Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma + Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (Blu-ray/Norma Live/Opus Arte/BBC)
Picture:
B+ Sound: A- Extras: B- Main
Programs: B
Opus Arte
continues its trend of bringing high quality opera to Blu-ray with the recent
release of Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma and
Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, like the previous releases we get two more
exceptional performance discs and the company just can’t release enough
of! While I’m not nearly as much of a
fan of Norma as I was with Puccini’s
La Bohème, it is still a good
performance and fans will appreciate the sound and picture of these disc.
Norma is an opera in two acts written
by Bellini with the libretto by Felice Romani and was first produced at La Scala in 1831. This particular performance pulls together
the talents of Hasmik Papian, Hugh Smith, Irini Tsirakidis, Giorgio Giuseppini,
Anna Steiger, and Carlo Bosi, with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra providing
the musical score as well as the Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera, with musical
direction by Julian Reynolds and stage director Guy Joosten. The interpretation here updates the story a
bit as we center around our title character who faces the struggles of being a
successful woman, who is both dominant, but also vulnerable at the same
time. Her position causes tension within
her relationships and her family, of course there is also this battle between
her druid high priestness and the modern opera diva that wages on as well, it
many respects we are watching an opera of
an opera take place and unfold, but it is masterfully performed here. While this might be Bellini’s masterpiece, it
is probably not the best place to start someone new to Opera with, instead try
something like La Traviata (reviewed
elsewhere on this site). The Opera is a
bit more convoluted, complex, and also runs nearly 3-hours, so it’s a tough
pill to swallow for newbies.
Puccini’s
Gianni Schicchi is one of the great
comedic operas that takes place in one act set to Italian libretto by
Giovacchino Forzano and is based on a story that is referred to in Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Its first performance took place in New York
City 1918. The performance here has the talents of Alessandro Corbelli,
Felicity Palmer, Maria Mclaughlin, Massimo Giordano, Sally Matthews, and Sergei
Leiferkus under the direction of Annabel Arden with Vladimir Jurowski and the
London Philharmonic Orchestra. This
feature also includes Rachmaninov’s The
Misery Knight and is a great bonus as it also is directed by Annabel Arden
and features Sergei Leiferkus in the lead role, who plays the part incredibly
well. Both performances are incredibly
well done, finely directed and acted, but again the nature of these are
probably not first steps for those not that familiar with Opera, although The Misery Knight is a good start and
it’s great to get that as a bonus here.
The
technical aspects of these particular Blu-rays are quite familiar and similar
in to many of the other releases from Opus Arte. First, the presentations are both presented
in 1.78 X 1 High Definition 1080p transfers that looks well-detailed, sharp,
refined, defined, and demonstrates some of the best that on-stage theater can
look. There is a faint softness that
occurs from time to time, particularly in darker sequences, but overall both
discs still looks great. The audio is
equally impressive as we get two options, the first option is a PCM 2.0 mix,
the second is a 5.1 mix (Norma is
actually a 5.0 mix) Both are quite impressive, clear, and demonstrate a
wide-range of dynamics, but I give a slight edge to the surround mixes as they
seems to feel a bit more natural at times.
The 2.0 mixes is quite good, but in order to give that full
surround/ambient feel that great performance halls give with natural acoustics,
the surround mixes come closer to that and delivers the goods! I am not sure the reasoning for the 5.0 mix
on Norma, perhaps a little less need
for some low-end, but the mix doesn’t suffer too much from it, especially if
you have speakers that have large enough drivers.
Extras on
Norma include an introduction, plus
interviews with the main cast members and an illustrated synopsis. There is a small interview section on the
Puccini disc and all of these help further appreciate these fine productions.
Check out
the reviews for other fantastic discs from Opus Arte:
La Bohème
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7504/Giacomo+Puccini%E2%80%99s+La+Boheme+(Blu-ray/La
Magic Flute
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6892/Die+Zauberflote+(aka+The+Magic
Midsummer Night’s Dream
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6853/C
Swan Lake
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7352/Swan+Lake/Cecilia+&+Bryn+At+Gly
Verdi’s Il Trovatore
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7439/Giuseppe+Verdi's+Il+Trovatore+(Blu
- Nate Goss
