Excellent Way to Preview New Verdi Series
This is a sampler; it contains one selection each from most,, but not all, of the complete Verdi operas being released by C Major/Unitel Classica between now and next Spring. Since buying the entire series involves a substantial cash outlay over time, the disc gives the potential buyer a limited opportunity to evaluate performances because most excerpts feature one performer. On the plus side, disc quality in this series seems to be first rate, with all operas being made from an HD master, with very fine surround sound, and subtitles in "E, F, Sp, I, Chin, Kor, Jap". Some operas will be first time DVDs while others face varying levels of competition from existing discs.
All operas are performed by the Teatro Regio di Parma, a tough venue for singers, since the Parmigiani are a very demanding bunch in the audience. Some performances are done in the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Busetto, a venue I like a lot since it seats only 300 and the stage is about 30 m deep. Orchestral work...
you get what you pay for....or maybe just a little bit more
I have a considerably lower opinion of this disk than John Gleason in another review, but am deeply indebted to him for his careful and detailed analysis, which was the reason for my purchase. I paid around 9 dollars from a reseller, and feel it was worth it, but if this disk had been much more expensive, I'd have felt cheated and would say to others to hold off. I found five or six of the excerpts at "Met level" or thereabouts, but the others considerably less strong. Beyond that something Mr. Gleason doesn't comment on is the production value of the video (not the staging, but the sound and photography). (By the way, all of my references are to the Blu-Ray version, which is the one I bought.) It was a real disappointment to me. E.g., the quartet at the end of Rigoletto did not utilize the potential of modern individual miking technology to bring out individual voices/harmonies/vocal interactions. I have no idea how it was miked (radio or whatever), but I have heard many Blu-Ray...
Well Worth Buying
This is a pretty nice intro to the Box set and it gives you some idea of the production and vocal values of some of the operas. I wish we could have seen more of the lesser known opera like Alzira, I Masnadieri etc. instead of the old war horses which have many different DVD's available.
Just from seeing this single DVD I can honestly say that the box set is NOT worth buying - some of the individual operas are - especially ones like Alzira - but most of the War Horses are available in better productions with famous singers.
These operas are all set in small provincial opera houses and some of the staging is minimalist at best. The Il Trovatore staging was not only awful but so was the singing. I didn't got for the White Bed, Candles and Red Moon for Di Quella Pira. I suggest if you want that opera get either the Met version with Pavarotti or the TDK with Domingo. Both are better sung, and the Domingo is the well stages - the Met is pretty poor staging...
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment