Dardanus — HDVDARTS

Jean-Philippe Rameau Dardanus opera to libretto by Charles-Antoine Leclerc de La Bruère. Directed 2015 by Michael Fau at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. Stars Karina Gauvin (Vénus), Gaëlle Arquez (Iphise, the Princess), Reinoud van Meehelen (Dardanus, son of Electra and Jupiter), Florian Sempey (Anténor, a King), Nahuel de Pierro (Teucer, a King/Isménor, a magician), Katherine Watson (Amour/une Bergère (Shepherdess)/Bellone/un Songe (a Dream), Étienne Bazola (Un Berger ( Shepherd), Virgile Ancely (Un Songe (Dream)) and Guillaume Gutierrez (Un Songe (Dream)). Raphaël Pichon conducts the Ensemble Pygmalion. Set design by Emmanuel Charles with assistance from Pejman Mirzaei; costume design by David Belugou; choreography by Christopher Williams; lighting design by Joël Fabing. Released 2016, disc has 5.1 dts sound. Grade: NA

Spectacular designs and production from the same house that staged the popular Les Indes galantes. This got a "2016 Critics Choice Award" in the December 2016 Gramophone magazine (page 24). It also got a "Critics Choice" award from Judith Malafronte in the February 2017 Opera News (page 50). It appears Judith saw this in DVD, and the magazine doesn't even say that it's available in Blu-ray form.

Here's a short clip showing how colorful this is:

"Rameau: Dardanus", DVD+Blu-ray released in August 2016 on harmonia mundi. Available on http://amzn.to/2d8ek9M DIAMANT of Opéra Magazine in October 2016 Ensemble Pygmalion & Raphaël Pichon Staging: Michel Fau This video was recorded at the performances of the first version of Dardanus (1739) given at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in April 2015, in a production by Michel Fau notable for its delicious candy colours.

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Here's news about high-definition video disc ("HDVD") recordings of opera, ballet, classical music, plays, fine-art documentaries, and paintings. In the journal below are independent (and hard-to-find critical) reports on hundreds of HDVDs. Pick the best titles for your excelsisphere.

Feb 25. We have just completed one of our most ambitious reviews: Einstein on the Beach opera, the surreal 4 and 1/2 hour cult legend. Kudos, encomiums, and accolades to Opus Arte for giving us this authoritative and weirdly fascinating recording, which we grade A+. Absorbing and learning Einstein is uniquely challenging. We try to help out by providing aids not included in the keepcase materials: an accurate libretto and a list of segments in the opera with correct Opus Arte time stamps. Good luck!

We have some other good grades with an A for the recent Met The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) and a B- for an earlier The Pearl Fishers from Naples. Also, we recently gave an A- for the new Don Quixote from the Vienna State Ballet.