Opera on Blu-ray?

[assur191]

Does anyone know how operas were/are recorded? Were they recorded on film with the possibility of mastering for blu-ray, or were they recording on video, which would make blu-ray pointless?

[WickyWoo]

They had a whole series that was shown theatrically last fall live in highdef from the Metropolitan opera. When the market gets large enough for the size studio that would release such a thing to afford HD mastering, I'm sure it'll hit

[assur191]

That's true, and I know there have been sever HD broadcasts on PBS. What about older, pre-HD recordings. Would those have been on film?

[Shadowself]

The entire Ring Cycle on just four Blu-ray disks (one for each night) with 7.1 lossless sound.

I can't imagine HD DVD even attempting that.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Shadowself

The entire Ring Cycle on just four Blu-ray disks (one for each night) with 7.1 lossless sound.

I can't imagine HD DVD even attempting that.

Except that there hasn't been a good version of Wagner on video, either.
(With opera and ballet, we tend to get weirdo-modernization restagings from the classical-music studios--And the only complete Ring out there for watching has the 80's Beyruth production staging it in some stylized Industrial Revolution setting.)

Of the good top-selling REAL opera on video, we have "Turandot at the Forbidden City" and Criterion's Ingmar Bergman "Magic Flute", for starters--Both of which are too cheap too afford Blu-Ray right away.
But, with more and more PBS hi-def "Great Performances" broadcasts (and half the definition/WS work already done), who knows? Paramount?

[assur191]

One thing I'd like it see is Franco Zeferelli's "Otello" with Placido Domingo. That's actually an MGM release, so we could see that. However, it's not an actual staging, though.

[WickyWoo]

That's true, and I know there have been sever HD broadcasts on PBS. What about older, pre-HD recordings. Would those have been on film?

These weren't PBS. These were shown in movie theaters, shot and staged specifically for big screen presentation

It's unlikely any of the older stuff would have been shot on film, especially on PBS/BBC budgets

[Shadowself]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Except that there hasn't been a good version of Wagner on video, either.
(With opera and ballet, we tend to get weirdo-modernization restagings from the classical-music studios--And the only complete Ring out there for watching has the 80's Beyruth production staging it in some stylized Industrial Revolution setting.)

Of the good top-selling REAL opera on video, we have "Turandot at the Forbidden City" and Criterion's Ingmar Bergman "Magic Flute", for starters--Both of which are too cheap too afford Blu-Ray right away.
But, with more and more PBS hi-def "Great Performances" broadcasts (and half the definition/WS work already done), who knows? Paramount?

Yes, I remember watching the 80s version on PBS and it was almost painful.

I was actually thinking of a new version being made (a new recording from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus perhaps?) which could take advantage of the bit rates and disk size available on Blu-ray which could very likely make a version that even Wagner lovers could enjoy.

[assur191]

Doesn't the Seattle Opera do the whole Ring cycle every year? Or maybe it's another company up in Seattle. That would be great to record in HD. It would be awesome to get some recordings from the Rossini Festival as well.

[CptGreedle]

Perosnally I would love to see The Mikado, or the Pirates of Penzance. Then again I would also love to see The Barber of Seville, the Marriage of Figaro...

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

Perosnally I would love to see The Mikado, or the Pirates of Penzance. Then again I would also love to see The Barber of Seville, the Marriage of Figaro...

Image has a darn good-looking restored-classic SD print of the 1939 Technicolor "Mikado" (with genuine D'Oyly Carte production--"Topsy Turvy", eat your heart out ), and as soon as Image can afford to get on the stick about hi-def, maybe we'll see it--
Call that a "no".

As for Pirates of Penzance, the 1983 Kevin Kline/Linda Ronstadt movie version has been one of the DVD Holy Grails since invention, but even if we ever do see even a non-tape SD version in our lifetime...it's still Universal, darnit.

[Krazy]

It's just a matter of time before operas come out on BD thanks to SonyBMG and Universal Music's extensive classical libraries, and it would be sweet to have those in 24/96 multichannel LPCM too

[Manco]

Oprah on blu-ray?? Hmmm... it's got a lot of capacity...but...I don't think she'll fit.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Krazy

It's just a matter of time before operas come out on BD thanks to SonyBMG and Universal Music's extensive classical libraries, and it would be sweet to have those in 24/96 multichannel LPCM too

That's the thing--
In Japan and the Euro countries, HD and Blu were immediately seen as perfect for concert events, and movies barely showed up...While we were wasting our time trying to resurrect "Tomb Raider" and "xXx: State of the Union", and shove them down gamers' throats because we thought they were stupid enough to buy them.
(Compare this with laserdisks, which were 50% music for about their first five years...)

If not for Sony BMG, there's not a chance any of the smaller classical houses would get something out on BD, and more widespread Blu-acceptance is just starting to break the Flop-Action barrier for more diversity in programming.

[Krazy]

Originally Posted by EricJ

That's the thing--
In Japan and the Euro countries, HD and Blu were immediately seen as perfect for concert events, and movies barely showed up...While we were wasting our time trying to resurrect "Tomb Raider" and "xXx: State of the Union", and shove them down gamers' throats because we thought they were stupid enough to buy them.
(Compare this with laserdisks, which were 50% music for about their first five years...)

If not for Sony BMG, there's not a chance any of the smaller classical houses would get something out on BD, and more widespread Blu-acceptance is just starting to break the Flop-Action barrier for more diversity in programming.

Don't forget Universal Music with the massive Decca/Philips library Also, as previously pointed out in an earlier thread, Universal Music is NOT the same as the same as the movie company supporting red so expect to see classical (as well as mainstream) concert titles from UMG soon as they're a BDA member

[assur191]

UMG also has the Deutsche Gramaphon library with a bunch of classical titles. Hopefully we can see some of those.

[WilsonBros]

Out of all improbabilities, Opera is out today in Japan. God knows what materials have been used, but it is listed as the 107 minute version. It seems to be the only place in the world to have it on Blu.

Of course, you'll need to take out a second mortgage to spring for it...

[Blu-Velvet]

This thread's just been bumped from several years ago, and there are now quite a few operas on Blu-ray. The vast majority were recorded in HD video with a number of old SD recordings, some of which look reasonably good with the lower compression needed on a Blu-ray.

There are several, however, that were actually shot on film, like Joseph Losey's fine version of DON GIOVANNI, Francesco Rosi's film of CARMEN, and the classic 1939 film of THE MIKADO. Of course, there's also CARMEN JONES. I hope Criterion upgrades their DVD of Ingmar Bergman's excellent film of THE MAGIC FLUTE to Blu-ray and that Zeffirelli's wonderful film of LA TRAVIATA with Teresa Stratas and Placido Domingo comes out on Blu-ray soon. I'd also love for the memorable 1970s Austrian film of DIE FLEDERMAUS to get a good HD scan and Blu-ray release, as well as the very interesting mid-1940s German Agfacolor film of it (shot during the end of WWII).

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by WilsonBros

Out of all improbabilities, Opera is out today in Japan. God knows what materials have been used, but it is listed as the 107 minute version. It seems to be the only place in the world to have it on Blu.

Of course, you'll need to take out a second mortgage to spring for it...

This is a thread for opera on Blu-ray, not Opera on Blu-ray.