Concert

Messiah

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Handel Messiah oratorio to libretto by Charles Jennens. Staged 2009 by Claus Guth at the Theater an der Wien. Stars Susan Gritton (soprano), Cornelia Horak (soprano), Martin Pöllmann (boy soprano), Bejun Mehta (altus), Richard Croft (tenor), Florian Boesch (bass), Paul Lorenger (dancer), and Nadia Kichler (sign language performer). Jean-Christophe Spinosi conducts the Ensemble Matheus and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor (Chorus Master Erwin Ortner). Set and costume design by Christian Schmidt; lighting design by Jürgen Hoffman; dramatic advice by Konrad Kuhn; choreography by Ramses Sigl; directed for video by Hannes Rossacher. Subtitles in English, German, French, and Spanish. Released in 2010, music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling, and the disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: A

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Messiah

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Handel Messiah oratorio to libretto by Charles Jennens (Foundling Hospital Version, 1753). (The actual title of the recording is Handel's Messiah in Grace Cathedral, but we are indexing it simply as Messiah.) Performed Dec. 18 & 19, 2014 by the American Bach Soloists and the American Bach Choir at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco under the baton of Jeffrey Thomas. Stars Mary Wilson (soprano), Eric Jurenas (countertenor), Kyle Stegall (tenor), Jesse Blumberg (baritone), and John Thiessen (trumpet).  Stage direction by Philip Daley; the audio recording was produced by Chris Landen; directed for video by Frank Zamacona; produced by Abigal McKee with Don Scott Carpender as Executive Producer.  This title has no subtitles in English or in translation. Released in 2016, the disc has a 5.1 dts-HD sound file that was recorded with 96kHz/24-bit sound sampling as well as surround and stereo files recorded at 48kHz/24-bit.  Grade: B-

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Messiah

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Handel Messiah oratorio to libretto by Charles Jennens. At Easter 2016 Rubén Dubrovsky conducts the Bach Consort Wien and the Salzburger Bachchor (Chorus Master Alois Glassner) at the Basilica Stift Klosterneuburg in Austria.  Stars Hanna Herfurtner (soprano), Gaia Petrone (alto), Michael Schade (tenor), and Christian Immler (bass). Subtitles in German and English only.  Produced by Martin Pichl. Directed for TV by Volker Werner (Bildregie). Released in 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD sound output. This is published by Naxos as its own label. Grade: C+

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Beethoven Triple Concerto and Symphony No. 5

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Beethoven Triple Concerto and Beethoven Symphony No. 5 concert. Herbert Blomstedt conducts the Gewandhausorchester in 2017. The Triple Concerto features Isabelle Faust (violin), Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), and Martin Helmchen (piano). Directed for TV by Ute Feudel; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital and dts sound. Grade: NA

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Il trionfo

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Handel Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno oratorio to a libretto from Benedetto Pamphili. Directed 2016 by Krzysztof Warlikowski with assistant Marielle Kahn at at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Stars Sabine Devieilhe (Bellezza), Franco Fagioli (Piacere), Sara Mingardo (Disinganno), Michael Spyres (Tempo), with the participation of Christine Angot. Extras are Mama Bouras, Margot Briosne Frejaville, Sherine Colin, Johanna Costa, Léa De Carvalho Massabo, Amani Djelassi, Thaïs Drujon D’astros, Hélène Fouque, Rui Jin, Colette Levron, Elena Parniere, Pablo Pillaud-Vivien, Nangué Sabaly, Marina Saïd, and  Marie Signoret-O. Emmanuelle Haïm conducts Le Concert d’Astrée. Continuo: Felix Knecht and Oleguer Aymami (Cellos); Nicola Dal Maso (Double Bass); Laura Monica Pustilnik and Rémi Cassaigne (Lutes); Benoît Hartoin and Philippe Grisvard (Harpsichords); and  Benoît Hartoin (Organ). Stage and costume designs by Malgorzata Szczesniak and Barbara Creutz; dramaturge by Christian Longchamp; lighting by Felice Ross; choreography by Claude Bardouil; video designs by Denis Guéguin and Fabien Laubry; musical assistance was by David Bates; language coaching by Rita de Letteriis. Directed for TV by Stéphane Metge. Produced by Françoise Gazio. Sung in Italian. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: NA

