Opera on DVD & Blu Ray

[Jared]

Have you started a DVD/ Blu Ray collection for opera, concert performances or music documentaries, yet?

This is something which I have been pondering for some time. On the one hand, I have a £400 Blu Ray home cinema system which I would like to use more to enhance my appreciation of all things classical, yet on the other hand I haven't yet really developed a love for opera as a medium, and I don't have a tendency to sit and 'watch' music; I'd rather listen to it whilst doing something else. To tell the truth, as much as I love Mahler, I get fidgety during a full symphony, if the only visual stimulation I get for 90 minutes is a conductor waving his arms about. Even when I go to concerts, I have a tendency to close my eyes and just concentrate hard on the music, or my mind wanders.

So, building a small collection of high quality, initially Operatic DVD & BR disks will be my aim over the autumn/ winter, and of course I'd like to be helped by the input of you knowledgable Tir Na types in this regard.

Which do you feel are the 'must see' disks in your collection? Which ones should be avoided and why? What new releases have you read good things about? Which ones have you recently purchased, watched and enjoyed? I think it would be good to get a dedicated DVD & Blu Ray thread going on Tir Na, which will undoubtedly yield fruitful discussion...

Thank You..


I will start by mentioning my very first purchase. I think some of you will roll your eyes and tell me that this wasn't a good place to start, but hey:



I have fancied listening to/ watching some Rameau for some time now, and it was very reasonably priced. I believe the plot is quite a complex one, and the liner notes don't help much, which means I'm going to have to do some research in order to fully enjoy it (anyone know of any informative links to the plot for Zoroastre?) but it was critically well received, so I will look forward to the challenge... I really need to stretch myself a bit more, anyway...


So, it's over to you... any Operatic DVD & Blu Ray collectors out there?

[fergus]

I am like yourself Jared in that I am not a big Opera fan and I have seen too many "corny" productions on TV over the years to want to get into the Blu Ray Opera thing.
Funnily enough I don't like watching performances of Classical music either. Frankly I find it boring to be honest. I also tend to get frustrated with the editing of these films as I invariably want to see the details of the technical points of the playing to see how things are done etc. but I suppose that would not sell too many copies!

So, as you can gather, I am not a big fan of "visual" Classical Music and unfortunately I am of no help to you whatsoever in this regard my friend!!!

[Jared]

So, as you can gather, I am not a big fan of "visual" Classical Music and unfortunately I am of no help to you whatsoever in this regard my friend!!!

I completely understand; we are very similar in this regard Fergus... I'm just trying to experiment with the genre and widen my knowledge and listening experience I suppose... we'll just see how it goes.

Aurally however, I believe you enjoy a bit of Rameau though, don't you? Have you heard this piece or indeed, any of his later, more complex works, and if so, what do you think?

[fergus]

I completely understand; we are very similar in this regard Fergus... I'm just trying to experiment with the genre and widen my knowledge and listening experience I suppose... we'll just see how it goes.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that Jared....enjoy the odyssey and keep us posted on your progress as I may glean some snippets of information from your quest.

Aurally however, I believe you enjoy a bit of Rameau though, don't you? Have you heard this piece or indeed, any of his later, more complex works, and if so, what do you think?

I do enjoy a bit of Rameau but unfortunately my listening experience is confined to his keyboard music so again I can be of no help to you there I am afraid.

[Jared]

You may remember that about 9 months ago(!!) I started this thread, which quite understandably didn't have any takers at the time, but I'd like to bump it back up to the top, now that the forum is a little more lively and with Pepe on board, quite a bit more knowledgeable in this department.

Last night, I took the bull by the horns and watched my first opera for about 4 years, although one I've seen before. I remember a friend had previously lent me the Gheorghiu/ Solti version along with a couple of others, and the story, music and performance meant this one resonated most with me at the time. Recently coming across the famous FZ version on TDK, I felt I'd like to relive the tale and truth be told, I'm rather pleased I did:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verdi-Traviata- ... 15&sr=1-16

the version comes with an hour of extras which embellish the story, go behind the scenes at rehearsals, interview the cast, visit Verdi's home and see FZ consulting original manuscripts, all of which helped a novice such as me to understand the process of putting on an opera.

the set itself is visually stunning as one would expect, and I thought the soloists were quite fine (although I'm hardly one to judge!).

