Opera on Blu-ray

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by garak

I've got all of the DG opera blu-rays, I Puritani, Figaro and Manon. The sound and picture quality are excellent. Better than the Opus Arte Magic Flute (I found this recording to be a bit harsh) and the Arthaus Musik La Traviata.

Opus Arte's Die Zauberflöte sounds harsh to you? It's one of the best Die Zauberflöte releases out there. I don't know what kind of system you have, but on mine there is no hint of harshness whatsoever. Perhaps you need to calibrate your sound system. It certainly doesn't sound harsh. The sound is warm and delightful. The balance between the orchestra and performers is perfect. The SQ is 10.0/10.0.

I have several Opus Arte releases. They are all top notch performances with unbeatable sound to go with it. The 1080i video looks pretty good upscaled to 1080p too on my LCD TV. None of them disappoint me.

OTOH the Arthaus Musik La Traviata featuring a DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack was a complete flop and the biggest disappointment after preordering it (blind buy from amazon.com). My DTS DVD release with Renee Fleming and Rolando Villazon surpasses it in sound quality hands down. Gheorghiu and Vargas are legendary opera singers but this BD release ruined their performance with the worst balance between performer and orchestra that I have ever heard in my life. I sent that BD back to Amazon for a refund the very next day after receiving it. Furthermore, hardly anything was heard coming from the 4 surround speakers in my 7.1 setup. I gave the SQ a 2.0/10.0 when I rated it.