Handel Box Set released 2017. Below are the discs. Each of them has already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:
Guilio Cesare in Egitto. McVicar. 2005. (Grade: A+)
Rinaldo. Carsen.2011. (Grade: B+)
Saul. Kosky. 2016. (Grade: Help!) (We haven't reviewed this title yet, but it got fine reviews.)
This is a fine box with 3 highly-regarded titles. It appears the price is right to make this a great value. Total Grade: A
Read MoreBallet for Children Box Set released 2017. Below are the discs. Each of them has already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:
This is one of the best box sets that Opus Arte has offered. For adult viewers, this Nutcracker faces huge competition, but it's probably as good as any for the kids. I marked down the Peter and the Wolf as a warning to adults that it's a short student recital. But it passes the kid test with an A++. So this is a box set with no loser and a big winner for the consumer with children in mind.
Read MoreTribute to Jerome Robbins compilation of three single-act ballet pieces by Robbins and the world premiere of a single-act ballet by Benjamin Millepied. Performed 2008 at the Paris Opera (Palais Garnier) as a tribute to Robbins, who died in 1998. Works presented (in disc order) are:
Koen Kessels conducts the Paris Opera Orchestra. This project was realized while Gerard Mortier was Director of the Paris Opera. Produced by François Duplat, Antoine Perset, Denis Morlière, and Emma Enjalbert; directed for TV by Vincent Bataillon. Sound recorded with 48kHz/16-bit sampling specs (between CD and typical Blu-ray sound.) Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
Read MoreFrankenstein ballet. New libretto and choreography by Liam Scarlett. Original music by Lowell Liebermann. Filmed in 2016 at the Royal Ballet. Stars Federico Bonelli (Victor Frankenstein), Laura Morera (Elizabeth Lavenza), Steven McRae (The Creature), Alexander Campbell (Henry Clerval), Elizabeth McGorian (Madame Moritz), Meaghan Grace Hinkis (Justine Moritz), Bennet Gartside (Victor's Father), Christina Arestis (Victor's Mother), Thomas Whitehead (The Professor), Guillem Cabrera Espinach (William Frankenstein), Sacha Barber (Young Victor), Skya Powney (Young Elizabeth), and Lauren Molyneux (Young Justine). Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House (Sergey Levitin co-concert master). Set and costume design by John Macfarlane; lighting design by David Finn; projection design by Finn Ross; ballet mistress Samantha Raine; assistant ballet master Ricardo Cervera; principal coaching by Lesley Collier and Recardo Cervara; Benesh notator Gregory Mislin. Directed for TV by Ross McGibbon. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-
Read MoreThe Nutcracker ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky. Choreographed by George Balanchine. Performed and filmed December 14, 2011 at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center. Stars Megan Fairchild (Sugar Plum Fairy), Teresa Reichlen (Coffee), Daniel Ulbricht (Candy Cane), Ashley Bouder (Dewdrop), Joaquín De Luz (the Cavalier), Colby Clark (Nutcracker, the Prince, and Drosselmeyer's Nephew), Fiona Brennan (Marie), and Adam Hendrickson (Drosselmeyer). Directed for TV by Alan Skog. In addition to the credits above, the keepcase booklet has over 275 additional credits for persons contributing to this title. Released 2016, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: B
