Maria Stuarda

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Donizetti Maria Stuarda opera to libretto by Giuseppe Bardari. Directed by David McVickar at the Met. Stars Joyce DiDonato (Maria Stuarda), Elza van den Heever (Elisabetta), Matthew Rose (Talbot), Joshua Hopkins (Cecil), Matthew Polenzani (Leicester), and Maria Zifchak (Anna Kennedy). Maurizio Benini conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Sets and costumes design by John Macfarlane; lighting design by Jennifer Tipton; choreography by Leah Hausman. Released 2015, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Monteverdi Complete Operas

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Monteverdi Complete Operas box set. This is not a collection of titles previously published separately. This box includes three operas performed on one day in September 2013 as part of a single huge production directed by Barrie Kosky at the Berlin Komische Oper:

1. L'Orfeo or La Favola d'Orfeo, written 1607(libretto by Alessandro Striggio reworked and translated into modern German by Susanne Felicitas Wolf and Ulrich Lenz). This is the earliest surviving opera still regularly seen on the boards. Performed in the morning, it's the familiar story Orpheus story for which we already have five HDVD versions.
2. Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, written 1639 (libretto by Giacomo Badoaro, Wolf, and Lenz) here called Odysseus. Performed in the afternoon.
3. L'incoronazione di Poppea, written 1643 (libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, Wolf, and Lenz),  Performed in the evening. We have an opera and a ballet version of this already in HDVD.

There are no clearly authentic musical scores for these works---instead multiple competing scores come from obscurity down to us. Here's how Shirley Apthorp put it in the Financial Times: "Composer Elana Kats-Chernin has re-imagined Monteverdi's score with a battery of exotic instruments in different chamber orchestrations for each opera. The result is a marathon for all concerned." Well, in the form of HDVD recordings, you can pace yourself and experience this over several days.

The production has 32 soloists and more than 200 supporting artists. Stars Tansel Akzeybek (Telemachos/Valletto), Thomas Michael Allen (Arnalta/Eumaios), Alexey Antonov (Pluto), Katharina von Bülow (Minerva), Brigitte Geller (Poppea), Julia Giebel (Drusilla), Karolina Gumos (Fate/Juno), Dominik Köninger (Orpheus), Theresa Kronthaler (Sylvia/Proserpina/Otho), Ezgi Kutlu (Penelope), Jens Larsen (Antinoos/Time/Neptun/Seneca), Tom Erik Lie (Amphinomos/Amme), Annelie Sophie Müller (Minerva/Tugend or Virtue), Julia Novikova (Eurydice), Christiane Oertel (Eurykleia), Günter Papendell (Odysseus), Peter Renz (Amor), Helene Schneiderman (Octavia), Stefan Sevenich (Charon), Roger Smeets (Nero), Frank Soehnle (Figuren orr Figures of Orpheus and Eurydike), Ariana Strahl (Damigella/Fate), Adrian Strooper (Eurymachos/Liberto), Christoph Späth (Pisandro/Jupiter), and Mirka Wagner (Melanto). André de Ridder conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Komische Oper Berlin (Chorus Master André Kellinghaus). Set designs by Katrin Lea Tag; costume designs by Katrin Lea Tag and Katharina Tasch; lighting by Alexander Koppelmann; choreography by Otto Pichler; dramatic advice by Ulrich Senz; directed for video by Peter Schöenhofer. Sung in German with subtitles in German, English, French, and Turkish. Released 2015, has 3 discs with 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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BBC Proms At Royal Albert Hall

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BBC Proms At Royal Albert Hall concert. David Zinman conducts the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Features violinist Julia Fischer. Video directed by Bridget Caldwell. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA

The concert features the following works:

1. Strauss Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche
2. Dvořák Violin Concerto
3. Beethoven Symphony No. 6  "Pastoral"

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Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

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Les Parapluies de Cherbourg jazz opera. Music by Michel Legrand. Based on the 1964 film of the same name directed by Jacque Demy. Directed 2014 at the Paris Théâtre du Châtelet. Stars Marie Oppert (Geneviève Emery), Vincent Niclo (Guy Foucher), Natalie Dessay (Madame Emery), Laurent Naouri (Roland Cassard), and Louise Leterm (Madeleine). Also stars, with numerous small roles each, Jasmine Roy, Franck Vincent, Franck Lopez, Arnaud Léonard, Valentin Johner, Salem Sobihi, and Elsa Dreisig.  Stage musicians are Denis Leloup (trombone), François Laizeau (drums), Claude Egea (trumpet), Pierre Boussaguet (double bass), and Pierre Perchaud (guitar). Michel Legrand conducts the Orchestre national d’Ile-de-France. Sets by Vincent Vittoz; designs by Jean-Jacques Sempé and Vincent Vittoz; costumes by Vanessa Seward; lighting by Renaud Corler. Directed for TV by Denis Caïozzi.  Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

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Britten Collection

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A Britten Collection box set has five operas previously published by Opus Arte. Four of them have already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:

1. Death in Venice. (Grade NA) This has been lavishly praised by the print critics.
2. Gloriana. (Grade NA) Customer reviews are split down the middle---half love and half hate---on this radical treatment of an obscure opera.
3. Billy Budd. (Grade A+) Superb production of an all-male sailor story.
4. Peter Grimes. (Grade NA) This has also been enthusiastically received by the print critics.
5. Rape of Lucretia. (We excluded this. It was originally made in 2001 as a SD video with stereo sound and was later republished as a 1080 video with engineered surround sound. We give Opus Arte full credit for disclosing this provenance in their advertisements.)

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La Traviata (Damrau)

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Verdi La Traviata opera to libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. Directed 2014 by Benoît Jacquot the Paris Opéra Bastille. Stars Diana Damrau (Violetta Valéry), Francesco Demuro (Alfredo Germont), Ludovic Tézier (Giorgio Germont), Anna Pennisi (Flora Bervoix), Cornelia Oncioiu (Annina), Gabriele Mangione (Gastone), Fabio Previati (Il Baron Douphoi), Igor Gnidii (Il Marchese d'Obigny) and Nicolas Testé (Dr. Grenvil). Francesco Ivan Ciampa conducts the Ochestre et Chœur de l'Opéra National de Paris. Sets by Silvain Chauvelot; costumes by Christian Casc; lighting by André Diot; choreography by Philippe Giraudeau. Directed for TV by Lousie Narboni and Benoît Jacquot; produced by Françoise Gazio and Laurent Métivier. Sung in Italian. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA

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Aida

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Giuseppe Verdi Aida opera to libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Directed 2015 by Peter Stein at the Teatro alla Scala. Stars Carlo Colombara (The King), Anita Rachvelishvili (Amneris), Kristin Lewis (Aida), Fabio Sartori (Radamès), Matti Salminen (Ramfis), George Gagnidze (Amonasro), Azer Rza-Zada (Messenger), and Chiara Isotton (Priestess). Zubin Mehta conducts the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala (Chorus Master Bruno Casoni). Dancers are students of the Ballet Academy of Teatro Alla Scala directed by Frédéric Olivieri.  Set design by Ferdinand Wögerbauer; costume design by Nana Cecchi; lighting design by Joachim Barth; choreography by Massimiliano Volpini. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Angels Sing --- Libera in America

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Angels Sing --- Libera in America boys' choir concert. Recorded live in August 2014 at The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. Singers are Marc Alvares, Shay Balsekar, Henry Barrington, Anthony Blake, Ciaran Bradbury-Hickey, Tiarnan Branson, Gabriel Collins, Kavana Crossley, Thomas Delgado-Little, Ben Fairman, Daniel Fontannaz, Alex Gula, Matthew Jansen, Timothy Lee, Sam Leggett, Isaac London, Matthew Madine, Eoghan McCarthy, Alessandro Mackinnon-Botti, Michael Menezes, Alex Montoro, Sammy Moriarty, Jakub Niedermaier-Reed, Rocco Tesei, Cassius O'Connell-White, Matthew Rangel-Alvares, Bertramo Smart, Camden Stewart, Sam Wiggin, and Lucas Wood. Robert Prizeman directed and conducted the Libera choir and a chamber orchestra assembled for this event. Music produced and mixed by Sam Coates, Ian Tiley, and Robert Prizeman. There is also a short feature about the choir and the trip to America. Produced by Daniel Hart, John Rexroad, and Steven Philipp. There is no credit for the video on the keepcase or in the keepcase booklet. There are no subtitles for the music or for short comments made by the boys during the performance. The music was recorded using 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling. Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: D+

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Admeto Special 4-Pack

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Admeto Special 4-Pack. The Handel Admeto opera from the 2006 Halle Handel Festival was published in 2009 by Arthaus as Item No. 101258. See the preceding entry in the Alphalist. Later Arthaus announced a new version with 1 Blu-ray disc, the whole opera on 2 DVDs, and a separate CD with the music. That's 4 discs packed in one case. The Blu-ray disc appears to be the same as in the old edition except it's on a double-layer disc (50 GB). The item number of the 4-Pack is 109067.

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The Passenger

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Mieczysław Weinberg The Passenger opera to libretto by Alexander Medvedev after a novel of the same name published in 1962 by concentration camp survivor Zofia Posmysz. Directed 2010 by David Pountney at the Bregenz Festival (The title in German is Die Passagierin). Stars singers Michelle Breedt (Lisa), Roberto Saccà (Walter), Elena Kelessidi (Martha), Artur Rucinski (Tadeusz), Svetlana Doneva (Katja), Angelica Voje (Krzystina), Elżbieta Wróblewska (Vlasta), Agnieszka Rehlis (Hannah), Talia Or (Ivette), Helen Field (Alte), Liuba Sokolova (Bronka), Tobias Hächler (1st SS Officer), Wilfried Staber (2nd SS Officer), David Danholt (3rd SS Officer), Richard Angas (Elderly Passenger/Steward), Heide Capovilla (Senior Overseer/Capo), David Gabl, Michael Koch, Juliusz Kubiak, and Anton Schwärzler (4 Soldiers), Michelle Lau and Matthias Zuggal (Soldiers on watchtowers), and violinist Andreas Semlitsch (Double for Tadeusz in violin scene). Also stars stage musicians Raphael Brunner, Stefan Mikic, Roger Szedalik, Dominik Neunteufel, and Michael Schatzmann. Teodor Currentzis conducts the Weiner Symphoniker and the Prague Philharmonic Choir (Choirmaster Lukáš Vasilek). Set design by Johan Engels; costume design by Marie-Jeanne Lecca; lighting design by Fabrice Kebour; video direction by Felix Breisach. The opera is sung in German, English, French, Russian and Yiddish. There is also a documentary film "In der Fremde" in German with English subtitles. Released  2015, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound and the documentary and extras are in stereo. Grade: A

