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Hi, Could someone comment on this complete set on 7 DVDs released recently, either performance or audio/video quality? Thanks!
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Thank you all for your valuable comments and information!
I also found some customer reviews at amazon.com, for both this one and the Boulez/Bayreuth set. It seems the latter one is more favored by most reviewers and got higher overall rating. Well, I guess I need to do a little more research before I can make a choice. However, I learned about the few good DVDs (the Bartoli ones and the Rigoletto) from the discussion by Russell and John, and would like to order these. Please recommend a few more. Again, thanks!!! hhao
Remember that the ones I listed there (link below) are based on superlative video quality as well as performance. There are many other worthy DVDs available with very good video (not state of the art, but very good nonetheless, and certainly better than VHS or LD) and audio.Russell
I have been waiting years for this set to be issued. This Met Ring cycle was televised live on PBS on sequential nights...quite a commitment. I thought Sam Ramey sang Wotan but I guess my memory slipped.There's no way to judge the audio without hearing the DVD but the original PBS stereo broadcast was excellent, and I'd assume the DVD was mastered from it. Levine runs one of the best opera bands in the world and the Met knows how to make records. The stage production was visually impressionistic but not stripped of all traditional cues. (I recall admiring the giants!) The PBS camera work should far excel typically unimaginative and static opera videos.
Just got this DVD set last week but only had a chance to sample it. I do know it pretty well, though, as I had this set on LD. Image-wise, the DVDs are good, but on the soft side. (They're only slightly better than the LDs.) Being at least 10 years old and shot on videotape, the picture's not going to be as sharp as most recent productions, but once you get accustomed to it, it's fine. Sound quality is very good (I listened only to the PCM track).The production is somewhat of a throwback--very traditional and old-fashioned, but very well executed. (It's nothing at all like the modernist approach of the Boulez/Chereau/Bayreuth, which seems kind of tame nowadays.) Levine conducts well, and the singing (for the most part) is excellent. (Don't want to go into details here--it's late, and I've got to get to bed. ;-) )
Comments of this set (7 DVD 073043-9) in the french magazine REPERTOIRE (www.classicexpert.com), N°163 of december 2002. Comparaison is made with the CD version.Unfortunately I am not fluent in english so I'll give you these comments in french.
"Il s'agit des représentations du MET en 1990, dans un décor traditionnel, des costumes parfois grotesques et des éclairages souvent insuffisants. La voix de Behrens poursuit son processus de délabrement, mais l'engagement scénique fait passer bien des choses. Christa Ludwig reste en difficulté dans Fricka, Norman placide en Sieglinde, mais, heureusement le vaillant Siegfried Jerusalem remplace l'horrible Reiner Goldberg. James Morris reste un Wotan convaincant, alors que Gary Lakes récite son Siegmund de manière un peu pataude. Quelques très belles prestations de Zednik, Wlachiha, Svenden, Salminen font plaisir à entendre et la direction contient davantage de moments frémissants.
Globalement la "bande-son" est donc meilleure que dans les CD audios. Elle est d'ailleurs bien enregistrée, malgré évidemment un peu moins de cohérence dans la spatialisation en profondeur et dans l'équilibre des sources. Par rapport aux DVD du Ring Boulez, le son est bien meilleur, avec une vraie dynamique et deux versions 5.1 (Dolby digital et DTS) réussies même si cette formule délaye le son sur l'ensemble des canaux avec un halo peu naturel, qui s'accentue en DTS. Dans la mise en forme DG a fait de sérieux efforts, mais le spectacle se déroule souvent dans une pénombre qui ne passe pas à l'écran. de plus l'image continue de pomper, surtout sur fond noir, et l'équilibre chromatique du NTSC est assez froid.
A classer, donc, dans la rubrique "Si vous y tenez", comme le Ring Boulez, mais à un niveau de finition en notable amélioration."The CD version (14 CD, DG4716782) is rated "4 Diapasons" (range from 1 to 5 Diapasons + Diapason d'Or for few best CDs) in the french magazine DIAPASON (www.diapason-direct.com), N°498 of december 2002. That means "honest with no great defaults".
Hope you can translate these comments.
Jean
FWIW my father who lives and breathes opera, has worked and volunteered at the Met for almost 30 years and has seen the Ring Cycle several times absolutely loves them. The caveat is that he is not an audiophile per se. He is, however an extremely discerning listener of live events.
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power." — Benito Mussolini.
Sorry but I cannot find a reference to that set. The reviews I can lay my hands on like the Barenboin set and the Boulez set. I'm not sure the former has come out on DVD yet but the latter certainly has.I have a laserdisc set of the Boulez and tried out the DVD equivalent and was most disappointed as the video quality was inferior and the audio no better despite the "remastering" claim. Maybe this is unique to the Boulez as the original video was done with HD analog techniques which might have been difficult to transfer to digital - I'm only guessing.
The Boulez version caused a storm when first released and is far from perfect (as no ring cycle is) but I like it.
In a direct comparison (playing simultaneously and switching back and forth) it was no contest--the DVDs were far cleaner, albeit a tad darker than the LDs, which looked terribly fuzzy, grainy, and washed out by comparison. But then, these are NTSC laser discs; perhaps the PAL ones are better? (Your Boulez DVDs are NTSC, right?) Sound-wise, they were identical, at least when employing the PCM track on the DVDs. (And thank goodness that Universal gives us PCM tracks on most of their DVDs.)
No the LD set here is NTSC as was the DVD set.
The DVD was played via a Meridian 800 V3 and the LD via the Pioneer HLD-X9. Audio from both was via the Meridian 861.I was both surprised and disappointed at the DVD set as generally DVDs have better video. However, projected on a 112 inch screen the LD came through more sharply -> a reflection on how good the HLD-X9 is? I performed the same A/B test as you did Russell but only on the first disc of "Rheingold".
Maybe I was unlucky in having a defective DVD pressing - sent back to the store.
Hi John--Perhaps our respective equipment can account for our differing observations. My LD player (a Panasonic LX200, c. 1991) is not a top-of-the-line unit, although it was certainly very respectable at the time. For DVDs, I use a Sony DVP-S9000ES, and it very likely does a better job with DVDs than the Panasonic does with LDs. Both machines feed a direct-view Sony 36" XBR TV--the LD via S-Video and the DVD via component connections and progressive scan. As I mentioned, the most notable difference between the DVDs and the LDs of the Boulez Ring was a significant reduction in grain and chroma noise with the DVDs, resulting in a much cleaner looking image. The DVDs also look a bit darker overall. Neither the LDs or DVDs are very sharp, but the cleaner image of the DVDs makes for more pleasurable viewing.BTW, have you seen the Covent Garden 'Rigoletto' DVD on BBC Opus Arte? It's a real stunner in all departments--absolutely superb picture (anamorphic widescreen), great sound despite the lack of a PCM track (though the orchestra can be too overwhelming), and a terrific production and performance.
.... seen & heard the Ceilia Bartoli Vivaldi concert yet? This ARTHAUS DVD (100 228 - PAL) is absolutely stunning from all points of view and has the sharpest video ever seen on this screen :-( And I'm besotted by this lady - she is absolutely gorgeous.
...and it's superb in all ways as well. (Visually, it's the best Decca DVD I've seen--on a par with the Arthaus Musik DVDs, and that's saying something!) Bartoli is wonderful here, and the opening Vivaldi number is simply jaw-dropping. Now I will have to get that all-Vivaldi DVD on Arthaus!Will be interested to see what you think of the Covent Garden Rigoletto. The production is a bit controversial and apparently caused a bit of a stir; I just loved all aspects of it.
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