Customer Reviews

Strauss: Die Fledermaus [Blu-ray]

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

 

 

Although I prefer the Kleiber version (with Pamela Coburn), and the version conducted by Domingo with te Kanawa, this Blu-ray version of Die Fledermaus is quite the spectacle [widescreen, excellent picture and sound, colorful costumes, creative set(s), wonderful cinematography, and fine singing]. The last act (at the jail) is also probably better in this version than the other two. In the first act, and the most important second act, however, the Kleiber and Domingo version(s) seem to get much closer to the operetta's spirit, frivolity, and joie de vivre; it's too bad that those gems will forever remain trapped in their pre-Blu-ray, full screen, medium. But for those of you with widescreen HDTVs, who have grown tired of the fullscreen (1.33:1) black (or worse, grey) sidebars, this Bluray Fledermaus takes full advantage of your HDTV's entire widescreen aspect, and it's not likely that you will be disappointed with it.

This production is hands-down the best I have seen. All of the principal performers were truly excellent. The sound, lighting and sets were fabulous on the blue-ray disk. Thomas Allen and Pamela Armstrong were hilarious throughout. The role of Prince Orlofsky was performed with absolutely amazing virtuosity by Malena Ernman, while Lyubov Petrova was bubbly as the maid. The nuanced gestures and glances of all the characters were a joy to see on the screen--many times in a theater, the audience misses out on the true subtlety and strength of the acting. Here each twitch and bat of the eyelash were captured perfectly. I applaud the result of rewriting some of the text of this opera-it added a freshness and relevance to today's audiences that was superb. Other productions may have some bigger names, but this production is uniformly outstanding in its entirety. Bravo!

Many reviewers before me have gone gaga over the technical excellence of this blu ray disc. Actually the casting and singing and the orchestra is of very good standard, and I have NO complaints about the singing or the acting or the performance/conducting... per se. It is shot very well and sounds great too. One may read what the other reviewers have had to say about the performance insofar as singing is concerned. I agree, I will not repeat those points...

HOWEVER, The producers have gone a little overboard with the conversation part. They tried to make it into a very lengthy evening of play and singing which is of course, what an operetta is all about... but crossed the limits insofar as the un-sung portions are concerned. It makes you wait quite a while between the parts that are sung and makes it into more like a lengthy musical rather than the one notch higher qualities that an operetta is supposed to have. I did not buy this to watch a play... It is the singing that I was more interested in.

If one were to compare this production with say, Kiri te Kanawa/Hermann Prey production, this sounds like Largo compared to the Allegro vivace tempo of that one. With just adequate amount of conversations, that production just kept one enthralled from the beginning to the end.

In this one, after the first time one watches it, I am sure that one would be tempted to press the 'next chapter' button on the remote. Repeatedly watching this one in its entirety would be in the realm of masochists.
I would recommend this blu ray for precisely the same reasons that my fellow reviewers who wrote earlier than me gave it four and five stars,... provided those qualities are the only things you are looking for.... a very fine blu ray disc well shot..
I dont regret buying it, but.......

This is the first blue-ray version of an operetta that lends itself to detailed stagecraft. It doesn't disappoint on that score. All of the performances are first rate, notably those of Adele and the Prince. Set decoration uses bright flashes of costume colour against a muted background suggestive of Vienna between the Wars. The second act lacks the sparkle we often expect at a live performance, with none of the 'guest appearances' that we often expect, and none of the ensemble dance numbers. The dialogue has been modernized in a way I found appealing [contrary to another review], a long-standing tradition and not at all inappropriate for an audience that (let's face it) that's out late at night on New Year's Eve and likely drinking during the interval. Frosch unfortunately doesn't get to make a topical standup routine.

I can confirm this plays majestically through the xbox 360 add on drive, no errors and no letterboxing, pillarboxing, and/or windowboxing. The source on the case is listed at 1080p, although I cannot confirm as my tv only does 1080i. The movie includes a wonderful 30 page booklet on the inside of the case filled with text and information about the famed "comic operetta" as well as a number of pictures from the event.

