Rusalka

Antonín Dvořák Rusalka opera to libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil. Directed 2010 by Martin Kušej at the Nationaltheater, Munich. Stars Kristīne Opolais, Klaus Florian Vogt, Nadia Krasteva, Günther Groissböck, Janina Baechle, Ulrich Reß, Tara Erraught, John Chest, Evgeniya Sotnikova, Angela Brower, and Okka von der Damerau. Tomáš Hanus conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester with the Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper (Chorus Master Sören Eckhoff) and the Statisterie und Kinderstatisterie der Bayerischen Staatsoper. Set design by Martin Zehetgruber; costume design by Heidi Hackl; lighting design by Reinhard Traub; dramatic advisory by Olaf A. Schmitt; TV direction by Thomas Grimm. Released 2012, disc has has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. C Major sells this disc on a regular basis in Regions B and C. This Kultur disc is, by contract, sold regularly in Region A and may not work on players that are not set for Region A. The Kultur version appears to be identical to the C Major product except for logos in the artwork and the like. Grade: A

Kušej's Rusalka story has three levels of meaning:
1.  The base level is the traditional fairy tale of a water nymph whose infatuation with a human Prince leads both to disaster.
2.  Kušej adds a true-crime (or "thriller") level by presenting the nymphs as girls locked in a watery dungeon to be raped at the pleasure of  their water goblin "father" (with help from his wife, the witch).
3.  Finally, Kušej asks us to consider the permanent damage that may result from any sort of isolation or abuse of children. 

In addition to rape in the dungeon, Kušej also changes the kitchen boy to a girl who is blatantly groped and later nearly murdered by her lecherous uncle. I asked myself, "Is all this going too far?" Well, the very next morning, I read an article in the Dallas Morning News about Yolanda Méndez, who at age 11 was sold by her parents in Mexico to her uncle. The uncle took Yolanda to Dallas and kept her locked up as his "mistress" for years until she escaped. (The uncle is now in prison.)

Yolanda's story silenced any criticism I had of Kušej's topical and allegorical overlays. After reading a bit about Joseph Fritzl (Austria), Natastha Kampush (Austria), and Jaycee Dugard (California), it finally dawned on me what real-world cases most closely relate to the Kušej's dungeon. Both involved religious figures in Texas: the David Koresh (Branch Davidian) catastrophe and the recent Warren Jeffs case, where a polygamist was convicted of the rape of many extremely young "wives," usually with the active approval of the mothers of the girls. Both these cases involved systematic persuasion of everyone involved by father figures who had rationalized their crimes in their own minds.

I previously gave Kušej the stingy grade of "C+" for his HDVDs of Genoveva, Elektra, and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. I thought his attempts to shock us in those productions were either too obscure or silly to take seriously. But subject Rusalka is a winner for Martin in every way.

As is explained in the informative bonus feature, a Kušej project requires actors who can sing, not singers who try to act. Well, in this production everybody can do both. They say Opolais (who stared in The Gambler HDVD), turned down a Met debut to work with Kušej. This decision took guts and smarts, and it appears to have paid off for her with accelerated fame and awards in Europe. Vogt, perfect as the wan and ethereal Prince,  has proved already his acting and singing prowess to HDVD fans in Lohengrin, Lulu, and Meistersinger as well as his solo singing ability in the Bruckner Te Deum. (Trivia question: both Ulrich Reß and John Chest appear in what other HDVD? Answer: the Bayerische Staatsoper Dialogue des Camélites.)

Tomáš Hanus successfully coordinates Dvořák's romantic music to the wild action on stage. Any time you think the plot is about to spin out of control, Hanus is there with some reassuring Dvořák melody and harmony to calm things down.

Of course, you know there will be surreal staging and costumes in any Kušej work. In particular he likes to symbolize isolation and alienation by building small stages inside the big stage (see, for example, the tunnel-like courtyard in Elektra). In Rusalka, Kušej has, of course, his dungeon for a lake. But the stroke of genius comes with what is probably the smallest stage he has built: the Rusalka aquarium. Poor Rusalka, confronted by the hot world of humans with their incessant survival instincts for blood and sex, finally finds relief by submerging and luxuriating in the family aquarium. The image is both logical and unforgettable---it may well become an icon symbolizing contemporary 21st century opera.

