FRA has produced its first HDVD: a Henry Purcell
Dido and Aeneas opera to libretto by Nahum Tate. Directed by Deborah Warner at the
Opéra Comique in December, 2008. Singing stars are Malena Ernman, Christopher Maltman,
Judith Van Wanroij, Hilary Summers, Lina Markeby, Céline Ricci, Ana Quintans,
Damian Whiteley, and Marc Mauilon. Fiona Shaw has a spoken part. Acrobats are Sébastien Bruas, Romulo Pelizza, Loïc Reiter,
Willy Grasman, Nicolas Comicci, and Tomas Van Uden. William Christie conducts
Les Arts Florissants Choir and Orchestra; sets and costumes by Chloé Obolensky;
lighting by Jean Kalman. Released in 2010, in has 5.1 dts sound. It is generally available now from Amazon in the
UK,
USA,
Germany,
Canada, or
France.
[FRA stands for François Roussillon & Associés, an upstart
group that has set out to create the most beautiful HDVD products
on the market. You know this right away when you open the custom-made
presentation package with a clever slip cover, 32-page collectors booklet,
and artfully crafted case for the single disc. So how do you doll up
Dido and Aeneas to meet the expectations created by the cover?
Well, by casting beautiful young singers who can also act, adding acrobats
instead of dancers, garnishing with bright sets and costumes, supporting
with a hand-picked chorus that eats nothing but ambrosia, charming all
with the glowing smiles of avuncular William Christie, throwing in
odd touches like stampeding school girls, a naked sailor, and cocaine-snorting
witches, and starting off the whole thing with something nobody would expect: 6 minutes of
straight spoken legitimate theater! In the wrong hands, this would be
the most egregious Eurotrash---but as executed by Warner and Christie,
it manages somehow to seem a logical and fitting way to deal with Purcell's
obscure music and Dido's sad story. If you have laughs and tears, prepare to
mix them now. Henry McFadyen, Jr.]