Anyone with HD capability who ever finds themself at the very least enjoying classical music on NPR or Sirius channel 85 (MetOpera Radio) should definately consider making this purchase. Die Fledermaus is a wonderful treasure from a series by Optus Arte of opera titles done in conjunction with the BBC. This particular performance was from a recent festival (since 2k) at the newly rebuilt Glyndebourne opera house. There is only about five minutes of footage of the cast rehearsing at the beginning sequence and unfortunately no HD footage of the actual opera house only the occasional glimpse to the conductor and a few instruments during the introduction to each of the three acts. There are two movies showing just images of the cast and costumes, two documentaries("The Genesis of Waltz" and "The Architect Returns" and then six short interviews with members of the cast. All of the bonus videos are in what looks to be 720p presented in Stretchovision :(

The actual opera is first class. It's funny and definately worth seeing because it is such a well known piece of art. I even thought it could be considered a little risque by todays standards and especially when it premiered in 1874. There are two audio tracks both with the Dolby TrueHD branding, a two channel stereo mix and a 5.0 one.

The opera is performed in German but they have included English and French subtitles for the main feature. And, additional German, Spanish, and Dutch for the extras. IMHO this is why HD was made, to archive special events like this.

Would purchase it:
This Blu Ray is state of the art video and sound,in my estimation very important components in the enjoyment of any audio-visual presentation; after all, our two most important and sense organs are our eyes and ears. The cinematography is excellent, the right framing throughout (unlike many other productions).
The principals are competent and enjoyable: especially Mr & Mrs, the maid Adele, and Count Orlofsky.
The set is wonderful; but alas only one -the same- set is used throughout the performance for all three acts and scenes.
The costuming and lighting are excellent.
The orchestra and conductor are excellent.
The reservations:
Sadly, Orlofsky's party scene is much fore-shortened.
Frosch's part is almost non-existent, a hoot in many other productions
The speaking portions, though often and long, I believe are an addition rather than a detraction. Likewise the time-shifting (30 or so years)from the late 1870's to the early 1900's is handled well.
As previously mentioned, the one-dimensional set though wonderful gets quite repetitive.
Will see several other versions before definitively deciding on a purchase. The three stars reflect this decision.

The video and audio quality of this Blu-ray DVD is outstanding. While there are other recorded performances with "bigger name" artists, none of the singers in this DVD need apologize. It is a fine production, musically. However, in an attempt to emphasize the sarcasm, portions of the libretto were re-written with very obvious sexual innuendos. This simply was not necessary. Strauss wrote a masterpiece and Die Fledermaus doesn't need any help.

I have been looking forward to this HD DVD for months. I have seen numerous stage productions of "Die Fledermaus" and a few on TV as well, and I love this opera. Unfortunately, I have had the same experience with this as "deepdiver" posted earlier. I have an A3 with up-to-date firmware. It wouldn't play. I then took it to a dealer, and we tried to play it on their A3, A30, and A35 (all with up-to-date firmware). We consistently got the error message which declared the disc unreadable: 408bc00d. Regretfully, I must return it to Amazon. I hope they straighten this problem out for those of us without an XBox 360 with add-on HD DVD player. I REALLY want to see this! I wish I didn't have to give it one star to alert buyers. One reviewer was able to watch it and loved it. I hope to have that experience one day.

I really wanted to see this one on high definition(yes, it is shown as widescreen on the back cover) but it looks that the disk manufacturer was not been ready for this release.
I am sending the second disk back to Amazon for the same reason: error 408bc00d. I have a Toshiba D3 and an A35 both upgraded to the latest firmaware revisions and both showing the same error on two disks now. All the other hd-dvd I have are working fine so I decided to return the disk for full refund.
Amazon service was very good, the cast may be very good also, the lonely star goes to the disk manufacturer