These titles appear to be from Karajan's "His Legacy for Home Video" series, which Sony Music have released on LD, VHS and DVD at various times and throughout the world. In researching the series, it seems that several concerts may have been released on DVD exclusively in Japan, and Sony Music Japan subsequently released a forty-disc box set with thirty-seven titles included back in 2008. In Europe and particularly in North America, it seems far fewer have been issued on DVD.
Apparently, all of these videos were shot by Karajan between 1982-1988, and while information on the selected titles is scant at the moment, rather cheekily, it seems that Sony Music picked one title from each year to put out on Blu-ray.
So, besides A/V specs, the burning question now is, will these Blu-rays be exclusive to Japan, or will Sony Music put them out in Europe and North America? The above concerts are all in the "SIXC-XXX" product series, and while many of those, like the New Year's Concerts, are ports of international discs, there are Japan-only releases, like SIXC-18, which is a concert with Japanese Pianist Ikuyo Nakamichi.
Further information can be found in the product listings at HMV.co.jp, including the following:
※ We make Blu-ray Disc by up conversion from master for LD.
※ sound source will use the remastered sound source by b-sharp. (From the manufacturer's data)
The reference to "b-sharp" appears to be this company, who list a Karajan DVD box set on their references page and have an article about it here. Since the article is placed against a bright background, it is a bit difficult to read comfortably, so I will copy it below:
[Show spoiler]
Quote:
Originally Posted by b-sharp
Herbert von Karajan
Unique Re-recording concept developed by b-sharp.
DVD
100 Years Karajan – the new DVD-Edition opens up new sound dimensions for the fascinating recordings of the great conductor.
April 5th 2008 would have been Herbert von Karajan’s 100th birthday – and the music world celebrates one of the greatest and most influential conductors of the 20th century. He was renowned for his charisma and feared for his perfection and persistency.
Karajan left a vast catalogue of recordings, which have essentially influenced the way we perceive classical music today. At all times Herbert von Karajan was interested in the newest developments in recording technology. He always had an idea of the perfect orchestra sound in mind and he worked on achieving this vision with utmost meticulousness.
Today, with the advent of high capacity data carriers like the DVD, it has become mandatory for current audiovisual media releases to include not only a stereo mix, but also a surround sound version of the same program to make adequate use of the disc space and to add further value to the product. The audio on the previously released generation of Karajan DVDs is in stereo. What seemed odd to us as we were screening the material, was the general “dryness” of the sound. Taking into consideration that many of these recordings were made in some of the most renowned concert halls in the world, renowned for their great acoustics – we decided to go back to the original recording venues and capture what has been left out at the initial sessions.
With this truly unique approach to generate a new, well-marketable and genuinely authentic product we did return to the philharmonic hall in Berlin and the Musikverein in Vienna to re-record their unique room signatures in response to the play-back of the original stereo source material. With an intricate matrix consisting of a set of up to 10 speakers, a well-levelled signal was generated on stage to trigger the room acoustics like an orchestra would. The room signals were then re-recorded with an orchestra-like microphone array and newly balanced for both stereo and surround.
A special challenge was the creation of a centre channel signal and its integration without compromising the timbre and sonic depth of the recording. The final mix of the original material with the newly captured room responses adds an impressive spatial homogeneity in both the stereo and surround and a pleasant natural frequency extension towards the low end.
This seems like a truly bizarre process, essentially playing the music back and re-recording the sound of the concert hall, then remixing the concert audio with the new concert hall ambiance recording?! In any event, it seems that DVDs with the b-sharp remastering were initially released in 2008, so older DVDs should be unaffected.
Note that one title, Live in Osaka 1984, seems to be exempt from the b-sharp remastering, possibly because it has been released only in Japan, and did not receive a DVD release in Japan until 2008.
I suppose we will have to wait for an official press release (not to mention cover art) to find out anything more.
They would probably only re-record the rear channels. They would use the unaltered stereo sound for the mains. That is pretty common for up-mixes from stereo sources, but usually it's done digitally, not by recording in an actual concert hall.
It's conceivable that the concerts may have been shot in HD, but it's unlikely that they did that in 1982, considering there was no way to actually distribute HD TV until a decade later.
This sounds like a craven repackage job designed to trick Japanese music fans. I guess they figure people care more about the specs of the disc being sold than the specs of the master itself. They might just be right.
They would probably only re-record the rear channels. They would use the unaltered stereo sound for the mains. That is pretty common for up-mixes from stereo sources, but usually it's done digitally, not by recording in an actual concert hall.
It's conceivable that the concerts may have been shot in HD, but it's unlikely that they did that in 1982, considering there was no way to actually distribute HD TV until a decade later.
