Customer Reviews

Experimental Projet [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You'll hear a robust horn section in the in both the Tannhäuser and Flying Dutchman Overtures, and far superior trombone playing --a fine cutting tone that never turns coarse. The strings in the Lohengrin Prelude to Act 1 phrase in rapt arches, abetted by a comparatively swift tempo that makes the opening sound like a series of musical phrases rather than a collection of detached violin harmonics. Listen to the tangy timbre of the trumpets at the opening of the Meistersinger Prelude, and to the lusciously fruity tone of the woodwind section coloring the brass in the processional theme.Overall, Robert Schumann Philharmonie plays with luster and rhythmic thrust and DTS-HD Master Audio captures the full dynamic range of the aorchestra with impressive clarity and realism. This is a stunning program, sure to delight and tease Wagnerians.

I bought this and another Acoustic Reality Experience disc, both supposedly Bluray, at the same time. I had bought one other previously -- the Grieg Piano Concerto (along with other Grieg works); it was a great disc, and included visuals along with the music.

I was surprised, puzzled and disappointed when I finally got these in the mail and discovered a sticker on the Wagner disc which said, "This is not bluray; this is a DVD-R and will not play in bluray players, only in regular DVD players." WTF?!? I called customer support and they didn't even understand the issue (I called both customer support of Amazon and of the third party who actually sold the disc, which by the way was used and they had not specified that in the listing)

Anyway, they said I should try the disc to see if it worked and assured me I could return it if unhappy even though I had opened it, so I did. The Wagner worked fine (no nice visuals this time); the Rachmaninoff disc, also a DVD-R, but without that same warning sticker on the outer wrapper, was badly marred on the playing side and neither of my two Bluray players even recognized it as a disc, so I am returning it.

I was unaware that it was possible to encode DTS HD Master Audio on to a DVD rather than a Bluray, but I guess it is, since the Wagner worked. My issue with this is threefold: 1. Bluray discs are allegedly more impervious to damage and we're missing out on that feature. 2. I paid a good price for what was advertised as Bluray, so this is false advertising, and I feel ripped off. 3. Putting this on DVD-R seems to mean there isn't enough memory on the disc to handle the nice pictures which came with the one I bought which was actually Bluray.

I love the sound (when the disc works), but you buy these forewarned. I'm a fan of this format, and unlike DVD-audio and SACD, hope the industry gets behind these and makes them successful, but doing cheap and dishonest things like substituting cheap DVD-R's for actual Bluray discs could end up hurting the industry. BTW, I have turned this issue over to the Federal Trade Commission, as I feel this is blatantly false advertising.

Regarding the music I heard on the Wagner disc; it was quite good, although the Tannhauser Overture was wayyyy too slow. If you can find it, a good altnernative to this is a DVD Audio of Herbert von Karajan doing mostly the same works.

I've enjoyed the music of Wagner for many years and looked forward to hearing this recording. Sonically I was favorably impressed but have some questions with the musical interpretations. My impression of Caetani's interpretations of Wagner is one of caution and reserve instead of passion; a tentativeness instead of a joyous confidence in the music's progression. I had not heard of Oleg Caetani before buying this disc and certainly wish him well. He does not, in my opinion, do Wagner full justice.

Caetani seems to have had his problems as the following reveals: Melbourne Symphony Dumps Chief Conductor
The orchestra has terminated maestro Oleg Caetani's five-year contract one year early - and just 3 weeks after releasing a 2010 season brochure with Caetani's name on it. His relations with management "are reported to have soured. ... Audiences had tired of Caetani's championing of the 20th-century Russian conductor [sic] Dmitri Shostakovich."

The City of Chemnitz, Germany seems to be quite proud of its Robert Schuman Philharmonic Orchestra and its opera house: "Chemnitz offers a varied range of cultural activities. The city theatre is nationally and internationally prized with the Opera house, one of the most modern stages in Europe, and the theatre with spectacular performances and exceptional productions with the prestigious Robert-Schumann Philharmonic orchestra, the ballet and the puppet theatre."

The audio is the DTS-HD Master Audio and as I mentioned earlier sounds very good.

Would I buy this disc again, probably not.

I bought this disc to see how classical music would sound on my 7.1 system. Turns out it doesn't really sound any better than a good 5.1 recording.

WAGNER: The Best of Overtures & Preludes - Acoustic Reality Experience [7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Disc] [Blu-ray] I bought three of these discs (Wagner, Vivaldi, Mozart). They sound like they were recorded at half speed. A 74 minute disc runs over two and a half hours.
Music is so drawn out it is unrecognizable. The first discs I received,the labels flaked off in my player.(Amazon exchsnge was excellent,could not be better). New discs are no better.
I would tag these as garbage. Caveat emptor!