Talking about blood, Kušej wanted to skin a real deer carcass on stage and had the requisite animals reserved at a specially slaughterhouse. There was a huge uproar about this and the producers at the last minute agreed to substitute props for real deer. Was this an actual fight or just a PR stunt?

All the action is photographed and recorded with startling clarity. The show is presented almost as a motion picture of an opera taking place. The producers wanted and got it all: sold out live performances and an HDVD that sets new standards for quality in presentation for the home theater audience. It was about a year ago that Rusalka was the talk of all Munich and the European opera world---now I can see for myself in my home theater what all the commotion was about. This disc gets an "A" grade and is an "A+" item for anyone with a keen interest in contemporary opera.

Update on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 1:01PM by Henry McFadyen Jr.

In the Gramophone 2011 Awards Issue, the editor of the Super Audio Corner (probably Andrew Everard) had this to say (at page 147) about the Rusalka Blu-ray: ". . . the high-definition video [captures] every detail from the shadowy opening to striking close-ups of skin-tones and rippling water, making this a real visual treat." (He liked the sound too!) But on page 125, Richard Fairman, while praising the singing and acting, dives under the table in reaction to the Martin Kušej reworking of this as a true-crime thriller.

Lulu

Alan Berg Lulu opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2010 by Vera Nemirova at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Patricia Petibon, Pavol Breslik, Michael Volle, Franz Grundheber, Thomas Piffka, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Andreas Conrad and Thomas Johannes Mayer. Marc Albrecht conducts the Vienna Philharmonic.  Sets by Daniel Richter; costumes by Klaus Noack; video direction by Brian Large. Please note that this title is limited to Region A/1. Released 2012. Grade: Help!

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Giselle

Giselle ballet. Music by Adolphe Adam to libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges & Théophile Gautier. Choreography by Marius Pepita. Staging and additional choreography 2009 by Rachel Beaujean and Ricardo Bustamante at the Amsterdam Muziektheater. This is the first prodution of Giselle by the Dutch National Ballet. Stars Anna Tsygankova, Jozef Varga, Igone de Jongh, Jan Zerer, Michele Jimenez, Maia Makhateli, Mathieu Gremillet, Arthur Shesterikov, Anu Viheriäranta, Emanouela Merdjanova, Natasja Lucassen, Jeanette Vondersaar, Francis Sinceretti, Dario Mealli, and artists of Het Nationale Ballet. Boris Gruzin conducts the Holland Sinfonia. Sets and costumes by Toer van Schayk; lighting by James F. Ingalls; television direction and production by Jeff Tudor & Adrienne Liron. Released  2010, disc has 5.1 Dolby sound. Our disc purchased from Amazon in the U.S. is restricted to region A. Caution:  You should avoid this disc outside the Pacific Rim countries unless you are sure you have a Blu-ray player that will play Region A discs. Grade: B+

In February 2010 had 3 Giselle HDVDs. First to be published was the Opus Arte 2009 Cojocaru/Kobborg/Nuñez version by the Royal Opera House ("ROH"). Next we got the TDK 2009 Pujol/Le Riche/Gillot version from the Paris Opera Ballet ("POB"). And finally we got this  Kultur 2010 Tsygankova/Varga/de Jongh take with the Dutch National Ballet ("DNB"). This review which I attach to all 3 versions, will present a brief shootout of the three titles.

In Act 1, we meet the tender, innocent peasant girl Giselle who is in love with the handsome Albrecht. Albrecht pretends to be a peasant youth, but he's really a nobleman who is engaged to a girl of his own class. Giselle's mother Berthe warns Giselle of the dangers of romance and tells Giselle about the Wilis, the ghosts of jilted girls who died before their weddings and who haunt the nearby forest. Hilarion, a peasant hunter who loves Giselle, is suspicious of Albrecht. When Hilarion reveals Albrecht's identity and his duplicity, Giselle goes mad and dies. Everyone is distraught, including Albrecht, who, we begin to understand, truly preferred Giselle to the noble lady with whom he has been matched.

