Fulvue Drive-In.com
Current Reviews
In Stores Soon
 
In Stores Now
 
DVD Reviews, SACD Reviews Essays Interviews Contact Us Meet the Staff
An Explanation of Our Rating System Search  
Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Children > School > African American > Musical > Classical > Opera > Theater > Stage > Mythology > Rom > 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 Oper

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


Marketplace


 
 Copyright © MMIII through MMX fulvuedrive-in.com