Product Details

• Actors: Waltraud Meier, Camilla Nylund, Tom Fox, Stephen Milling, Robert Gambill
• Format: Classical, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: German (DTS-HD 7.1), German (PCM Stereo)
• Subtitles: French, English, Italian, Spanish, German
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Arthaus Musik
• DVD Release Date: October 27, 2009
• Run Time: 205 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002N5KDWK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,502 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok, but..., October 2, 2010

By 

A. Lupu "A. Lupu" (Rochester, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tannhauser [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

It is an OK production. The set is supposed to be simple. But it really distracts from the real issue, Tannhauser internal contradictions and striving for meaning in his life. His search takes him to three different places that have very specific meaning, hell, earth and paradise, but you can't get that from the staging. Interestingly, the premier of this opera was not well received. The sets had not arrived yet. For the second and third night the sets were completed, and it was much better received and applauded. It says something about the importance of an appropriate production. The futuristic, kind of star war costumes, don't mean anything, at least to me. It seems that the producer wanted to show that Tannhauser's conflict is not only for the 13th century, as Wagner libretto is written for, but it is the same conflict now and in the future. The production does not succeed in conveying that message. The Blu-ray disc has a 7.1 Audio channel. That is great, but there are so many times when the voice is lost, in particular when singers move to the back of the stage, that it becomes annoying. In addition, the noise created by actors stepping into the stage (on wood) is disturbing. I would expect better sound engineering when HD Audio 7.1 is used.
The singers and orchestra do a very good job so, if you know this opera from before, you will enjoy it. If this is your first encounter with Tannhauser, start somewhere else, another DVD or CD or lecture.

8 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars DISSAPOINTENT - Not that good a production/ not good singing, November 18, 2009

By 

Judy Spotheim "SpJ Judy" (Belgium, Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tannhauser [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

There are three major faults with this production: The Robotic ballet, the Elisabeth part sung by Nylund, and the synthetic sound quality.

We agree that the set, staging, costumes, the lighting, the staircase that dominates the set, all are quite interesting and pleasing to the eye.
But this alone does not make an opera 'stand'.
We take issue with the notion that some viewers (on the UK site) expressed the opinion that singing throughout is excellent, in particularly I take the notion expressed there that Camilla Nylund is a well sung Elisabeth.
No, she is NOT.
Camilla Nylund is grossly misplaced here.
Although a young looking face, the singer's voice sounds 'old', wasted, faded, and `bleached-off' - it lacks youth-tone and sparkle the way the roll of Elisabeth asks for.
Nylund voice in this setting is terrible wobbly and the top notes are white flat...Moreover:
most of her registers are wobbly; her technique is to take the notes FROM UNDER THE PITCH (something the Russian old school of singing teaches); This sort of vocal behavior does not add to a Wagnerian voice's being 'voluminous' at all...! One has to listen to other signers that capture this roll to understand how Nylund's obsolete technique hinders her from getting it right. Especially painful is her opening aria "Dich, teure Halle". Listening to it one admits that a great singer this Nylund is not.
This mediocre singing is very disturbing through all of the recording.
As for the rest of the singers they earned here top notch, especially Venus as portrayal by Waltraud Meier; now this is a voice to recon with...A rare breed of a voice it is, one that easily crosses over between the Mezzo-soprano range and the soprano range (one should hear - and see her - on the Metropolitan Levine 25 anniversary DVD where she singes the most difficult part of the Isolde narration, to appreciate what this singer's voice is all about (or more precisely what it used to be).
We are, however, aware now that she is nearing the end of her singing career, as very occasionally that voice too begins to show singes of bleach-ness at the middle register and the highest notes are a bit truncated. Still - this is a minor observation (her acting is great, though...
And mind you: we are a group of five persons that spent years as singer's trainers, singers, musician and a previous prima-ballerina...This brings us to the first act, what was supposed to be a ballet:
No one here could understand the logic or the artistic drive behind the choreography of the robot-cocoon-like figures. The ballet was quite boring and it serves no purpose, so why?
The interview with the choreographer does very little to broaden our understanding - it just might well be a case of his self-trip semi-consciousness, some idea he had, and idea that was not fully thought out but which that amounts to nothing with that `ballet' choreography.
Also: The interviews with the other participants of this production (the bonus part on the DVD) does not add to the understanding of the efforts they put into it. By telling us what their perspective is, they add nothing to the `story'.
Well cleverly was the reaction of Waltraud Meier: She simply ignored the crew - went her way and just commented: I have been singing this roll some twenty years ago. (Compliments Mrs. Meier - when the questions are stupid, do not respond).

The cinematography is good and the stairs decor and costumes are stupendous.
If it was not for Nylund (Elisabet's roll), the cocoon ballet, and for the overall synthetic sound - the voting points given would have been quite higher.
As it is, someday, another Blu-ray production with a higher standard of singing, better sound recording and a more traditional-logically ballet choreography will come along.
As things are right now - this Blu-ray deserves only two points.