Shakespeare King Lear play. Directed 2015 by Gregory Doran at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Stars (alphabetical order) Romayne Andrews (Servant/Messenger), Antony Byrne (Earl of Kent), Eke Chukwu (Lear's Gentleman), James Clyde (Duke of Cornwall), James Cooney (Servant), Bethan Cullinane (Messenger), Marième Diouf (Messenger), Paapa Essiedu (Edmund), Jenny Fennessy (Servant/Messenger), Kevin N. Golding (Curan/Doctor), Marcus Griffiths (King of France/Captain), Nia Gwynne (Goneril), Oliver Johnstone (Edgar), Byron Mondahl (Oswald), Theo Ogundipe (Duke of Burgundy/Herald), Antony Sher (King Lear), Natalie Simpson (Cordelia), Clarence Smith (Duke of Albany), David Troughton (Earl of Gloucester), Graham Turner (Fool), Ewart James Walters (Old Man), and Kelly Williams (Regan). Designs by Niki Turner; lighting design by Tim Mitchell; music by Ilona Sekacz; sound by Jonathan Ruddick; movement by Michael Ashcroft; fights by Bret Yount. Directed for screen and TV by Robin Lough; produced by John Wyver. Has a director's commentary. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreDonizetti Olivo e Pasquale opera to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti. 1827 Neapolitan Version revised by Maria Chiara Bertieri for the Donizetti Foundation. Directed 2016 by Ugo Giacomazzi and Luigi Di Gangi of operAlchemica. Stars Bruno Taddia (Olivo), Filippo Morace (Pasquale), Laura Giordano (Isabella), Pietro Adaini (Camillo), Matteo Macchioni (Le Bross), Edoardo Milletti (Columella), Silvia Beltrami (Matilde), and Giovanni Romeo (Diego). Federico Maria Sardelli conducts the Orchestra dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala and the Coro Donizetti Opera (Chorus Master Fabio Tartari). Set and costume design by Sara Sarzi Sartori, Daniela Bertuzzi, and Arianna Delgado; light design by Luigi Biondi; video direction by Matteo Riccheti. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreVerdi Otello opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2016 by Vincent Boussard at the Salzburg Easter Festival. Stars José Cura (Otello), Dorothea Röschmann (Desdemona), Carlos Álvarez (Iago), Benjamin Bernheim (Cassio), Christa Mayer (Emilia), Georg Zeppenfeld (Lodovico), Bror Magnus Tødenes (Roderigo), Csaba Szegedi (Montano), and Gordon Bintner (Herald). Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor, the Salzburger Festspieleand the Theater Kienderchor. Sets by Vincent Lemaire; costumes by Christian Lacroix; lighting by Guido Levi; video designs by Isabel Robson. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBallet Hispánico dance recital performed 2015 at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix). Ballet Hispánico is directed by Eduardo Vilaro and has the mission of celebrating Latino culture through dance. It's an important dance group in New York City and one of the few dance companies in the United States to focus on Latin dance and culture. Pieces performed were CARMEN.maquia, choreographed by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, and Club Havana, choreographed by Pedro Ruiz.
CARMEN.maquia stars Christopher Bloom (Don José), Kimberly Van Woesik (Carmen), Melissa Fernandez (Micaela), and Mario Ismael Espinoza (Escamillo). Cigar factory girls, soldiers, townsfolk, and Gypsies are played by Lauren Alzamora, Martina Calcagno, Shelby Colona, Kassandra Cruz, Mark Gieringer, Christopher Hernandez, Johan Rivera Mendez, Eila Valls, Lyvan Verdecia, and Joshua Winzeler. Recorded music segments, all from Bizet Carmen suites or the Pablo de Sarasate Carmen Concert Fantasy, are stitched together from many resources. Set by Luis Crespo; costumes designed by David Delfin and made by Travis Halsey and Diana Ruettiger; lighting by Joshua Preston. Because all the music comes from the opera, the ballet must be viewed as a ballet telling of the opera libretto---not an easy task.
Club Havana performers are:
- Son (a Cuban dance popular in the 1930s): Martina Calcagno, Shelby Colona, Kassandra Cruz, Mario Ismael Espinoza, Melissa Fernandez, Mark Gieringer, Christopher Hernandez, Johan Rivera Mendez, Eila Valls, and Lyvan Verdecia.
- Mambo: Shelby Colona & Lyvan Verdecia; Kassandra Cruz & Johan Rivera Mendez; and Eila Valls & Mario Ismael Espinoza.
- Cha Cha Cha: Melissa Fernandez, Mark Gieringer, and Christopher Hernandez.
- Bolero, Rhumba, and Congo: The Company.
The dances are performed to recorded music composed by Israel López, Rubén Gonzales, A. K. Salim, Perez Prado, and Francisco Repilado. Costumes by Ghabriello Fernando; lighting by Donald Holder.
