EMI Classics — New Titles/Journal

Puccini Tosca opera to libretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. Directed 2011 by Duncan Macfarland at the Royal Opera House in a revival of the 2006 Jonathan Kent production. Stars Angela Gheorghiu (Floria Tosca), Jonas Kaufmann (Mario Cavaradossi), Bryn Terfel (Baron Scarpia), Lukas Jakobski (Cesare Angelotti), Jeremy White (Sacristan), Hubert Francis (Spoletta), ZhengZhong Zhou (Sciarrone), William Payne (Shepherd Boy), and John Morrissey (Gaoler). Antonio Pappano conducts the Royal Opera House Orchestra (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev) and Chorus (Chorus Director Renato Balsadonna). Designs by Paul Brown; lighting design by Mark Henderson; music production by David Groves. Directed for TV by Jonathan Haswell. Sung in Italian. Released 2012, Blu-ray disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

Berliner Philharmoniker 3D in Singapore concert. Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in the Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances and Mahler Symphony No. 1. This was shot in Singapore in 3D for the Japanese market. The package has practically nothing in English except the title. But we can report that the sound was recorded with 48 kHz/24 bit sampling. The video was shot at 23.976 Hz, which is the speed for motion picture film. This title plays fine on a 2D display. On our new 3D player, it plays in 3D. But we can use a toggle on the TV remote control to switch to 2D. Released 2011, we understand this title is restricted to Region A and has 5.1 PCM sound output. 2D Grade: C- 3D Grade: D

What's New

Here's news about high-definition video disc ("HDVD") recordings of opera, ballet, classical music, plays, fine-art documentaries, and paintings. In the journal below are independent (and hard-to-find critical) reports on hundreds of HDVDs. Pick the best titles for your excelsisphere.

Feb 25. We have just completed one of our most ambitious reviews: Einstein on the Beach opera, the surreal 4 and 1/2 hour cult legend. Kudos, encomiums, and accolades to Opus Arte for giving us this authoritative and weirdly fascinating recording, which we grade A+. Absorbing and learning Einstein is uniquely challenging. We try to help out by providing aids not included in the keepcase materials: an accurate libretto and a list of segments in the opera with correct Opus Arte time stamps. Good luck!

We have some other good grades with an A for the recent Met The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) and a B- for an earlier The Pearl Fishers from Naples. Also, we recently gave an A- for the new Don Quixote from the Vienna State Ballet.