Maybe, we could use this thread to tell each other about Operatic and other Classical DVDs and Blu Rays we have recently seen, rather than using the 'listening' thread? Just a thought.

[Jared]

One of the principle problems with Opera on DVD and especially BR is that for those of us on a fairly modest budget, they can be quite expensive, especially if you only plan to watch them once or twice. I understand the reasons for this; the overall costs of staging the production and the limited market for the end product don't help, but I'd have to think twice before paying £25 for a new Blu Ray.

Now, I've been thinking about how we could help each other in this regard, and I am therefore going to propose a lending library scheme. Recently, I had the very good fortune to pick up a few high quality opera DVDs in a charity shop, which I intend to offer up to the forum, should anyone wish to borrow them. I would be happy to pay the postage to UK & Ireland if you send them back within a reasonable time-frame (sorry Pepe, I don't think they'd work in Mexico, and I'm sure you've already got them!).

As you will see from the following posts, I have now worked my way through all of these, so if you'd like to borrow one (or any!), then please drop me a PM. Since this post, I have also added to this small collection but won't paste any more Blu Rays here. If you are interested in borrowing something, please see my individual posts from Page 5 onwards.

[fergus]

One of the principle problems with Opera on DVD and especially BR is that for those of us on a fairly modest budget, they can be quite expensive, especially if you only plan to watch them once or twice. I understand the reasons for this; the overall costs of staging the production and the limited market for the end product don't help, but I'd have to think twice before paying £25 for a new Blu Ray.

Now, I've been thinking about how we could help each other in this regard, and I am therefore going to propose a lending library scheme. Recently, I had the very good fortune to pick up a few high quality opera DVDs in a charity shop, which I intend to offer up to the forum, should anyone wish to borrow them. I would be happy to pay the postage to UK & Ireland if you send them back within a reasonable time-frame (sorry Pepe, I don't think they'd work in Mexico, and I'm sure you've already got them!).

What a very good and generous offer you make there Jared. It will be interesting to see what the take up will be.

[Jared]

What a very good and generous offer you make there Jared. It will be interesting to see what the take up will be.

well like I say, getting into Opera can be rather an expensive business, especially as you only watch once or twice, whereas a new CD will probably have many listens. I'd rather get the maximum benefit out of them, and maybe a few of us can talk about what we've seen... as you know, it's a medium I have long struggled with, so maybe this idea might help me also.

[fergus]

It is very much a minority sport even in the classical music field. Hopefully it will yield some dividends as you say.

[Jared]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beethoven-Fidel ... 95&sr=1-10

Well, I sat down and watched 'Fidelio' through last night and came away with mixed feelings. I'm really trying to be as constructive and positive as I can be at present, however I don't think anyone can say that this is an example of LvB at his most inspired. I think the main problem is the simplistic and slightly imbalanced two-act plot which contains too many two-dimensional characters who struggle to draw the viewer in and convince them.

Even after one viewing, I get the impression that this would have been a better story if made into a three act drama. Rocco's unrequited love for Marzelline could have been developed into a revengeful, scheming alliance with Don Pizarro whose own sinister vengence-ridden hatred against Florestan never reaches a satisfactory climax and is ultimately left seeming quite ridiculous. Of course we are expected to swallow the fact that Marzelline herself falls for Fidelio without suspecting she might in fact be a woman under the uniform (a device reminiscent of Shakespeare, a number of Greek Tragedies, and indeed Eris Rohmer's final film 'The Romance of Astrea & Celadon' where the deception is in reverse) however her character similarly fades to nothing.

Musically, I also don't feel this is first rate LvB either, seeming to be a little repetitive, especially with the device where three or four characters sing their own lines over each other. I don't think that he was at all at home in this medium, and neither the story or the music are anything like as compelling as the Verdi.

All that said, the stage set and production were great as were the cast, and I would suggest that if anyone did want to see Fidelio out of curiosity, then this DVD would come highly recommended.