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The Grand Organ of Coventry Cathedral

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In 2014, Kerry Beaumont plays the following selections on the grand organ of the Coventry Cathedral in Coventry, England:

1. Lemmens "Fanfare"
2. Holst "Mars, the Bringer of War" (The Planets)
3. Mendelssohn "Prelude and Fugue" in C minor
4. J. S. Bach "Come Sweetest Death" (Komm, Susser Tod)
5. Handel "For unto us a Child is Born"
6. Walton "Orb and Sceptre"
7. Messiaen "Jesus accepte la souffrance"
8. Boellmann "Toccata" from Suite Gothique
9. Brewer "Triumphant Song"
10. Beethoven "Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement)"
11. Davies "RAF March Past"
12. Durufle "Prelude and Fugue sur le non d'Alain"
13. Cholley "Rumba sur les grands jeux"

The Grand Organ of Coventry Cathedral is an impressive recording package with a Blu-ray video disc, a DVD, and a CD of the music. Each of the 13 musical selections is accompanied with video showing Beaumont playing plus numerous clips of the Cathedral and the town of Coventry with its history and landmarks. There is an excellent keepcase booklet which gives you guidance as to what you see in the video for each musical number. Then in another section of the booklet you get a discussion of the musical aspects of each of the 13 selections. Finally, the booklet has two pages of technical data on the Coventry organ! So far I've covered only the main program. There are also 4 bonus extras, all with Beaumont as docent: (1) a 19-minute narration of the musical program, (2) a 44-minute detailed rundown on the features of the Coventry Grand Organ, (3) an 8-minute explanation of the challenges faced by the organist in playing "Rumba sur les grands jeux", and (4) a 12 minute discussion of two chamber organs that the Cathedral also owns and uses! Recorded and produced by Paul Crichton; filmed and edited by Richard Knight; Associate Producer was Callum Ross; Executive Producer was Neil Collier. Released 2015, Blu-ray disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Grade: A

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Kerberos at Work---Erwin Schrott and Rojotango

 

Kerberos is our vicious dog who sniffs out Blu-ray impostors, sinks his teeth in them, and drags them to our Excluded Titles section on the Navigation bar. Most of Kerb's victims are DVDs reissued in Blu-ray drag in an effort to trick customers. Kerb has been working round-the-clock lately. I thought I should give you an example of what I'm talking about.

Above you see the front cover of a Blu-ray package for the title Ervin Schrott---Live in Berlin---Rojotango. It's available in DVD also. I tried without success on the Internet to get the specs for this title. That's a red flag, of course. But I yielded to temptation. Even though Kerb was having a fit, I bought this Blu-ray.

Kerb was right. On the back cover of the keepcase, the art work says "PCM Audio." That's code for "stereo." When you put the disc in the player, the only sound track is in 48kHz/16-bit LPCM stereo. There's no surround sound. Even though this was shot in 2013, it was filmed for DVD 720x480 presentation. When repackaged in blue, you get the same old fuzzy images of yesteryears.  It's a decent concert event. But if you're used to stuff recorded with 1080 resolution and high-quality surround sound, seeing this Rojotango is like watching those ancient pop concerts PBS runs with their obnoxious fund-raising drives. (For those of you outside the USA, I'll explain this better by stating that seeing this Rojotango made me slightly ill.)

How do you protect yourself from Blu-ray impostors? You can't rely on the old brand names. Also the vendors (including Amazon) have many mistakes in their postings of title for sale. Well, one way to protect yourself is to check our Excluded Titles list on the Navigation Bar. Use the "find" tool in your web browsers to speed this up! We are working hard to steer you away from Blu-ray impostors.

Sibelius Violin Concerto

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2015 Europakonzert: Sir Simon Rattle conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker this year in its traditional "Europakonzert" on May 1 celebrating the founding of the orchestra on May Day. Normally, this event occurs in a different European city in a beautiful venue of historical significance. For 2015, the concert was held at the Megaron in Athens. Also features violinist Leonidas Kavakos. Directed by Henning Kasten. Here's the program:

1. Rossini,Overture to Semiramide
2. Sibelius, Violin Concerto (Leonidas Kavakos)
3. Bach, "Largo" from Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005
4. Schumann, Symphony No. 3  "Rhenish"

Released 2015, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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