Bright
Road
(1953/MGM/Warner Archive DVD)/Jon
Lord: Concerto For Group & Orchestra
(2013/Eagle Blu-ray w/CD)/Bellini's
La Sonnambula (Maurizio
Benini/Dynamic)/Meyerbeer's
Robert Le Diable (Royal
Opera House/Opus Arte)/Salzburg
Festival: Wiener Philharmonic/Jansons
(Stemme/R. Strauss/Wagner/Brahms/EuroArts/Unitel Classica)/Wagner's
Tristan & Isolde
(Kout/Deutsche Oper Berlin/ArtHaus/Naxos Blu-rays)
Picture:
B- (Lord
& Road:
C+) Sound: C/B & B-/B+/B/B/B+ Extras: C-/B-/C/C+/C+/C
Main Programs: C+/B-/B/B/B/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Bright
Road
DVD is only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive
series and can be ordered from the link below.
Here
is a recent set of 'refined'
music releases with some interesting additions entries you should
know about....
Gerald
Mayer's Bright
Road
(1953) is a short drama with a heavily African American cast
including Dorothy Dandridge as a good school teacher trying to really
help her disadvantaged students out. Harry Belafonte plays the
principal of the school and despite the drama, there are music
numbers that come out of nowhere (none stuck with me, though)
including a pop chart-bound Belafonte. This was a year before the
duo made Carmen
Jones
into a big hit film musical and that alone makes it a curio, but they
are not bad together, showing their chemistry and screen potential
beyond this modestly budgeted work.
The
supporting cast is not bad and at 68 minutes, this is shorter than
you would expect, but the child actors and their work have not aged
badly making the film hold up better than you would expect. Also
progressive for its time, it is an interesting entry into the annal
of “Black Cinema” is definitely worth a look.
A
theatrical trailer is the only extra.
Jon
Lord: Concerto For Group & Orchestra
(2013) features The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted
by Paul Mann playing the late founder of Deep Purple's successful
attempt at a Classical/jazz work originally penned back in 1969.
Steve Morse, Joe Bonamassa and Darin Vasilev cover guitars for
different sections while Steve Balsamo, Kasia Laska and Bruce Dickson
add vocals and not unlike Brian Wilson's long-delayed Smile,
a recording of the final work and final vision of the work has been
finally realized.
Running
46 minutes-long, this new Blu-ray/CD set has plenty of extras (see
below) and whether you are a Deep Purple fan or not, you'll find this
to be an interesting release worth your time if you like this genre
of music.
Bellini's
La Sonnambula
(Maurizio Benini/Dynamic) is remarkably only the third time we have
covered any work by Vincenzo Bellini following; Norma
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7643/Vincenzo+Bellini%E2%80%99s+Norma
and
Beatrice
di Tenda
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12213/The+Beach+Boys:+Good+Vibrations
The
latter was issued by the Dynamic label, a newer company issuing
Classical Blu-rays and they are absolutely holding their own. This
time, it is the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari Fondazione with Conductor
Maurzio Benini giving us a lush version of the story of a marriage
that may be leaving a young lady in love with the groom behind, a
village who looks forward to the event and a sleepwalking bride whose
uncontrollable sleep state may bring her closer to ghosts of the
village than anyone realizes.
Another
winning release of a complex work, this is a great introduction to
it, the performers if you have never seen them before and of Bellini
who deserves serious rediscovery among the giants of composing.
Bravo!
Giacomo
Meyerbeer's
Robert Le Diable
is an underrated, respected work that does not get enough attention
these days that someone has finally put on Blu-ray in a grand
performance that does justice to the original text. Sounding more
familiar of late thanks to a recent cycle of occurrently big budget
fantasy and battle films, Princess Isabelle of Sicily is ready to be
married to the knight who can win a competition contest, but unusual
circumstances will make such a banal arrangement and game unlike
anything anyone expects. Bertram and Robert are among those knights,
but Robert recognizes his foster sister Alice as the fiancee of
Raimbalt, a man who is is about to have hanged!
Robert,
also known as the Devil for he seems to have been born of a Norman
Princess who was with either a demon or Satan himself. Gambling,
drink, chance and fate then start to play into the narrative and with
such high stakes morally, figuratively, spiritually and otherwise,
anything can happen.
