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Rameau-Zoroastre on Opus Arte
A magnificent French Baroque opera wonderfully produced and recorded.
The libretto is essentially an abstract morality play told through archetype, metaphor and symbol. The opera's production, i.e., its direction, staging, and choreography, is realized in a way that perfectly supports this conceptual style. I feel that a work of art acquires compelling vitality when there is some tension within its structure. Here, that tension is provided by the production, by a stunning mix of period and abstract styles in costumes and sets, and superbly expressive choreography based on modern dance, brought together with period instruments and admirable integrity to the French Baroque musical style. The total effect is simply stunning. My only problem is with the last act where, rather than using a set, the theater is stripped to is bare infrastructure. At present I do not see how that supports the material presented. Perhaps on a few more viewings I will "get it."
The vocal performances range from very good to outstanding. Sine Bundgaard's arias as Amelite are sometimes spine-tingling. One could quibble over a very few slightly flat notes from some of the other soloists, but nothing that spoiled a moment. The chorus did a little less well, and unfortunately so at their first entrance where there were some minor problems with both intonation and time. In fact time was a problem for them on several occasions. On the whole, however, they did very well. And personally I'd cut them some slack on the time problems, Christophe Rousset's conducting style is so fluid I don't see how anyone found a beat in it. None the less he generally summoned suburb musicality from all his musicians, both on stage and in the pit. And at the end of the performance I felt it entirely worthy of the long and hearty applause it got.
Overall, I rate the recording a bit shy of very good. The recording as a data stream sounds very clean, I hear no real problems in terms of distortion, clipping or equalization. As for levels there are some minor problems and one that actually bothers me. This has to do with compression and where peaks are set and levels manipulated. The full chorus at fortissimo should be noticeably louder than a solo lead at fortissimo. But in this recording it is not, which causes a displacement, a distortion in the composer's intended positioning and modulation of musical energy--in my book this is a major transgression. (Others may not find it so.) Further it seems that the chorus was mic'd by a different method than the soloists in a way that gives the aural impression that chorus and soloists are in different acoustic spaces when they are actually, visually, in the same one.
Technically I find no problems with the videography. Aesthetically much of it is done well and with sensitivity to the opera's needs. But also much of it did not seem that way. I found most all of the overhead shots and shots from stage rear to feel gratuitous in their invention. And I do not like close-ups or even medium close-ups of singers' faces. When listening to music the mind attends to words immediately and strongly because, relative to music, they are categorically more concrete than notes. Similarly, if you have seen much modern painting, you will surely have encountered works that include textual elements. And just as surely you will have noticed how your attention was pulled to those elements almost as if by force. Opera, though more concrete than "pure" music, is still, by its nature, relatively abstract. When one views an opera in the theater, one does not see concrete people; one sees actors (singers) which by virtue of context, distance and stage makeup are transformed into something more abstract. By its constitution the human mind is set to attend first to the human face and a close up of it in an opera is analogous to text in a painting. So every time there is a cut to a close-up of a face, I feel a disturbing collapse in the level of aesthetic abstraction.
If there seem to be a lot of complaints here it is only because I am a very picky person when it comes to the fine arts. This BD is a very good recording of an outstanding production. I would recommend it without hesitation and consider it a must have.
A magnificent French Baroque opera wonderfully produced and recorded.
The libretto is essentially an abstract morality play told through archetype, metaphor and symbol. The opera's production, i.e., its direction, staging, and choreography, is realized in a way that perfectly supports this conceptual style. I feel that a work of art acquires compelling vitality when there is some tension within its structure. Here, that tension is provided by the production, by a stunning mix of period and abstract styles in costumes and sets, and superbly expressive choreography based on modern dance, brought together with period instruments and admirable integrity to the French Baroque musical style. The total effect is simply stunning. My only problem is with the last act where, rather than using a set, the theater is stripped to is bare infrastructure. At present I do not see how that supports the material presented. Perhaps on a few more viewings I will "get it."
The vocal performances range from very good to outstanding. Sine Bundgaard's arias as Amelite are sometimes spine-tingling. One could quibble over a very few slightly flat notes from some of the other soloists, but nothing that spoiled a moment. The chorus did a little less well, and unfortunately so at their first entrance where there were some minor problems with both intonation and time. In fact time was a problem for them on several occasions. On the whole, however, they did very well. And personally I'd cut them some slack on the time problems, Christophe Rousset's conducting style is so fluid I don't see how anyone found a beat in it. None the less he generally summoned suburb musicality from all his musicians, both on stage and in the pit. And at the end of the performance I felt it entirely worthy of the long and hearty applause it got.
Overall, I rate the recording a bit shy of very good. The recording as a data stream sounds very clean, I hear no real problems in terms of distortion, clipping or equalization. As for levels there are some minor problems and one that actually bothers me. This has to do with compression and where peaks are set and levels manipulated. The full chorus at fortissimo should be noticeably louder than a solo lead at fortissimo. But in this recording it is not, which causes a displacement, a distortion in the composer's intended positioning and modulation of musical energy--in my book this is a major transgression. (Others may not find it so.) Further it seems that the chorus was mic'd by a different method than the soloists in a way that gives the aural impression that chorus and soloists are in different acoustic spaces when they are actually, visually, in the same one.
Technically I find no problems with the videography. Aesthetically much of it is done well and with sensitivity to the opera's needs. But also much of it did not seem that way. I found most all of the overhead shots and shots from stage rear to feel gratuitous in their invention. And I do not like close-ups or even medium close-ups of singers' faces. When listening to music the mind attends to words immediately and strongly because, relative to music, they are categorically more concrete than notes. Similarly, if you have seen much modern painting, you will surely have encountered works that include textual elements. And just as surely you will have noticed how your attention was pulled to those elements almost as if by force. Opera, though more concrete than "pure" music, is still, by its nature, relatively abstract. When one views an opera in the theater, one does not see concrete people; one sees actors (singers) which by virtue of context, distance and stage makeup are transformed into something more abstract. By its constitution the human mind is set to attend first to the human face and a close up of it in an opera is analogous to text in a painting. So every time there is a cut to a close-up of a face, I feel a disturbing collapse in the level of aesthetic abstraction.
If there seem to be a lot of complaints here it is only because I am a very picky person when it comes to the fine arts. This BD is a very good recording of an outstanding production. I would recommend it without hesitation and consider it a must have.
