Treasure Waltz")

9. Joseph Hellmesberger II "Valse espagnole" (Spanish Waltz)

10. Johann Strauss I "Zampa-Galopp"

11. Johann Strauss II "Alexandrinnen-Polka" ("Alexandrine's Polka")

12. Johann Strauss II "Unter Donner und Blitz" (Polka) ("Thunder and Lightening Polka")

13. Josef Strauss "Sphären-Klänge" (Waltz) ("Music of the Spheres")

14. Johann Strauss II "Éljen a Magyár!" (Polka) ("Hurrah for Hungary")

15. Joseph Haydn "Finale" from Abschiedssymphonie ("Finale" from Farewell Symphony)

16. Johann Strauss II "So ängstlich sind wir nicht!" (Polka) ("We're not that worried!")

17. Johann Strauss II "An der schnönen, blauen Donau" (Waltz) ("The Blue Danube Waltz")

18. Johann Strauss I "Radetzky-Marsch" ("Radetzky March")

This disc also has three valuable bonus features, all in great HD TV:

1. Schatz-Waltzer Ballet (Treasure Waltz Ballet)

2. Éljen a Magyár! Ballet (Hurrah for Hungary Ballet)

3. Linz 2009 documentary. The city of Linz and the Weiner Philharmonic create a remarkable video celebrating Linz and the Austrian countryside.

Directed for TV by Brian Large. Released 2009, disc was apparently recording using 48kHz/24 bit sound sampling and has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: A-

When it comes to picture quality,  we are not talking about profundity, universality, or other philosophical aspect of art. No, for this 2009 New Year's Concert disc, the operative word for PQ is pulchritudinous---or "pretty." This has got to be the prettiest video ever made. And the reason for this has got to be the director, Brian Large. Yes, Large, whose résumé is swamped with with more than 600 videos to his credit (including 9 Vienna Philharmonic New Year's shootings), must know everything there is to know about pretty pictures.

Here's the recipe. Start with the splendid Vienna Goldener Saal des Musikvereins with its symmetrical, shapely coziness and ravishing architectural ornamentation. Fill every enticing unoccupied space with dazzling banks of all the cut flowers on the market in Austria and Italy. Talk the divine Philharmonic into hiring 2 women musicians, both alluringly gorgeous. Invite the admirable, elegant elite of the nation, all of whom will dress in excellent garments knowing they will be photographed for all the world to see forever (I especially liked the two comely ladies in stunning kimonos). Whip up the camera crews to make radiant closeups of everything from bewitching angles. As soon as the lovely polkas and waltzes may start to get tedious, mix in resplendent shots of sightly lakes, sublime swans, grand forests, pleasing vineyards, and magnificent mountains. Have cute and angelic student Cupids and nymphs prance throughout the superb building and down the aisles charming the audience. (It doesn't hurt that Barenboim did a classy job of directing the graceful orchestra and fine audience without a score and that the orchestra was marvelous playing the delicate, delightful dance program.) Include admirable bonus features, all in nice high-definition video, of fair, beauteous girls and statuesque, handsome men dancing to Strauss in exquisite palaces. Give the appealing city of Linz an ideal chance to show how its wonderful buildings, bridges, and barges exercise their refined talents as performance artists. Finally garnish with members of the Philharmonic playing in all manner of fascinating places and with the foxy percussion section playing Oropaxis in consort with a blast furnace.

Well, if you made it this far, you're right, the previous paragraph of this mini-review contains 48 synonyms of the word "pretty." Every second of this disc is in high-definition video, and it contains wonderfully beautiful images of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Golden Hall full of flowers and elegant music patrons, nature and landscape scenes to illustrate many of the musical numbers, student and professional dancers, and cultural and artistic landmarks of Austria.

But PQ alone doesn't earn an A+ for an HDVD of a  symphony orchestra concert. To earn an A+, the title must have top quality video content and sound quality as well. And in these departments, there is room for criticism of this recording.

Let's consider video content first: this recording suffers from a mild case of DVDitis. This disease affects HDVDs when the show was shot to be published as a DVD as well as in high-definition. The low resolution of DVD requires the TV director to rely primarily on close-up shots where the lack of resolution will not be noticed by the customer. Started differently, if you have to shoot for DVD, you can't use many shots of large sections of the orchestra or the whole orchestra. So the typical DVD consists of a great many shots of the conductor cut quickly to close-up shots of one or two players in a frantic effort (think movie cartoon) to keep the show interesting.

