The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh

Rimsky-Korsakov The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh opera to a libretto by Vladimir Nikolayevich Belsky. Directed 2012 by Dimtri Tcherniakov at De Nederlandse Opera. Stars Svetlana Ignatovich (Fevroniya), John Daszak (Grishka Kuterma), Vladimir Vaneev (Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich), Maxim Aksenov (Prince Vsevolod Yuryevich), Ante Jerkunica (Bedyay), Vladimir Ognovenko (Burunday), Alexey Markov (Fyodor Poyarok), Mayram Sokolova (Page), Jennifer Check (Sirin), Morschi Dranz and Peter Arink (Two Noblemen), Gennady Bezzubenkov (Gusli Player), Hubert Francis (Bear Handler), Iurii Samoilov (Singing Beggar), and Margarita Nekrasova (Alkonost). Marc Albrecht conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus of the Netherlands Opera (Chorus Master Martin Wright). Sets by Dimtri Tcherniakov; costumes by Dimtri Tcherniakov and Elena Zaytseva; lighting by Gleb Flishtinsky. Directed for TV by Misjel Vermeiren. Sung in Russian. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

Here's a clip showing the typical Tcherniakov modern designs:

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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.