Beethoven Complete String Quartets. All 16 of the string quartets performed 2012 over 12 days (Große Fuge not counted separately) by the Belcea Quartet at the Wiener Konzerthaus. Quartet members were Corina Belcea, violin; Axel Schacher, violin; Krzystof Chorzelszki, viola; and Antoine Lederlin, cello. 4-disc set has a 47-minute documentary "On the Paths of the Beethoven String Quartets." Music recording directed for TV by Frédéric Delesques. Released 2014 and 2020, discs have 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+
We have not had much chamber music published in Blu-ray. This Beethoven Complete String Quartets has been the most important exception. The original version came in a fancy box in 2014. It sold fairly well and
Read MoreWeinberg Trumpet Concerto and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 concert. Performed 2019 with Andris Nelsons conducting the Gewandhausorchester at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig. Features trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger. Directed for TV by Ute Feudel; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreThe Bach Project: Cello Suites concert. Performed 2019 at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. Yo-Yo Ma plays all six Cello Suites by Bach. Directed for TV and produced by Bernhard Fleischer. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreLA Phil 100 gala concert. Performed 2019 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Gustavo Dudamel, Zubin Mehta, and Esa-Pekka Salonen conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Here is the program:
Wagner, Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Ravel, La Valse
Lutosławski , Symphony No. 4
Stravinsky, The Firebird Suite (1919 Version)
Bjarnason, From Space I Saw Earth (World premiere performance)
Also features The Los Angeles Philharmonic - The Tradition of the New, a documentary by Laszlo Molnar. Concert recording directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Produced by Bernhard Fleischer. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreKit Armstrong Plays Wagner - Liszt - Mozart recital. Performed 2019 at the Margravial Opera House Bayreuth. Here is the program:
Wagner Piano Sonata in A flat major WWV 85
Liszt Au bord d’une source (On the Edge of a Spring)
Liszt Sonetto No. 123
Liszt Aux Cypres de la Villa d'Este (To the Cypresses of the Villa d’Este)
Liszt Les Jeux d’eaux à la Villa d'Este (The Water Games [Fountains] at the Villa d'Este)
LIszt Piano Sonata in B minor
Liszt Transcription from Mozart’s “Ave verum corpus motet”
Mozart Fantasy in C minor
Mozart Suite in C major Allemande
Directed for TV by Bernhard Fleischer. Released 2021, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+
Read MoreShostakovich Violin Concerto No. 1 and Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 concert. Performed 2019 at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig. Features violinist Baiba Skride. Andris Nelsons conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Directed for TV by Ute Feudel; produced by Paul Smaczny. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read More2019 New Year's Concert a/k/a An Evening with Broadway Melodies by the Berliner Philharmoniker (Berlin Philharmonic) conducted by Kirill Petrenko at the Berlin Philharmonie. Features soprano Diana Damrau. Here is the program:
Gershwin, Girl Crazy Overture
Rodgers, “If I Loved You” from Carousel
Bernstein, “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story
Bernstein, West Side Story: Symphonic Dances
Weill, “Foolish Heart” from One Touch of Venus
Weill, Lady in the Dark - Symphonic Nocturne
Sondheim, A Little Night Music: Send in the Clowns
Arlen, Over the Rainbow
Gershwin, An American in Paris tone poem.
Released 2020, the disc has 5.1 dts sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreNB: There seems to be some confusion with the cover art. We will update as we learn more.
Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem concert. In 1918, Paavo Järvi conducts the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie [German Chamber Orchestra] Bremen and the State Choir Latvija (Latvian State Choir) at the Bremen Cathedreal. Soloists are Valentina Farcas (Sorpano) and Matthias Goerne (Baritone). Directed for TV by Andreas Morell. Sung in German. Released 2020, disc has 5.0 dts-Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBeethoven Complete Piano Concertos concert. Jan Lisiecki plays with Tomo Keller leading the Academy of St Martin in the Fields as Concertmaster. No videographer credited on keepcase artwork. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
It’s a red-flag when no videographer gets credit on the keepcase artwork.
Read MoreQuasthoff Sings Mahler concert. Zubin Mehta conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden in 2010 at the Semperoper. Features baritone Thomas Quasthoff. Here is the program:
Mahler Kindertotenlieder — Quasthoff
Webern Six Pieces for Orchestra
Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra
Released 2021, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
H’m. This looks unappealing. It was recorded 10 years ago, lasts only 73 minutes, no videographer is credited, the title is a bit misleading, and the photos on the back of the keepcase look washed out. There is a YouTube clip available under the MonardaArts label that appears to be this program. The clip has been viewed about 8,500 times in nine years, and has received no comments.
Read MoreIntermedi della Pellegrina concert. Music by Cristofano Malvezzi, Luca Marenzio, Giulio Caccini, Count Giovanni de’ Bardi, Jacopo Peri, and Emilio de’ Cavalieri. Texts by Giovanni de’ Bardi, Ottavio Rinuccini; Giovanni Battista Strozzi, and Laura Lucchesini. Directed 2019 by Valentino Villa at the Festival del Maggio Musicale. Features singers Rossana Bertini (Soprano I), Elena Bertuzzi (Soprano II), Candida Guida (Alto), Paolo Fanciullacci (Tenor), Marco Scavazza (Baritone), and Mauro Borgioni (Bass). Features extras Greta Cisternino, Barbara Novati, Marco Angelilli, Edoardo Mozzanega, Francesco Napoli, and Giuseppe Sartori. Frederico Maria Sardelli conducts the Orchestra Modo Antiquo, the Coro Ricercare Ensemble, and the Compagnia Dramatodia (Chorus Master Alberto Allegrezza). Set design by Saverio Santoliquido; lighting design by Alessandro Tutini; costume design by Gianluca Sbicca; choreography and assistant direction by Marco Angelilli and the Bandierai degli Uffizi. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Sung in Italian. Grade: NA
Read MoreGolden Gallery Tricentenary concert (French: Galerie Dorée, le Concert du Tricentenaire). Performed 2018 at the Golden Gallery of the Central Bank of France. Julien Chauvin conducts the Concert de la Loge and the Cambini-Paris Quartet. Features musicians Jodie Devos (soprano), Justin Taylor (harpsichord), Thomas Dunford (lute), Atsushi Sakaï (cello), and Tami Krausz (traverso). The program includes works from baroque and classical composers such as Lully, Rameau, Couperin, Charpentier, Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, Handel, and others. Directed for TV by Andy Sommer; produced by François Duplat. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBach The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book One concert. Performed 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall. Feature Sir András Schiff on piano. Directed for TV by Helen Scott. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreBach The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book Two concert. Performed 2018 at the Royal Albert Hall. Feature Sir András Schiff on piano. Directed for TV by Helen Scott. Released 2020, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Read MoreMahler Symphony and Zimmerman Trumpet Concerto concert. In 2018 Andris Nelsons conducted the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks at the Grosses Festspielhaus as part of the Salzburg Festival. Music performed:
Directed for TV by Elizabeth Malzer. Includes subtitles German, English, French, Korean, and Japanese, a feature often omitted by careless publishers of Mahler 2. Released 2019, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+
We now (Jan. 2020) have 9 Blu-ray recordings of Mahler 2. But only one of them is graded higher than C+. Everything we have is infected with DVDitis! When we first saw the generous YouTube clip below from C Major with good PQ and many long-range, big-picture shots, we were optimistic that Elizabeth Malzer maybe had produced a video free of the dread disease of DVDitis. Wonk Bryan Balmer volunteered to do a review. Alas, our hopes were dashed again.
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