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Beethoven Symphony No. 9

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BeethovenSymphony No. 9 concert. Othermusic in the program: Beethoven Coriolan Overture, aChristian Jost Fanfare (for 9 brass commissioned by the Graffenegg Festival), and the Jost An die Hoffnung (for voice and orchestra, also commissioned by the Graffenegg Festival). Yutaka Sado conducts, at the 2016 Graffenegg Festival, the Tonkunster Orchestra, 24 alumni of the European Union Youth Orchestra, and the Weiner Singverein (Chorus Master Johannes Prinz). Soloists are Camilla Nylund (soprano), Elena Zhidkova (mezzo-soprano), Klaus Florian Vogt (tenor), and René Pape (baritone). Video by Karina Fiibich. Released in 2017, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound.  Grade: NA

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Beethoven Symphonies 6-7

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Beethoven Symphonies 6-7 concert. Herbert Blomstedt conducts the Gewandhausorchester. Performed at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig May 2016 (Symphony 6) and May 2015 (Symphony 7). Ute Feudel was TV director. Produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2017, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio. Grade: NA

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Mozart Mangled---Malsponsorship and Reverse Product Placement

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This is a report on recent HDVDs envolving the mangling of Mozart music in one case of malsponsorship of public domain art and in another case of reverse product placement advertisement.  Volkswagen and Rubolph Buchbinder are the culprits in the malsponsorship mangle. Red Bull is the culprit in the reverse product placement. First I'll introduce the two HDVDs: 

1. Mozart Piano Concertos played 2014 by Rudolf Buchbinder in Dresden. Buchbinder also conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden in:

  1. Piano Concerto No. 20
  2. Piano Concerto No. 21  "Elvira Madigan"
  3. Piano Concerto No. 27

There is a bonus extra about the making of this recording in 4K. This is a 2K product---it appears there could be a 4K version later. Directed for video by Michael Beyer. Released 2016, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: F

2. Mozart Die Entführung aus dem Serail opera to libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie (from Christoph Friedrich Bretzner). Directed 2013 by Adrian Marthaler at the Salzburg Airport Hangar-7 entertainment complex (as part of the Salzburg Festival) Stars Desirée Rancatore (Konstanze), Tobias Moretti (Bassa Selim, spoken role), Javier Camarena (Belmonte), Rebecca Nelsen (Blonde), Thomas Ebenstein (Pedrillo), and Kurt Rydl (Osmin). Hans Graf conducts the Camerata Salzburg and Salzburger Bachchor (Chorus Master Alois Glaßner). Costumes by Lena Hoschek; dramatury by Ronny Dietrich; directed for TV by Felix Breisach. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: F

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Ein Deutsches Requiem

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Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem concert. Franz Welser-Möst, on August 22-23, 2016, conducts the Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna Singverein. Welser-Möst is back at his home-town church in Austria, the Stiftsbasilika Monastery in St. Florian. (The picture above was made with a still camera for disc PR; for much more on this beautiful church see our review of a Bruckner Symphony No. 4 concert by the Cleveland Orchestra and Welser-Möst at the same Stiftsbasilika.) Soloists are Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (soprano) and Simon Keenlyside (baritone). Directed for TV by Brian Large. (This title complements the three Blu-ray set “Johannes Brahms Cycle”, which was released in late 2015, and which we have not yet reviewed.) Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-Master Audio sound. The video was made in 1080p rather than 1080i. Grade: A

This title is an absolute winner! It may be the best symphony recording ever made by a Western recording company. (The only better recordings would be those state-of-the-art demo discs made by NHK in Japan.) Before I fill your plate with too much text, I'll serve some screenshots appetizers.