If the TV director is required to present the show in high-definition video with the same content required for the DVD, the result will be an inferior and unsatisfactory HDVD. If the director has enough shots on tape, maybe he can produce two different shows---one for DVD and one for HDVD. Or maybe he will try to shoot something in the middle that will make for a better HDVD without causing too many problems for the DVD. I think maybe this is what happened to Large on this project.

This 2009 New Year's Concert in HDVD form has better picture content than many of the other HDVDs we have reviewed of symphony orchestra concerts. Large does include a decent number of shots of the whole orchestra (see 11:42 and 48:28), a fair number of shots large sections (see 43:10 for a great shot of the whole cello section), and other long-range shots (see 48:10). Mysteriously,  many shots of the whole orchestra are ruined by chandeliers in the middle of the sight line (see 45:58). And, alas, the best shots  don't last long---as soon as you start to enjoy them, they disappear.

Then you see usually see the conductor yet another time before there's another cut to a soloist or a small section like 2 flutes or 3 trombones. Barenboim is more interesting than most conductors, but he appears far too often in this recording. In the audience we would be looking at the players all the time and only see the conductor's back. So it's perverse for the TV director to make us look at Barenboim so much when the TV director has the ability to show us everything on the stage with good high-definition clarity. Well, that's what DVDitis does to you.

The SQ on this disc is quite good compared to most CDs and DVDs. But we have learned from NHK that a symphony recorded with the 96kHz/24 bit sampling rate can sound even better than what is presented on this disc. If the Wiener Philharmoniker considers themselves to be world-class symphony, they should insist that their performances be recorded with world-class technology.

To sum up, maybe no recording of waltzes and polkas could deserve an A+ grade in HDVD form. But if anybody could produce an A+ quality record of this kind of music, why wouldn't that be the Wiener Philharmoniker, where they take the New Year's concert very seriously? I think the music performed on this title and the excellent bonus features included on the disc could justify an A+ grade. But for DVDitis in the video content and lack of 96kHz/24 bit sound, I reduce the grade to B+.

Der Rosenkavalier

Richard Strauss Rosenkavalier opera to libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Directed 2009 by Herbert Wernicke at Baden-Baden. Stars Renée Fleming, Franz Hawlata, Sophie Koch, Franz Grundheber, Diana Damrau, Irmgard Vilsmaier, Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, Jane Henschel, Jonas Kaufmann, Uli Kirsch, Andreas Hörl, Wilfried Gahmlich, Lynton Black, Jörg Schneider, Bernarda Bobro, Catherine Veillerobe, Angela Rudolf, Nina Amon, Michael Schwendinger, Manfried Schwendinger, Manfred Schwaiger, Ilker Arcayürek; Jens Waldig, Mandred Hanakam, Jörg Espenkott, Max Sahlinger, Andreas Maurer, Christian Lusser, Kiril Chobanov, Akos Banlaky, and René Schumann. Christian Thielemann conducts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Chor Wien (Chorus Director Walter Zeh), and the Theaterkinderchor am Helmholtz-Gymnasium Karlsruhe (Chorus Director Waltraud Kutz).  Sets and costumes by Herbert Wernicke, lighting by Werner Breitenfelder; TV direction by Brian Large. Released 2009, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

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Semele

George Frideric Handel Semele opera to libretto by William Congreve. Directed 2007 by Robert Carson at the Zürich Opera House (Opernhaus Zürich). Stars Cecilia Bartoli, Charles Workman, Birgit Remmert, Liliana Nikiteanu, Anton Scharinger, Thomas Michael Allen, and Isabel Rey. William Christie conducts the Orchestra La Scintilla (Concent Master Ada Pesch) and the Chorus of the Zürich Opera (Chorus Masters Jürgen Hämmerli and Ernst Raffelsberger). Continuo: Claudius Herrmann, cello; Dieter Lange, double bass; Jory Vinikour, harpsichord. Sets and costumes by Patrick Kinmonth; lighting by Robert Carsen and Peter van Praet; choreography by Philippe Giraudeau as revived by Elain Tyler-Hall; directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Released  2009, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: B

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