First
seen in 1831, this elaborate, all out interpretation is terrific
conducted by Daniel Oren, directed by Laurent Pelly and from the
Royal Opera House, it is led by Bryan Hymel in the title role and
backed by an exceptional ensemble of amazing (and amazingly powerful)
vocalists. Impressive indeed!
Our
latest Salzburg
Festival
entry has The Wiener Philharmonic, conducted by the legendary Mariss
Jansons with a program of classics by Richard
Strauss (Don Juan, Richard Wagner (Wesendonck-Lieder) and Johannes
Brahms (Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68) that includes a fine set
of vocal performances by opera singer Nina Stemme and runs a solid 95
minutes. Jansons shows a particular joy in his work and that
translates into some of the best interpretations and performances of
the classic pieces you will likely ever experience.
Finally
we have the latest version of Wagner's
Tristan & Isolde,
which we have covered several times including as the 2006 DVD for the
Fox feature film:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4118/Tristan+And+Isolde+(2006/DTS+DVD)
+
2007 Opera Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8513/Walter+Felsenstein+Edition+(7+Opera
+
Glyndebourne Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9314/Wagner+%E2%80%93+Tannhauser/Sh
and
the 3-DVD Schneider version
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9624/Mozart%E2%80%99s+Don+Giovanni
Running
nearly four hours, this from the Deutsche Oper Berlin is visually
darker and more deconstructionist taking place on stage with only a
bare set decorated with diagonal lines (made of rope, metal or the
like) as the performers play out the whole work underneath it all.
It certainly strips the work of any visual romanticism, but the
singers and production manage to pull off the unexpected and
Conductor Jiri Kout along with Stage Director Gotz Friedrich find
their voice and version in a work that I hypothesize we will see even
more varied versions of up ahead.
This
may not be to all tastes, but as far at the work itself goes, the
approach works in its intent to make it more barren.
The
1.33 X 1 black and white image on Road
is from a decent print that can show its age including with some
minor flaws, but is surprisingly consistent otherwise throughout and
likely benefited form Ted Turner taking care of the MGM catalog early
on before that was common practice when he owned it. There are even
shots with good detail for standard definition. The 1080i 1.78 X 1
digital High Definition image transfers on all the Blu-rays are as
good as the format will allow, though in fairness to Lord,
it has no video for the music performances, leaving the rating for
the documentary. In the remaining cases, colors are usually fine,
Video Black can be crushed at times and we get some motion blur.
These are all pleasant presentations, but be aware that Tristan
can be a little more trying since so much of it is in darkness,
though that release is also one of the two best sonically on the list
with its DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix that is impressive
when it kicks in after several spots of silence. The opera singers
deliver fine performances; the dynamic range and recording of the
program impress throughout, especially as compared to the lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 and PCM 2.0 Stereo versions of the show also available.
The
other sonic champ is Sonnambula
with its DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix achieving the same
highs and sporting an impressive soundfield that offers a little more
than Tristan
and also has its demonstration moments.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Road
is weaker than expected, not because of the recording which is not
bad, but because it is sounding down a generation as if it were
transferred too low or clean up too much, so be careful of volume
switching and -playback levels. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix on Diable
and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.0 lossless mix on Salzburg
are still excellent for what they are, consistently well-recorded
with fine soundfields throughout, but they never manage to have the
more impressive range and weight of either Sonnambula
or Tristan.
That leaves the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 96/24 lossless mix on
Lord
sounding fine and as good as the latter two releases, but I expected
this to have more range and it did not. There is even a ceiling to
the recording I was not happy with for whatever reason.
PCM
2.0 Stereo is the alternate audio track on the rest of the releases
as well, save Lord
with a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 24/48 Stereo lossless mix and its
CD is a decent-sounding PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo mix, while Sonnambula
actually offers an additional lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that is
passable, but no match for its lossless DTS track.
Extras
include booklets in all cases, with Lord adding a Making Of
featurette, Up
Close & Personal (Orchestral Recording Sessions)
featurette and two separate interviews with Conductor Paul Mann and
Dutch composer Marco de Goeji who was instrumental in getting this
project completed. Salzburg
adds Trailers and Diable
adds a Cast Gallery and documentary featurette The
Legend Of Robert le diable.
To
order Bright
Road,
go to this link for it and many more great web-exclusive releases at:
http://www.warnerarchive.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo