Orphee & Eurydice (Roberto Alagna dramatic opera version) + Orpheus & Eurydike (Pina Bausch ballet
version/Naxos/BelAir Blu-rays & DVDs)
Picture: C+
& C/B- Sound: B/B- Extras: C+/C Main Programs: B-
Originally
composed back in 1762, Christoph Willibald Cluck’s Orfeo ed Eurodice is a key work in Opera and Classical Music that
mixes mythology with a long history that includes various versions, even by the
author himself who was ahead of may other later key operas and made a French
variation 12 years after the original debuted.
Its flexibility and diversity is reflected by two very good, but
different new concert versions now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Naxos and BelAir.
Built on
the mythology of Orpheus, we get two distinct versions both worth seeing. Roberto Alagna has created an outright opera
version in Orphée & Eurydice and
it is in French influenced on the later revised version. Rich and elaborate, yet still with enough of
a realistic edge, this version brings out the stark nature of the work and does
not let anything Fantasy genre or otherwise derail that intent. This version runs 96 minutes.
Even a
little better and longer (at 106 minutes) is an impressive Ballet version
entitled Orpheus und Eurydike,
staged and choreographed by Pina Bausch, which is one of the most energetic and
immediate ballets we have seen in a while.
This is in German and does seem to play closer to the mythological
ideas. As fine as the dramatic version
is, ballet has this tendency to bring out fantasy ideas more effectively in the
Classical parlance and we see that yet again here. It is never boring and as definitive a ballet
version as I could imagine.
The 1080i
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition transfers on both have their flaws, but the
Alagna version is noisier and weaker throughout in ways I was not expecting and
is one of the more disappointing Classical Blu-rays for picture I have
seen. The 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High
Definition image on the Bausch ballet version is better, though you can see
some slight softness and minor staircasing throughout typical of the format,
but color and clarity are better than its non-ballet counterpart. The anamorphically enhanced DVDs in both
cases are not as good and the Alagna dramatic version is particularly pale.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mixes in both cases are better than their
PCM 2.0 Stereo alternate tracks and the Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes on the DVDs,
plus the producers were smart enough not to try and stretch out the
multi-channel sound to 7.1, which has been a mistake in more cases for more
genres and types of programming that we expected early on. Singing and music are well-recorded in both
cases, but soundfields are limited to some extent in both cases. Extras include booklets with both editions
(in both formats) and the drama adds a half hour featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