This sounds like a craven repackage job designed to trick Japanese music fans. I guess they figure people care more about the specs of the disc being sold than the specs of the master itself. They might just be right.
These were shot on film, most likely 35mm, but I suppose it could have been 16mm. If they used the LD masters, perhaps the original film materials dont exist now? Karajan saw himself as future-proofing by NOT choosing the then current TV standards, but looking forward to a higher quality format, which at that time was LD. Medici TV has all of these new versions streaming, if you want to sample the quality. Unfortunately nothing can change Karajans preference for over-glamorized closeups and Mickey Mousing style cutting techniques, which certainly have not aged well. And the fact that most of these were mimed to pre-existing audio tracks never sat well with me....thank god THAT style has gone away. As to whether its designed to trick anyone, these are probably not going to look worse than the DVDs, and most likely will sound better. Whether that makes them worth buying if one has the DVDs remains to be seen.
I got these today. I haven't watched them yet, but they all appear to be upscaled from LD masters as indicated (for what it's worth, I spot checked all of the discs and none of what I saw was shot on film, it was all video). For whatever reason, the back covers all include an "LB" symbol to indicate the aspect ratio as letterboxed 4:3, but I saw no letterboxing, so perhaps that's being used as shorthand for pillarboxing in this case. In any event, all the video I saw was (approximately) 1.33:1.
Each disc that had its audio remastered a few years ago (see my comments above) offers two 48/24 LPCM 2.0 tracks, one labeled "original" and another labeled "remaster" (for whatever reason, the first program from 1982 only mentions one audio track on the back cover), while some programs that received a multi-channel mix at some point include that mix as DTS-HD MA 5.0.
Two of the programs include optional Japanese subtitles where necessary, and these are in white font. No other subtitles are provided.
None of the discs come with any video extras, although each has a short black and white leaflet with Japanese text (white text on black pages) for that particular program. Also, each disc begins with a copyright screen and logo for Sony Music Japan International, which leads me to believe that these discs will only be issued in Japan, and not in Europe or worldwide like many classical music Blu-rays.
I find it interesting that the one disc that is a BD-50 actually has a much lower video bitrate than all the others. It seems that there might have been a push to get it onto a BD-25, but in the end, it just squeaked over. Otherwise, the programs all have very high video bitrates, even though the video is upscaled and obviously can only look so good.
Code:
Total Video
Title Codec Length Movie Size Disc Size Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track Secondary Audio Track
----- ------ ------- -------------- -------------- ------- ------- ------------------ ---------------------
00001.MPLS AVC 0:54:37 18,668,802,048 18,862,985,413 45.57 38.89 LPCM 2.0 2304Kbps (48kHz/24-bit) LPCM 2.0 2304Kbps (48kHz/24-bit)
There are 7 more titles tentatively scheduled for July 8th, 2020. Information is scant right now, but based on the titles versus the Japanese DVDs, I believe these are the programs being released:
I say "tentatively", because Sony Music Japan just pulled at least one June new release today, currently "rescheduled" to December 31st, so who knows what will happen to the forthcoming releases through the rest of the summer.
With the exception of the Beethoven 9, I believe all of the others are live concerts. Makes sense that Sony would release those first, since they are not mimed.
I have ordered some from Japan. Is the video any better than the DVDs?
I say "tentatively", because Sony Music Japan just pulled at least one June new release today, currently "rescheduled" to December 31st, so who knows what will happen to the forthcoming releases through the rest of the summer.
After a lengthy delay, the above seven titles are being released tomorrow. Here they are in order of product number:
As a lifelong classical aficionado, I have been steadily purchasing these from Amazon Japan. The quality is very good, as upconverts go -- a dramatic improvement over the DVDs, especially on a larger screen.
I'm just eager for more of what I consider to be the very best films in Karajan's 1980s series to be released:
-Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (really the finest film of the entire project)
-Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben
-Richard Strauss: Don Quixote
-Tschaikowsky: Symphony Nr. 6
and two Beethoven titles that were never even released on LD or DVD in North America, but were issued in Japan:
Funnily enough, I don't mind the films that are part live, part studio productions, in the same way that I often prefer studio audio recordings to live recordings. Yes, the live performance is more honest, but the studio version is more of a creative endeavour on the conductor/filmmaker's part, a more thorough impression of his interpretation of the work.
Eagerly anticipating the release of more titles in this series . . .
The third wave of titles will be released in Japan on December 22nd, 2021. Once again, here they are in order of product number:
Note that the Tchaikovsky (SIXC-49) is two discs. Most releases appear to have original and remixed LPCM 2.0 tracks as well as DTS-HD MA 5.0 audio, but I will await confirmation of the audio tracks once the actual product is released.
The last release in this wave (SIXC-57) is a performance of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier (1984) with the Vienna Philharmonic from the Salzburg Festival. It stars Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Kurt Moll, Agnes Balsta, Gottfried Hornik and Janet Perry. This release is also set to be spread over two discs and is set to contain original and remixed LPCM 2.0 tracks only. Japanese subtitles should also be included, but other languages are less likely.
P.S., I should have noted yesterday that these programs have also started being released in the West, although they lack the "His Legacy for Home Video" branding and they have been licensed from Sony by C Major Entertainment, so I can't say for certain if the program content is identical to the Sony Music Japan releases.
This disc was released last year in October and contains three programs. The first is a performance of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. Interestingly, this program has only been released on DVD in Japan and has not seen a Blu-ray release there, yet. The second is Beethoven's Violin Concerto, which was in the second wave of Japanese Blu-rays, and the third has also only been released on DVD in Japan so far, the New Year's Eve Concert 1984.
In addition to matching performance dates, added together, these three programs exactly match the stated run time of the C Major BD above, although the authoring will of course be different. Intriguingly, it looks like none of these three programs were re-issued with remixed sound options, but two of the three did have 5.0 tracks on DVD. The Violin Concerto is 2.0 only on DVD and the Japanese Blu-ray.
And then, just last month, C Major issued a Blu-ray with the New Year's Concert 1987 and theNew Year's Eve Concert 1988, both of which were released in the first wave of Japanese Blu-rays, back in July 2019:
Once again, run times match (within seconds) the Japanese Blu-rays, although this time, C Major lists the 5.0 sound as Dolby Digital. On the Japanese discs, only the 1987 concert has a 5.0 track and it is definitely DTS-HD MA 5.0. Perhaps it's just an error on the jacket of the C Major disc. In any event, both programs also have original and remixed 2.0 audio on the Japanese discs, so I wonder if C Major has included both stereo audio tracks.
The third wave of titles will be released in Japan on December 22nd, 2021. Once again, here they are in order of product number:
Note that the Tchaikovsky (SIXC-49) is two discs. Most releases appear to have original and remixed LPCM 2.0 tracks as well as DTS-HD MA 5.0 audio, but I will await confirmation of the audio tracks once the actual product is released.
The last release in this wave (SIXC-57) is a performance of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier (1984) with the Vienna Philharmonic from the Salzburg Festival. It stars Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Kurt Moll, Agnes Balsta, Gottfried Hornik and Janet Perry. This release is also set to be spread over two discs and is set to contain original and remixed LPCM 2.0 tracks only. Japanese subtitles should also be included, but other languages are less likely.
Ah, yes. I first heard of this a while back on Facebook and pre-ordered the lot from Amazon.co.jp. They should arrive by Christmas.
Some very fine titles in this batch (especially the Richard Strauss tone poems), though I'm still waiting for some of my favourites, as mentioned above (the Mussorgsky, the Beethoven overtures disc, a very well filmed Debusssy/Ravel compilation, etc.).
Four operas were/are part of the Legacy series, so it's nice to see one of them finally getting issued on blu-ray -- though frankly, I'm more looking forward to Karajan's Don Carlos and Falstaff.
The Tchaikowsky double-disc issue is interesting, as this is the first instance in which Sony's blu-ray releases are not exactly matching the original DVD issues. On DVD, the three Tchaikowsky symphonies were released individually, as it being done with the two Dvorak symphonies.
It would seem that all of Karajan's choral Legacy films are being saved for last (the Missa Solemnis, the Verdi, Brahms, and Mozart Requiems, and the Coronation Mass).
Eagerly looking forward to these and future Legacy releases.
I notice that the back cover states the audio is LPCM 2.0 and DTS 5.1, without true lossless 5.1 audio. I will leave the audio section blank until someone receives the disc and confirms the audio specs. This opera was released on DVD in Japan, apparently as 2xDVD-9 with a 189-minute runtime and PCM 2.0 audio, but there was also a Western NTSC DVD, which was doubled-sided and ran 193 minutes, with PCM 2.0 and "Dolby Digital", according to the packaging. It's not clear if this is a 5.1 mix, but the 193-minute runtime is carried over to the Blu-ray specs.
Karajan's Don Giovanni (1987), starring Samuel Ramey, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Gösta Winbergh, Paata Burchuladze, Julia Varady, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Alexander Malta and Kathleen Battle, is being released by C Major this summer:
Surprisingly, the cover states that it will include English, French, German, Italian (sung language) Korean and Japanese subtitles. This probably means that there will not be a following domestic Japanese Blu-ray from Sony Music Japan. I wonder if SMJ have decided to halt publishing further titles directly.
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