Opera, Ballet and Classical Music discs - Page 38

I finished up Die Walkure tonite.

The Valkyries were great....beautifully sung and staged.

A very funny thing seems to happen between Voigt and Terfel when Voigt loses her footing on the "machine" and Terfel has to hang on to her so she doesn't slide to the bottom.
Voigt couldn't keep a straight face for quite a long time.
It's true acting skills aren't her forte, but....

Finished The Ring last night.

Some observations....
Although she is better in Gotterdammerung, Voigt is not much of an actress.
Everyone else is good to excellent in that dept., with special recognition to those playing the parts of Siegfried, Gutrune, and Gunther (who appropriately is the spitting image of the evil Emperor in Star Wars ).
The guy doing Hagen has a heckuva set of pipes.
I wasn't aware Levine didn't conduct the final 2 operas.
The "machine" was excellent for creating the World of The Ring....thumbs up to Lepage and his people.
The woodbird, in a very cool way, was projected onto the "machine" and then onto to the chest of Siegfried....good stuff.
High marks to the AV quality of this release.

All in all, I am pleased with this Ring and will return to it.

Since 2013 is the 200th birthday of Wagner, I decided to order the BD of Tristan und Isolde in a Glyndebourne production conducted by Jiri Belohlavek
Will post a review when I see it.

Ordered the BD and sat down to watch it last night.

This is a terrible video encode, very disappointing.
Although the low contrast is annoying, what is unforgivable is the weird cross-hatch pattern showing up across the lighter areas of the screen.
It is as though the movie was shot thru a patio screen door.
NOT acceptable and will be sending it back for a refund.

It's a scrim; it makes sense to me that it would become evident in close-up shots.

What is a scrim?

Thanx....I learned something.

I haven't checked whether the scrim was in place for the entire opera, but I certainly will tomorrow.

After seeing it here, all I can say is B.S. to that.
It obviously is going to create hell for most de-interlacers.
I have an Oppo 83 (one of the best on the market), for those who don't I gotta wonder.....

Maybe that's why it doesn't bother me: I've only watched it on Oppo gear!

See post #406

"It was my only one opera, which I've seen life on the special performance for the lighitng adjustment for the DVD/Blu-ray/Cinema release.
It's was just a net, which was installed to have better lighting effect. It was very nice life, worked brilliantly, but it's quite disturbing on the recorded master.
Something to learn for the opera houses- HD shows a lot and everything has to be perfect to have nice BD disc.

Good thing that audio is well recorded.

Andrew"

Tutto Verdi's Macbeth isn't HD.
Upconverted SD.

Thank you for the information, Andrew.

Knowing this, I will give it another shot and try to ignore the net.

Took a look last night again at this release.

Still disappointed with the video.

I believe the "net" is reducing detail.
Most likely the result of the camera focusing on the scrim and not what is behind it.
The video ends up looking somewhat like a layer of DNR was applied.
That, coupled with the checkerboard effect on the faces of well-lighted singers, makes this tough to sit thru.

And while the audio quality is good, it isn't stellar lossless.

All in all, when a better Tristan comes along my copy of this release goes down the road.

Tutto Verdi's Macbeth isn't HD.
Upconverted SD.

How did you find out? The label here on Amazon says: Filmed in HD 1080i, Mastered from an HD source.
http://www.amazon.com/Macbeth-Blu-ray-Verdi/dp/B0094AH3JS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1358209501&sr=8-3&keywords=Macbeth+Verdi+blu-ray

False allegation. Mastered from NOT an HD source.
See customer reviews: "The blu-ray case has "FILMED IN HIGH DEFINITION", but the picture quality is no better than that of an average DVD from the period."

I have Tutto Verdi Box. All mastered from an HD source, excepting Macbeth.

Thanks for the explanation

http://www.amazon.com/George-Frideric-Handel-Glyndebourne-Festival/dp/B001RE9HF2/ref=tmm_blu_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1358688048&sr=8-4
Audio LPCM 5.0 is by Andy Rose and it is very good, although the voices come only through the center.
Picture is fine, too.

Now that more operas are being released on blu-ray, and now that more people have larger screens, I've seen a number of people advocate for two viewing options on blu-ray productions of operas and theater pieces: (1) the standard artsy director version where the director can bounce around between cameras and close-ups to their heart's content, and (2) a fixed view, allowing viewers to see the whole stage from a single point and decide for themselves what and whom they want to focus on.

I, and other like me, am really sick of being told where to look and whom to look at in productions when multiple people are singing or speaking at once. Being dictated to by a director as to where you can look is the thing that, in my opinion, makes the blu-ray experience differ most markedly from attending a live production. I know offering a fixed view would take additional space on a blu-ray disc, but is there anyone who works in production of these things that can opine whether this will ever be something the disc companies will offer? I'd gladly pay double the current cost of an opera blu-ray for this option and I think others would too.

That would be lovely.

I also sadly doubt it will be an offered option. And I don't always object to the director's approach. But I have seen more operas than I can count where three or four people are singing at once yet you can't see them all at once (or only now and then) as the director is bouncing between them. I just wish it was an option to have a fixed view on live performances of all kinds.

A bargain:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0020MSTUE/ref=sr_1_64_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1360715661&sr=8-64&keywords=opera+blu-ray&condition=new

Wow, that certainly is a good price.

Is there any trick to spotting classical BDs on sale at Amazon or elsewere for that matter?
I haven't figured out a way to do a smart search....

I just search for "opera blu-ray" on Am. and then go through the list about once a week. I tend to buy once it gets to the low to mid twenties, so I miss most of the real bargains, too.

Thanx for the tip.

New Blu-rays from DG
Rossini: La Cenerentola - Garanča, Brownlee, Corbelli, Relyea, MET/Benini DG 0734545
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor - Netrebko, Beczala, Kwiecien, MET/Armiliato DG 0735014

That looks like a spectacular collection! I just checked it out on AM but it's seven hundred bucks. I know, that's less than a night out for two at Lincoln Center with decent seats and a small meal but--- if anyone knows where it is cheaper-- let me know I'll probably cough it up but I'd love to find this at a better deal. Also-- is there a Rossini BD box set out there that you folks could recommend?

This is probably your best bet: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B009OIS3GW/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new
I have most of the regular Verdi repertoire, so I'll only pick and choose from the more unusual operas once they get into the mid 20s.
May be filemile can comment on some of the lesser known performances or the overall audio quality?

I would also add that the Israeli opera singer Rinat Shaham did a wonderful Cherubino.

The one thing I found quite lacking in this recording, while listening to the lossless PCM 5.0 track, was bass, not in the singers mind you, but in the orchestra. The instruments sounded very thin and lacked foundation. I have listened to the 2.0 track as well. It had a bit more bass. But still it was lacking. Otherwise, I preferred the 5.0 track. The singing was outstanding. It's too bad that the bass wasn't there when it needed to be. The drums, on the other hand, were very prominent especially in the overture, which otherwise had a tinny sound. The rest of the opera sounded better, not as tinny, but still lacking bass. My speakers are Energy RC towers and surrounds. I have four subwoofers. When there is bass, my system isn't shy. I was wondering if others who have heard this production of the opera, also noticed the lack of bass in the recording.

I have La Cenerentoa on blu-ray from Opus Arte featuring Ruxandra Donose and Simone Alberghini supported by a great cast with Vladimir Jurowski conducting the LPO at Glyndebourne. I have not heard the MET/Benini from DG yet. This opera is one of my favorites. It's superb and a great one for opera neophytes. The costumes for one are from the originally intended period unlike so many these days that have a modern trend or style.