The Ballet Hispánico group has its home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. "Lincoln Center at the Movies" (LCatM) is a new resource. LCatM promoters seek American dance content that (1) has cultural significance and (2) can be shown in movie houses around the United States (thru Fathom Events in 2015) and maybe other countries. (It helps perhaps if the dance production has some connection, however slight, to Lincoln Center.) Selling an HDVD would be an additional profit center. (This business model was invented, of course, by Peter Gelb at the Met.) Produced by Andrew Carl Wilk; directed for TV by Matthew Diamond. Released 2017, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B
Read MoreWagner Parsifal opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2012 by Pierre Audi at the Dutch National Opera. Stars Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester (Amfortas), Mikhail Petrenko (Titurel/Klingsor), Falk Struckmann (Gurnemanz), Christopher Ventris (Parsifal), Petra Lang (Kundry), Jean-Léon Klosterman (First Knight of the Grail), Roger Smeets (Second Knight of the Grail), Lisette Bolle, Rosanne van Sandwijk, Erik Slik, Jeroen de Vaal (4 Esquires), Lisette Bolle, Inez Hafkamp, Tomoko Makuuchi, Rosanne van Sandwijk, Oleksandra Lenyshyn, Melanie Greve (6 Flower Maids), and Marieke Reuten (Voice from Above). Iván Fischer conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Choir of the Dutch National Opera (Chorus Master Martin Wright), and the "Kickers" of the Waterland Youth Music School (Chorus Master Lorenzo Papolo). Set design by Anish Kapoor; costume design by Christof Hetzer; lighting design by Jean Kalman; movement by Gail Skrela; dramaturgy by Klaus Bertisch. Directed for TV by Misjel Vermeiren. Sung in German. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreTatiana ballet. Choreography by John Neumeier after Pushkin's Eugene Onegin. Music by Lera Auerbach. Performed 2014 by the Hamburg State Opera Ballet. Stars Hélène Bouchet (Tatiana Larina), Edvin Revazov (Eugene Onegin), Leslie Heylmann (Olga Larina), Alexandr Trusch (Vladimir Lensky), Carsten Jung (Prince N.), Niurka Moredo (Filipjevna, Tatiana's nurse), Sasha Riva and Marc Jubete (two males representing together Zaretsky, Lensky's second in the duel), Miljana Vračarić (Madame Larina), Xue Lin (The ballerina Istomina as Cleopatra), Silvano Ballone (Istomina's Partner as Marcus Antonius), Kiran West (Guillot), and Thomas Stuhrmann (An officer). Also features the following dancers as figures from Tatiana's novels: Hayley Page (Rousseu's Julie Wolmar), Florian Pohl (Saint Preux, Julie Wolmar's teacher), Braulio Álvarez (The "Sarazin" Malek Adhel, brother of the historical Saladin), Yaiza Coll (Matilda, Malek Adhel's lover and sister of Richard the Lionheart), Futaba Ishizaki (Harriet Byron), Jacopo Belussi (Grandison), and Edvin Revazov (Ruthven, the vampire). Simon Hewett conducts the Hamburg State Philharmonic Orchestra. Staging, sets, costumes, and lighting by John Neumeier. Directed for TV by Thomas Grimm; produced for TV by Antoine Perset and Denis Morlière. Bonus film by Reiner E. Moritz called Tatiana—Back to Pushkin. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: A-
Read MoreVerdi Un Ballo in Maschera opera to libretto by Antonio Somma. Directed 2016 by Johannes Erath at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Bavarian State Opera). Stars Piotr Beczala (Riccardo), George Petean (Renato), Anja Harteros (Amelia), Okka von der Damerau (Ulrica), Sofia Fomina (Oscar), Andrea Borghini (Silvano), Anatoli Sivko (Samuel), Scott Conner (Tom), Ulrich Reß (Judge) and Joshua Owen Mills (Amelia's servant). Zubin Mehta conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchestra (Bavarian State Orchestra) and Chor (Chorus Master Sören Eckhoff). Sets by Heike Scheele; costumes by Gesine Völlm; videos by Lea Heutelbeck; lighting by Joachim Klein; and dramaturgy by Malte Krasting. Video by Tiziano Mancini. Subtitles in 8 languages: Italian, German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese! Released 2017, the master recording is in "4K" format per C Major website. It appears this version is a normal Blu-ray 2K video. This was probably shot in 4K, so a 4K version could be