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[Tassie Devil]

COMPOSER: Wagner

Disc Title: Siegfried

Disc catalog: UNITEL CLASSICS  701004 Recording Date:  2008/9       Program Length: 256 + 27 mins extras mins  A live Valenciana Opera house Production

Cast: Siegfried – Lance Ryan; Mime – Gerhard Siegel; Der Wanderer – Juha Uusitalo; Alberich – Franz-Joseph Kapellmann; Fafner – Stephen Milling; Erda – Catherine Wyn-Rogers ; Brünnhilde – Jennifer Wilson ; Waldvogel – Marina Zyatkova ;Valencian Community Orchestra (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana) Zubin Mehta, conductor ; La Fura del Baus, staging; Carlus Padrissa, stage director

Video rating: 5/5      Audio type: DTS HD MA 7.1, PCM Stereo No mention of bitrates      Audio rating: 5/5

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Summary comment: Another dazzling production - but overdone in Act 2

Author: Tassie Devil Date: May 18 2010

Detailed Comment: Friends came over last night and we tackled this 3rd Ring 4 3/4 hour Wagner opera.  Maybe I was less receptive and too tired, but I found it VERY long and it did not engross me as much as the previous two in the cycle.  We all felt the background efforts in Act 2 were overdone and distracting and certainly did not project an image of a tranquil forest scene.

But we remained impressed by the brilliant singing of the part of Wotan by Juha Uusitalo and the good effort of Lance Ryan in the very long and exhausting role of  Siegfried.  Then there is Jennifer Wilson who thankfully took off the ugly enormous breast plate early in the piece.  Her singing is rivetting and very powerful although it was hard to see how she appeared so sexy to Siegfried but I'm getting picky.  The singing and acting is what opera is about and she performed the Wagnerian role brilliantly.

Overall no, it was not as enjoyable for me as the first two in the cycle and there remain puzzlement at the symbolism of shadowy bods sweeping the floor and writhing on the floor with some of the background confusing and distracting.  So do I recommend it?  I guess the answer is yes if you want a consistent set of all the ring operas, but no if you expect "Siegfied" to be as good as the first two.  

Viewing the final Ring opera will have to wait quite a few weeks until we can get together again.  But at least we are at home in comfortable lounge chairs where we can enjoy the superb audio & video of Blu Ray at our leisure.  No doubt attending live performances of The Ring would be unique experiences but I'll opt for home viewing when dealing with operas as long as these.

John

Edited by Tassie Devil, 13 July 2010 - 11:45 AM.

[MichaelCPE]

My copy of all these operas arrived yesterday. I look forward to watching them.

When I finally get to this one I'll post my opinion of how I think this one compares with the first two.

Did the picture quality of this opera suffer from them having such a long opera on just one disc?

And does anyone know if the DTS-HD MA is 16 or 24 bit?

[Tassie Devil]

MichaelCPE, on May 18 2010, 10:46 PM, said:

My copy of all these operas arrived yesterday. I look forward to watching them.

When I finally get to this one I'll post my opinion of how I think this one compares with the first two.

Did the picture quality of this opera suffer from them having such a long opera on just one disc?

And does anyone know if the DTS-HD MA is 16 or 24 bit?

No, the PQ was fine and I must admit I was surprised at this being only on one disc when a recent Marriager of Figaro was on 2 discs.

No idea re no of bits.  This is rarely advertised although it could be that to claim DTS-HD MA implies 24 bit.  Mabe a Google search would tell.  Too late now to do this for me - I'm off to bed :   

John