Edgar — HDVDARTS

Puccini Edgar opera to libretto by Ferdinando Fontana. Directed 2008 by Lorenzo Mariani and Elisabetta Marini at the Teatro Regio Torino. Stars José Cura (Edgar), Amarilli Nizza (Fidelia), Julia Gertseva (Tigrana), Marco Vratogna (Frank), and Carlo Cigni (Gualtiero). Yoram David conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of The Teatro Regio Torino, the Boys' Choir of the Teatro Regio Torino, and the Conservatorio "Giuseppe Verdi" di Torino. Set and costumes by Maurizio Balò; lighting by Christian Pinaud; chorus masters were Claudio Marino Moretti and Claudio Fenoglio. Directed for TV by Tiziano Mancini. Sung in Italian. Released 2009, disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Grade: C+

In 2008, this was the first performance of the full 4-act version since it's world premiere in 1889 at Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

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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.