released in the future. Disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreSaverio Mercadante Francesca da Rimini opera to libretto by Felice Romani. Directed 2016 by Pier Luigi Pizzi at the Palazzo Ducale as part of the Festival della Valle d'Itria, Martina Franca, Italy. Stars Leonor Bonilla (Francesca), Aya Wakizono (Paolo), Merto Süngü (Lanciotto), Antonio Di Matteo (Guido), Larisa Martinez (Isaura) and Ivan Ayon Rivas (Guelfo). Fabio Luisi conducts the Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia and the Chorus of the Transylvania State and Philharmonic Orchestra of Cluj-Napoca (Chorus Master Cornel Groza). Set and costumes by Pier Luigi Pizzi; choreography by Gheorghe Iancu; first ballerina was Letizia Giuliani; video direction by Matteo Ricchetti. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreKenneth MacMillan's L'Histoire de Manon ballet performed May 2015 at the Paris Opera Ballet - Garnier Palace. Music consists of excerpts from the works Jules Massenet arranged and orchestrated by Martin Yates. Choreography and stage directions of Kenneth MacMillan as interpreted by Karl Burnett and Gary Harris with rehearsal director Patricia Ruanne. Stars Aurélie Dupont (Manon Lescaut), Roberto Bolle (Le Chevalier Des Grieux), Stéphane Bullion (Lescaut), Alice Renavand (La maîtresse (mistress) de Lescaut), Benjamin Pech (Monsieur Guillot de Morfontaine), Karl Paquette (Le Geôlier (jailor)), and Viviane Descoutures (Madame). Martin Yates directs the Orchestra of the Paris Opera Ballet. Set and costume designs by Nicholas Georgiadis; lighting by John B. Read. Co-directed for TV by Cédric Klapisch and Miguel Octave. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-
Read MoreAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater dance recital shot 2015 at the David H. Koch Theater (at Lincoln Center) in New York. Ailey (1931-1989) started his company long ago as a home for black artists. Eventually, he dropped the all-black standard to include dancers and choreographers of all races. Still, as you can see from the artwork above, AAADT remains mostly a black operation, and it is probably the leading such dance group in the world. The program contains the following pieces:
Chroma, choreographed by Wayne McGregor to a score by Jack White and Jody Talbot. Chroma has nothing to do with black experience. Dancers are Jeroboam Bozeman, Sean Aaron Carmon, Sarah Daley, Antonio Douthit-Boyd, Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Vernard J. Gilmore, Yannick Lebrun, Rachel McLaren, Akua Noni Parker, and Linda Celeste Sims. By leading off with this, the AAADT claims that they can take on any modern dance assignment out there.
Grace, choreographed by Ronald K. Brown to music by Duke Ellington. Brown is black, and his work is rooted in modern, African, and urban styles. Dancers are Linda Celeste Sims, Demetia Hopkins-Greene, Matthew Rushing, Antonio Douthit-Boyd, Vernard J. Gilmore, Grenn Allen Sims, Daniel Harder, Kirven Douthit-Boyd, Belen Pereya, Hope Boykin, and Rachael McLaren. Grace is, I think, considered a dance icon of the American black experience.
Takademe, choreographed by Robert Battle to music by Sheila Chandra. Battle is black and currently the leader of the AAADT. Apparently nobody knows or cares what "takademe" means other than, perhaps, "a dance telling a story." Performed by Jamar Roberts. It's a frantic solo included, I suspect, as a kind of dance joke analogous to a scherzo moment in a piece of classical music.
Revelations choreographed by Alvin Ailey to traditional black gospel music. Performed by the Company and with star roles by Marcus Jarrell Willis, Hope Boykin, Jacqueline Green, Linda Celeste Sims, Glenn Allen Sims, Michael Francis McBride, Megan Jakel, Marcus Jarrell Willis, Yannick Lebrun, Rachael McLaren, Matthew Rushing, Alicia Graf Mack, Antonio Douthit-Boyd, Jamar Roberts, and Kirven Douthit-Boyd. This is considered Ailey's most profound work.
It appears all the music for the dances was prerecorded. Nothing is said on the keepcase or in the booklet about who plays anything. Directed for TV by Matthew Diamond; produced by Andrew Carl Wilk. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-
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