Nonesuch — New Titles/Journal

Alban Berg Lulu opera to libretto by the composer (3-act version completed by Friedrich Cerha in 1979). Directed 2015 by William Kentridge at the Met. Stars Marlis Petersen (Lulu), Susan Graham (Countess Geschwitz), Daniel Brenna (Alwa, Dr. Schön's Son, a composer), Paul Groves (The Painter/The African Prince), Johan Reuter (Dr. Schön/Jack the Ripper), Martin Winkler (The Animal Tamer/The Acrobat), Franz Grundheber (Schigolch), Elizabeth DeShong (The Wardrobe Mistress/The Schoolboy/The Page), Alan Oke (The Prince/the Manservant/The Marquis), Julian Close (The Theater Manager/The Banker), Ashley Emerson (The Fifteen-Year-Old Girl), Jane Shaulis (Her Mother), Kathryn Day (The Designer), Tyler Duncan (The Journalist), Paul Corona (The Servant), James Courtney (The Physician/The Professor/The Police Commissioner), Joanna Dudley (Solo Performer), and Andrea Fabi (Solo Performer). Lothar Koenigs conducts the Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. Co-directed by Luc De Wit; projection designs by Catherine Meyburgh; sets by Sabine Theunissen; costumes by Greta Goiris; lighting design by Urs Schönebaum; video direction by Matthew Diamond; music production by Jay David Saks. Supervising Producers were Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park; Producers were Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik. Released 2016, combo package has a Blu-ray disc and a DVD. The Blu-ray disc has Dolby TrueHD surround sound. Grade: NA

John Adams Nixon in China opera to a libretto by Alice Goodman. Directed 2011 by Peter Sellars at the Metropolitan Opera. Stars singers (order of appearance) Russell Braun (Chou En-lai), Ginger Costa-Jackson (Nancy Tang, First Secretary to Mao), Teresa S. Herold (Second Secretary to Mao), Tamara Mumford (Third Secretary to Mao), James Maddalena (Richard Nixon), Janis Kelly (Pat Nixon), Richard Paul Fink (Henry Kissinger), Robert Brubaker (Mao Tse-tung), and Kathleen Kim (Chiang Ch'ing [Madame Mao Tse-tung]), as well as dancers Haruno Yamazaki and Kanji Segawa. John Adams (the composer) conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus (Chorus Master Donald Palumbo), and Ballet. Produced by Peter Sellars; set design by Adrianne Lobel; costume design by Dunya Ramicova; lighting design by James F. Ingalls; choreography by Mark Morris; sound design by Mark Grey. Released 2012, disc has Dolby TrueHD 24-bit sound. Grade: A-

What's New

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.