Death in Venice

 

Benjamin Britten Death in Venice opera to a libretto by Myfanwy Piper. Directed by Deborah Warner in 2013 at The London Coliseum. Stars John Graham-Hall (Gustav von Aschenbach), Andrew Shore (Traveller/Elderly Fop/Old Gondolier/Hotel Manager/Hotel Barber/Leader of the Players/Voice of Dionysus), Tim Mead (Apollo), Sam Zaldivar (Tadzio), Laura Caldow (The Polish Mother), Mia Angelina Mather (Polish Daughter), Xhuliana Shehu (Polish Daughter), Joyce Henderson (The Governess), and Marcio Teixeira (Jaschiu, Tadzio's Friend). Edward Gardner conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the English National Opera. Sets by Tom Pye, costumes by Chloe Obolensky; lighting by Jean Kalman; choreography by Kim Brandstrup. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Sung in English. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

(Yes, the back art is from the DVD—we can’t find the Blu-ray back art anywhere. But the production info will be the same on both formats.)

Gramophone Magazine in its 2015 Awards Issue lists 3 videos as the best opera recordings for the year, and this Opus Arte Death in Venice is No. 3. It's good to see that the rest of the world is catching on to how important video is to the enjoyment of opera. But it also ridiculous that Gramophone doesn't even state in the awards story that all the three winners were available in Blu-ray. They just give you the DVD catalog numbers.  When it comes to video, the folks at Gramophone are really show to catch on.

Here's the official clip:

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