Die Walküre — HDVDARTS

Wagner Die Walküre to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2011 by Plamen Kartaloff at the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Stars Martin Iliev (Siegmund), Angel Hristov (Hunding), Nikolay Petrov (Wotan), Tsvetana Bandalovska (Sieglinde), Rumyana Petrova (Fricka), Milena Gyurova (Helmwige), Mariana Tzvetkova (Brünnhilde), Irina Zhekova (Ortlinde), Lyubov Metodieva (Gerhilde), Dimitrinka Raycheva (Waltraute), Mariela Aleksandrova (Siegrune), Tsveta Sarambelieva (Rossweisse), Margarita Damyanova (Grimgerde), and Blagovesta Mekki-Tsvetkova (Schwertleite). Pavel Baleff conducts the Orchestra of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Assistant stage direction by Yulia Krasteva and Vera Petrova; set and costume design by Nikolay Panayotov; lighting design by Andrej Hajdinjak and Emil Dinkov. Directed for TV by Rumen Kovachev and Plamen Kartaloff; sound engineering by Yordan Tomov; video editing by Angel Christov. Sung in German. Released 2021, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D

We are giving a D grade to all 4 of the operas in Wagner’s Der Ring cycle published by the Sofia Opera and Ballet. See our screenshots and discussion of this for the Sofia Das Rheingold.

Here is an official trailer from Dynamic for the entire Ring cycle:

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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.