Kari Tikka’s Luther (Opera)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Opera: B-
The art form of the Opera marches on and on DVD it has not
fared badly. There are even a few
companies who have great reputations for issuing many of them. The Ondine Company is issuing region-free
product and here, we take a look at Kari Tikka’s Luther, about the
religious reformist Martin Luther.
Satan even shows up often during the course of the story.
Presented in two acts by The Finnish National Opera, it is
quite a production, but is especially steeped in religious ideals and may
become heavy-handed for many viewers.
With that said, there is an amazing collection of vocal talent and they
are certainly up to the task of bringing this to life to a point where atheists
could appreciate it. It is rich in
tradition and history, making it the kind of music art DVD those in the market
for it will appreciate. Luther
does succeed in capturing the legend’s spiritual struggle for change.
The anamorphically enhanced 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 image is
taped, but is not the sharpest or clearest it could be. We suspect the source to be PAL or even
SECAM, but not NTSC and likely not digital High Definition. If it is HD, then there is something not
quite right with the trade down. The box
credits the sound as Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM 2.0 Stereo, but both tracks are
Dolby, meaning the Dolby 2.0 is not as rich as PCM would have been. With that said, the 5.1 is easily the better
mix, but does not have the depth the actual opera would have had. Too bad this was not in DTS. Extras include brief text frame-by-frame
bios of the singer and writers, a look at the Temppeliaukio Church (6:57) and a
28-minutes-long documentary, the latter two of which include interviews with
Tikka. The case includes a 24 page
multi-language booklet about the Opera more typical of music CD releases, but
most welcome. Opera and religious fans
will like this, while others may have problems with the technical limits, but Luther
is a grand production that works more often than not.
- Nicholas Sheffo