In Act 2, Giselle has been buried in the forest. 26 Wilis and their Queen, Myrtha, prepare to receive Giselle as their latest initiate. Giselle will then help them accomplish their mission: to trap young men (whether guilty or innocent) and force them to dance until they die from exhaustion. Hilarion visits Giselle's grave and meets his doom. Albrecht also visits Giselle's grave and is captured by the Willis. But Giselle rebels and protects her sweetheart just long enough for the dawn to arrive and disburse the Willis. Albrecht escapes, but he must live out his life knowing that he will never see his true love again.

In Act 1, the ROH has the best mise-en-scène with updated sets, warm lighting, beautiful costumes, great acting, and coherent direction. Everybody in the cast, selected for acting ability or sex appeal as well as dancing prowess, seems 2 to 10 years younger than their French counterparts in the POB. Picture quality is excellent with vivid and skillfully editing. The sound is adequate. Cojocaru is cute and charming. Her mad scene is deeply pathetic. She stabs herself and then dies hard, which means that she will be buried in the forest, and not in the churchyard, where those who commit suicide are not allowed. Sandra Conley is touching as Giselle's mother, Martin Harvey as Hilarion is appealing, and Johan Kobborg as Albrecht seems worthy of sympathy, especially after we meet his fianceé played haughtily by Genesia Rosato, who appears to be 5 to 10 years older than he. In contrast, the approach of the POB to Act 1 is cooler and more formal. It features larger dancing formations---executed with impressive skill--- that need full-stage photography. I get the impression that the sets and costumes have been packed and unpacked a great many times. Pujol is maybe a bit too old and mature to be the Giselle the girl, but she makes up for this with her assured dancing skills. For example, there is a scene where Giselle hops repeatedly on pointe on her left foot. Cojocaru does 24 small hops which are hardly noticable among all that is going on. But Pujol makes an almost unbelievable display of this with 34 big, bold hops that take her half across the stage while she laughs and flirts with all the spectators standing around gawking. The other stars are only OK. Picture quality is a bit disappointing, but the POB has the better sound with 7.1 dts-HD Master Audio. The Kultur video was made from the first ever production of Giselle by the DNB. For the Dutch folks to compete with the ROH and the POB in this might be a bit like Lichtenstein getting into a soccer tournament with England and Brazil. The DNB forces obviously had a lesser budget than the others and their small forces looked rather thin on the big stage. On the other hand, Varga seemed to me to be the best Albrecht in this group. Kultur is entering the market at a lower price point than Opus Arte or TDK. This means Kultur has to cut corners---picture quality is only adequate and the "5.1 Dolby" sound is feeble when compared to the TDK disc.

Act 2 is a ghost story in ballet blanc. Now the tables are turned in favor of the formal approach of the POB. Marie-Agnès Gillot is commanding as Queen of the Wilis, a task that is too much to ask of the younger and shorter Nuñez. Pujol is prettier as as ghost than she was as a girl. The cool lighting of the POB is perfect now, with a mottled blue-white pattern that allows you to see well enough while preserving a sense of mystery. The blue light washes out the pink skin hues to the point that the dancers look as well as dance like spirits. At Myrta's command, the veils of all the jilted girls instantaneously fly offstage as if by magic. The cameras in Paris are positioned in the balconies where they look down on the stage and reveal the exact location, rank and file, of each dancer at every moment throughout all their formations. This gives us rolling proof of the discipline, control, and perfection for which the Paris female corps is famous. (If their formations were any more orderly, it would start to look like a computer simulation.) In contrast, the cameramen in London shoot Act 2 from positions level with the stage. This they do, I think, in an (only partly successful) attempt to obscure irregularities and raggedness in the ROB ballet-blanc formations. This leaves the female corp of the POB in charge. But let's don't forget about the Dutch! Igone de Jongh is gorgeous and terrifying as Myrtha. Varga bests his competition in portraying Albert's grief. And the Dutch corps worked hard on their white formations, which are better than those of the ROH and almost as impressive as the work of the POB.

So here's how I sum up the 3 Giselles. Act 1 is a the story of a girl who died. Act 2 is a ghost story. The ROH focuses on the girl and has the best Act 1. The POB focuses on the ghosts and has the best Act 2. The DNB has only a fair Act 1, but they surpass the ROH and are competitive with the POB in Act 2. The prettiest scene in all three versions belongs to the DNB when the corps circles Myrtha in the smoke at the beginning of Act 2. For young children and ballet newbies, the ROH disc will probably be more fun. For all others, the POB disc must be preferred because of it's admirable white scenes and superior sound. The DNB disc would be an option if you have a Region A Blu-ray player, have an entry-level home theater, and are on a tight budget.

Cinderella

Cinderella ballet. Music by Sergei Prokofiev. The Birmingham Royal Ballet is directed and choreographed in 2010 by David Bintley in a new production. Stars Elisha Willis, Iain Mackay, Gaylene Cummerfield, Carol-Anne Millar, Marion Tait, Victoria Marr, Momoko Hirata, Lei Zhao, Angela Paul, Delia Mathews, Jamie Bond, Joseph Caley, Alexander Campbell, and Mathias Dingman. The Royal Ballet Sinfonia is conducted by Koen Kessels. Set and costume design by John F. Macfarlane; lighting by David A. Finn; video direction by Ross MacGibbon. Unlike some Kultur titles, it appears this disc plays in all Blu-ray regions and is being sold in Europe. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: B+

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It appears to us that, probably due to legal requirements, this disc has been released twice - once by Kultur, and once by NVC Arts. The Kultur disc is available in North America, while the NVC Arts version is available in Europe. We do not believe these versions will have any substative differences.

For the North American Kultur releases:

For the European NVC Arts Releases:

La Bohème

Puccini La Bohème opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. English libretto by Amanda Holden based on the Italian version. Directed 2009 by Jonathan Miller at the English National Opera. Stars Roland Wood, Alfie Boe, Pauls Putinš, David Stout, Simon Butteriss, Melody Moore, Philip Daggett, Hanan Alattar, Richard Angas, Christoper Ross, and Andrew Tinkler. Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts the chorus & orchestra of the English National Opera. Set designs by Isabella Bywater; lighting by Jean Kalman; directed for TV by Robin Lough.  Released 2010, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Grade: C+

This new Jonathan Miller English language production of La Bohème was first staged in 2009 at the English National Opera Coliseum. It competes in HDVD with the Del Monaco production at the Teatro Real, the Dornhelm motion picture, and the now arthritic John Copley version at the Royal Opera House.

I love Amanda Holden's fresh new English transliteration. To make the words easy to follow (and sing, I think) she comes up with tons of new thoughts and images that sound natural to contemporary English speakers while remaining faithful to the spirit of Giacosa and Illica. If you are a native English speaker and just getting into opera, you might prefer the ENO version for this reason alone. Kultur kindly provided English language subtitles. With the subtitles on, I (native English speaker) could follow almost all the singing perfectly. With the subtitles off, I still could not follow about half the libretto on my third viewing. Since I will probably keep the subtitles on anyway, I don't think I'll give up my long-range project of learning the Italian libretto.

The Coliseum is a large hall. The ability to sign loud is essential---the appearance of the singers is not so important with the long sight-lines. All the singers in this production sang well enough, I think, to give the live audience good value.

I also liked the clever sets and decision to updated to 1930. But the design is too unrelentingly drab. Puccini expressed little social consciousness, and one should not try with this opera to make a statement in the vein of Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London (1933) or Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937). The Bohemians had a culture of abject poverty, but their lives and the women who loved them glinted of glamour and the promise of greatness---that's why people find them interesting. This opera is about two of those beautiful women: one who dies young and another who will probably get rich outliving several husbands. So the director has to at least give them some beautiful clothes and decent wigs. After all, Mimi is a seamstress who can make her own clothes, and a girl like Musette always dresses well. Similar to John Copley at the Royal Opera, Miller does a good job of directing the fast-moving scenes of high jinks among the 4 roommates and the feast at Cafe Momus. But his love scenes between Rodolfo and Mimi and the death scene are not convincing. Contrast this to Del Monaco's directing of Inva Mula and Aquiles Machado (Teatro Real) where the lovers seem to actually care for each other.

Well, this thumbnail is about the Kultur video of this performance, so now we get to the sad part: the appearance of the female leads in HDVD. In high-definition video, Melody Moore is too tall and heavy to pair with Alfie Boe. Dressed in frumpy costumes and a hideous bathing-cap style wig, Melody often looks like she might be his mom rather than his girl friend. With a taller swain and some pretty clothes, she might be able to pull it off, especially if the director would let her die in the dark where she wouldn't look like such a healthy corn-feed farm girl. Also, it would be nice if they could find somewhere to put her recording mike other than sticking out from her wig right in the top-middle of her forehead. Hanan Alattar as Musetta is a more extreme case. Alattar isn't a dirigible---yet; but even a blimp can't do Musetta in HDVD. Musseta sings a song about how the men salivate when they meet her on the street. Well for this Musetta, before drooling, a prudent man would first gangway by stepping off into the gutter. To make Alattar look a bit exotic in the Coliseum, the makeup folks slathered her, and maybe this worked live. But in HDVD poor Alattar looks like a female professional wrestler. Finally, the costume folks put Alattar in the ugliest dress conceivable: a tight nasty-cream-colored solid overlaid with a geometric grid pattern that demonstrates (with mathematical precision) the dimensions of every bulge threatening to burst every seam.

In summary, the Del Monaco Teatro Real La Bohème is the first pick. Still, you might go for this ENO version if you want to try an English libretto. Otherwise, for the drab design and weakness in the female leads, I give this title the grade of C+.

La Bohème

Giacomo Puccini La Bohème opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. This is a motion picture version of the opera directed by Robert Dornhelm. Stars Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Nicole Cabell, George von Bergen (voice by Boaz Daniel), Adrian Eröd (voice by Stéphane Degout), and Vitaly Kovalyou. Bertrand de Billy conducts the Baravian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Chorus of the Bayerischer Rundfunk, and the Children's Chorus of the Staatstheatre am Gärtnerplatz, Munich. Released in 2009, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. This title is being sold all over the world. But as best we can tell, it is restricted to Blu-ray Region A, which is certain Asian nations and the Americas (Pacific rim nations). So this is a safe purchase only for those who have players set for Region A. (If you are in Europe, buy the region-free Axiom version of this title described below. Released 2008, disc has Dolby 5.1 sound.  Grade: B+

Here we have Kultur's release of Dornhelm's movie.  Earlier this year Axiom released their own version, region free but not sold in the U.S. For general information about the movie, please read our our mini-review of the Axion disc. Here I compare the disc authorship of the Kultur and the Axions products.

While Kultur has not released a bad product, the Axiom disc is better in nearly every aspect. Neither the video nor sound on the Kultur release are up to the standard of the Axiom version. The resolution is sub par for the Kultur disc, as the picture is less detailed, more washed out, more faded. For the average movie watcher, this difference might be minute. But we played the Kultur disc in a typical home theater and in a reference-level theater at John Fort Audio-Video. On the better playback equipment, the weakness in the Kultur picture becomes much more obvious. So for those interested in the best quality, Kultur doesn't deliver.

As to sound, I say again that the Kultur disc isn't a bad product. But it lacks the same degree of clarity and resonance of sound I hear on the Axiom disc. The difference is the most pronounced when multiple singers converge; on the Kultur disc, the vocals tend to get more muddled than they should. This difference probably lies in the fact that Kultur uses older Dolby Digital 5.1 technology. Axiom springs for lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1.

Other, less important differences also play against the Kultur release. Both Axiom and Kultur use the same English only subtitle track, but Kultur presents theirs with a chunkier subtitle font reminiscent of poor DVD subtitling. Axiom's subtitles are much cleaner and visually appealing. In addition Kultur places their subtitles higher up than Axiom's. Letterboxed on widescreen television, this higher placement has Kultur's subtitles consistently on the picture, instead of on the lower black bar as Axiom's does. Axiom provides a nice keep box booklet; Kultur gives you only a single sheet with a list of chapters.

The one benefit that the Kultur disc has over Axiom's is that it has more chapter breaks, allowing for quicker access to your favorite scenes.

Your choice is clear - the Axiom disc is superior. However, the Kultur disc is cheaper and is the only one that readily available in the US.  If you want the best, I think the Axiom is worth the extra money. But if the cheaper price attracts you, the Kultur disc is a decent option for those who can play it.