Keeping Score-Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique [Blu-ray]

Keeping Score-Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique [Blu-ray] Review

Those of you classical music buffs who read the Penguin Gramophone Record and CD reviews for bedtime will know that only very special discs are awarded the coveted rosette. Why do I think this disc is so special ?
Well, for starters Michael T Thomas, the conductor, comes up with an educational yet very entertaining introduction and analysis of Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique", an inspired musical dream, if ever there was one. In an informal, partly serious, partly gossipy style, MTT narrates the the passion of Berlioz for Harriet Smithson, his muse and idee fixe for this melodramatic symphony, accompanied by high definition video of Paris and the French countryside. The analysis is not profound musicology, but just enough to enhance one's understanding and appreciation of the structure of the piece, and the character of this Byronic megalomaniac.
Secondly, this disc sets the future standard for video work for orchestral recordings, thanks indeed to state of the art camera technology and the great coordination between the score reader and the camera team. The video is spot on the various sections of the large orchestra as the complex symphony unfolds and it's as if one were reading the score, pictorially. This disc fulfills the the raison d'etre of classical music on video most elegantly, and that is that one should "see the music"
Last and most importantly, we are treated to a complete concert performance of the Symphony by the San Francisco Symphonic Orchestra, enthusiastically conducted by Thomas, in an audio recording to take one's breath away. In either Dolby TruHD 5.1 or Tru HD 7.1 format, the recorded sound is truly stupendous! The sound stage is full in height and breadth within which musical instruments or sections are boldly 'imaged'. In the 1st movement (Reverie), listen to the the leitmotiv with the high flutes and woodwinds underpinned by the growling cellos and basses. Some conductors emphasize the mysterious aspect of this passage, Thomas emphasizes the delirious ! The "Ball" is played wonderfully in a lilting, rhythmic fashion, with shimmering strings augmented to great effect by the two harps. The "Scene in the Field" opens with a delicious back and forth by the cor anglais, echoed by an oboe off stage, and the Alpine horn melody is then passed on to flute and then to the horns all the time counterpointed by the lower strings. Beautiful.I feel this is the best movement, quiet , pastoral and tender. MTT gives us one of the most exciting "March to the Scaffold" and the sound is really spectacular, especially the drum rolls. But the sonic pyrotechnics are at their peak in the last movement "Witches Sabbath". Audiophiles should have their hearts' delight with the fabulously recorded bass strings, screeching bassoons and flutes; the passage with the bells and the sonorous tuba is worth noting, but above all the drums. Tight,full and deep the drums give a visceral punch and on a system with a good subwoofer you can almost feel the air move. This has to be the best recorded classical music disc, period.
One may argue here and there over points of interpretation, but overall MTT gives a most satisfactory account and this rave review is in no small measure influenced by the fantastic audio and standard setting video/camera work. Friends this is a very special disc.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 04, 2010 21:05:04

Donizetti: Don Pasquale [Blu-ray]

Donizetti: Don Pasquale [Blu-ray] Review

Donizetti: Don Pasquale [Blu-ray] Overview

'...Riccardo Muti conducts Don Pasquale in Ravenna - a great celebration for everyone.' This press quote from the Italian music magazine Il giornale della musica hit the mark exactly. Watching
this realistic, young and vital production, directed by the young
Andrea da Rosa and listening to a high potential and unspent young cast, you feel how powerful, charming and timeless this score by Gaetano Donizetti is. This production was recorded during the Ravenna Festival in the gorgeous and patriarchal Teatro Dante Alighieri. Maestro Riccardo Muti shows one more time, what it means to perform an Italian opera with a young and professional Italian cast an outstanding and breathtaking performance.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 15, 2010 10:47:04

Handel: Admeto [Blu-ray]

Handel: Admeto [Blu-ray] Review

The main talking point about this production of Handel's Admeto, re di Tessaglia for the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen in 2009 is clearly Doris Dörrie's extraordinary Samurai setting of the opera. Notionally in the same period as the original 1727 production but translated to the samurai culture of Japan of this period (albeit in a highly stylised fashion), there are questions however about whether Dörrie's fascination for Japanese settings, while appropriate for the likes of Turandot and Madame Butterfly, can really be effectively applied to the Greek mythological subject of Handel's Baroque opera, Admeto.

Happily, the answer is, yes - it works and it works exceptionally well. If nothing else, the stripped back minimal staging and measured formalised gestures of the Japanese setting suit the conventions of opera seria, with their being no unnecessary elaboration or clutter to distract from the virtuoso solo singing. But with the bold lighting, coloured backgrounds, silk screens and shadow play, not to mention the extraordinary use of Takashi Endo's Japanese butoh dancers (most of them almost entirely naked), the director manages to make the emotional content of the subject tangible as well as heightened.

That subject is a mythological one that is well covered in opera, particularly in opera seria - the story of Admetus, the king of Thessaly, whose life is spared from a fatal illness by the sacrifice of his wife Alcestes. Gluck's opera Alceste covers the same story in a rather cut-down form without the Antigone subplot (Robert Wilson's minimalist production of Gluck's Alceste from the Châtelet Theatre in Paris, available on DVD, compares favourably with the production of Admeto here), but the storyline is much more involved in Handel's version. To their credit of the director and producer, the staging here is magnificent, bringing out depths in the relationships and conflicts between the characters, particularly in the case of Alceste's transformation into a samurai warrior accompanied by the long black-haired ghostly form of Endo's butoh dancer representing her Jealousy. The sight of Ercole (Hercules) as a sumo wrestler in a foam fat-suit may however take more getting used to. The production is not without humour and may not be to a traditionalist's taste, but it never detracts from the drama or the characterisation.

Tim Mead is fine as Admeto, but more so than the two male altos, it's the female roles - Marie Arnot as Alceste and particularly Kirsten Blaise as Antigone - that have the chance here to show a greater emotional and vocal range, and the chance to put some strong acting behind their parts as well. Using period instruments (happily resisting any urge to include traditional Japanese instrumentation), the Festspiel Orchester of Göttingen under the direction of Nicholas McGegan is also noteworthy.

The specifications of the Blu-ray are impressive - a 1080/60i, 16:9 encode, and a sparkling, vibrant DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that far surpasses the limited distribution of the PCM 2.0 mix. There is not a great deal of detail in the staging to benefit from the High Definition transfer, but the reproduction of the vivid and striking colour schemes is nothing short of stunning. Subtitles are in a slightly small font (in Italian, English, German and French), and occasionally move to the top of the screen when necessary so as not to obscure the performers. The BD comes with a thin booklet giving a synopsis and information on the production, but a 21-minute featurette presents this better in the form of interviews with all the performers and the production team.

Handel: Admeto [Blu-ray] Overview

For Handel's Admeto, Oscar nominated film director Doris Dorrie returns to her beloved subject of Japan. In vividly colored and brilliantly realized set pieces, one of Handel's most popular operas receives a stunning transformation into the stylishly ritualized world of samurai culture.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 11, 2010 23:24:04