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Bruckner Symphony No. 5

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Bruckner Symphony No. 5. Claudio Abbado conducts the Lucerne Festival Orchestra at the 2011 Lucerne Festival. Unusual contemporary artwork on the package by Michael Triegel. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer; Andrej Nicolay was Director of Photography; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

In its 2012 Awards Special Issue, Gramophone called this the year's best DVD (page 55). The awards article doesn't even mention that a Blu-ray was available, so we surmise that the Gramophone critic watched the DVD. We bought the Blu-ray to review long ago, but it never got to the top of our “to do” list. We always agreed that the musical performance and sound recording are excellent. But we had reservations about video content. Some time has passed since we last talked about DVDitis in symphony recordings, so we think it’s timely to bring this up again for our new readers.

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Dolce Vita

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Dolce Vita concert. Jonas Kaufmann performs songs in Italian. Jochen Rieder conducts the RAI National Symphony Orchestra Torino at Teatro Carignano. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Video is directed by Andy Sommer.  Grade: NA

The setlist is:

  1. Mattinata (Ruggero Leoncavallo)
  2. Parla più piano (Nino Rota, Gianni Boncompagni)
  3. Torna a Surriento (Ernesto de Curtis, Giambattista de Curtis)
  4. Musica proibita (Stanislao Gastaldon)
  5. Ti voglio tanto bene (Ernesto de Curtis, Domenico Furnò)
  6. Fenesta ca lucive (Guillaume Louis Cottrau)
  7. Rondine al nido (Vincenzo de Crescenzo, Luigi Sica)
  8. Il canto (Romano Musumarra, Luca Barbarossa)
  9. Catari', Catari' (Core 'ngrato) (Salvatore Cardillo, Riccardo Cordiferro)
  10. Caruso (Lucio Dalla)
  11. Passione (Ernesto Tagliaferri, Nicola Valente, Libero Bovio)
  12. Voglio vivere così (Giovanni d'Anzi, Tito Manlio)
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Opera Gala 2016

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The 2016 Opera Gala recital concert from Baden-Baden. Anja Harteros (soprano), Ekaterina Gubanova (mezzo-soprano), Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), and Bryn Terfel (base-baritone) sing opera favorites. Marco Armiliato conducts the Badisische Staatskapelle.  Released 2016, disc has 5.1 PCM and 5.1 dts-HD sound. Grade: NA

The program includes:

  1. Wagner Tannhäuser: "Dich, teure Halle, grüß’ ich wieder" Anja Harteros
  2. Gounod Faust: "Le veau d’or est toujours debout" Bryn Terfel
  3. Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana: "Voi lo sapete, o mamma" Ekaterina Gubanova
  4. Puccini Tosca: "E lucevan la stelle" Jonas Kaufmann
  5. BoitoMefistofele: "Son lo spirito che nega" Bryn Terfel
  6. Verdi Un ballo in maschera: "Morrò, ma prima in grazia" Anja Harteros
  7. Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana: "Tu qui, Santuzza?" Ekaterina Gubanova and Jonas Kaufmann
  8. Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur: "Acerba voluttà … L’anima ho stanca" Ekaterina Gubanova and Jonas Kaufmann
  9. Puccini Tosca: "Vissi d’arte" Anja Harteros and Bryn Terfel
  10. Verdi Don Carlo: "Ella giammai m’amò" Bryn Terfel
  11. Verdi Don Carlo: "Ah! Più mai non vedrò la regina ... O don fatale" Ekaterina Gubanova
  12. Verdi Don Carlo: "Tu che le vanità conoscesti del mondo" Anja Harteros
  13. Verdi Otello: "Già nella notte densa"   Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros
  14. Bizet Carmen: "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (Habanera) Ekaterina Gubanova
  15. Mascagni L'amico Fritz: "Son pochi fiori" Anja Harteros
  16. Bock Fiddler on the Roof: "If I were a rich man" Bryn Terfel
  17. Rota: "Parla più piano" Jonas Kaufmann
  18. Lehár Das Land des Lächelns: "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" Quartet
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