Monthly Archive: May 2005
Incident at Loch Ness (2005)
Incident at Loch Ness (2005) Werner Herzog and Zak Penn Studio: Fox Video: 1.85:1 widescreen, video & film Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, DD stereo Subtitles: English, Spanish, captioned Extras: Audio commentary by Herzog & Penn, Deleted scenes & outtakes, Featurettes & testimonials, Revealing photos and candid clips, Inside information, Hidden “easter eggs” accessed by finding the fake “Nessie” icon! Length: 94 minutes Rating: ***** Anyone picking up this DVD will immediately figure out that this is not a serious documentary on the Loch Ness Monster. For one thing, there’s the big blurb on the back: “Un-Loch the Secrets of the Film with Shocking Extras!” I will sheepishly admit that although I had some reservations, when I saw the film in the theater I was taken in hook, line and sinker. Werner Herzog has got to be the most highly individual filmmaker on the planet, and when he commits himself to a filmic idea it is never half-baked or laid back. Witness the actual dragging of the giant steamboat over the Andes in Fitzcaraldo to replicate exactly what Fitzcaraldo had done. As successful as that film was, the Les Blank documentary on its amazing struggles and setbacks, Burden of Dreams, proves […]
Hotel Rwanda (2005)
Hotel Rwanda (2005) Starring: Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo Studio: United Artists/Lions Gate Entertainment Video: Widescreen enhanced for 16:9 Audio: DD 5.1, Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish Extras: “A Message for Peace: Making Hotel Rwanda” Documentary; Return to Rwanda documentary; Selected Scenes commentary by Don Cheadle; Audio commentary by Director Terry George and real-life subject of the film, Paul Rusesabagina, with select commentary by musician Wyclef Jean Length: Two hours, two minutes Rating: ***** A dedicated businessman, husband and father to his four children, Rwandan resident Paul Rusesabagina took extraordinary measures to save lives during a horrible period of war and savagery in his home country. During this period of massive genocide just eleven years ago this month, which left hundreds of thousands of Rwandan people dead, Rusesabagina saved both his family and over 1200 refugees from certain death, harboring them in the five star hotel where he worked as an assistant manager. Hotel Rwanda, a disturbing yet poignant film by Terry George, tells his story. In the lead role, character actor Don Cheadle caputures this courageous businessman with the right mixture of poise and humility. Rusesabagina (Cheadle) begins the film happy to appease his upper-class clientele, including […]
Chopin Piano Music (2005)
Chopin Piano Music (2005) Preludes Op. 28 played by Alfredo Perl Etudes Op. 10 & 25 played by Freddy Kempt Sonata In B Flat Minor played by Angela Hewitt Studio: BBC/Opus Arte (distr. by Naxos) Video: 16:9 widescreen, color Audio: DTS 5.0, PCM Stereo (no DD) Length: 138 minute Rating: ***** This has got to be the most successful presentation I have ever witnessed, both visually and sonically, of solo piano music on a music DVD. Hewitt was the only pianist familiar to me but the other two are of equal capability. This is a complete program as one would get on a multi-disc set of Chopin works – all 24 Preludes in succession, all dozen of each opus number of Etudes and the entire B flat minor Sonata. The sound is superb, whether selecting the PCM or the DTS options. Note that there is no Dolby Digital; this is occurring on a number of music videos lately due to the fact that just about as many people have DTS decoding now as have DD decoding. There is not the huge difference in fidelity between the DTS and the PCM stereo as often the case when comparing to DD. And […]
Benno Moiseiwitsch, piano (Beethoven) William Kapell, piano (Brahms) Artur Rubinstein, piano (Franck)
Benno Moiseiwitsch, piano (Beethoven) William Kapell, piano (Brahms) Artur Rubinstein, piano (Franck) Naxos Historical 8.110990 75:47****: Three classic performances brilliantly played by Jascha Heifetz (1900-1987) and stunningly transferred to CD by Mark Obert-Thorn, wherein each of the sonatas pairs Heifetz with an equally outstanding keyboard artist. The earliest of the collaborations is the Franck Sonata from 1937, with Artur Rubinstein (1886-1982) in solid form in this, one of many recordings he and Heiftez made together, although never again as a duo. Although the later Heifetz performance from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion has a bit more nervous energy, this is an exemplary account of the Franck, particularly if one is partial to Heifetz high-wrist bow pressure and occasional, romantic slides. The Recitativo-Fantasia comes off a bit wiry as well as sweet, but for the combination of sheer mechanics and blazing speed, Heifetz has virtually no peer. Rubinstein is in a poetic mood, as he always had a soft spot for Franck (I owned the 78s of his Prelude, Chorle et Fugue). The association with virtuoso William Kapell (1922-1953) might have given us the complete Brahms sonatas, but Kapell had inscribed only the D Minor in November 1950 when he died in […]
Kirsten Flagstad: Great Artists of the Century = WAGNER: Wesendonck Lieder; Tannhauser: Allmacht&Mac226; ge Jungfrau; Siegfried: Ewig war ich; Gotterdammerung: Brunnhilde&Mac226;s Immolation; Tristan und Isolde: Doch nun von Tristan?; Mild und leise
Kirsten Flagstad: Great Artists of the Century = WAGNER: Wesendonck Lieder; Tannhauser: Allmacht&Mac226; ge Jungfrau; Siegfried: Ewig war ich; Gotterdammerung: Brunnhilde&Mac226;s Immolation; Tristan und Isolde: Doch nun von Tristan?; Mild und leise Gerald Moore, piano (Wesendonck) Set Svanholm, tenor (Siegfried); Elisabeth Hoengen, soprano (Isolde&Mac226;s Narrative) Wilhelm Furtwaengler conducts Philharmonia Orchestra (Brunnhilde&Mac226;s Immolation) Issay Dobrowen conducts Philharmonia Orchestra (Tannhuaser, Tristan) George Sebastian conducts Philharmonia Orchestra (Ewig war ich) EMI 7243 5 62957 2 75:04****: With the exception of the Siegfried excerpt (1951), these recordings by the great Wagnerian helden-soprano Kirsten Flagsten (1895-1962) date from 1948, when her voice still had solid intonation and projection, as well as suave flexibility of line. The upper range is a bit tight and strained, but Flagstad’s maturity of characterization compensates for the few vocal liabilities of her late career. The coveted excerpt in this collation will be the oft-recycled Starke Scheite schichtet mir dort from Gotterdammerung, Act III, with the legendary conductor Wilhelm Furtwaengler. The virtually seamless intensities of the scene, in which Brunnhilde directs the building of Siegfried’s funeral pyre, assumes the wearing of the fatal ring, and directs her horse Grane to hurl itself forward, with Brunnhilde mounted, upon the blazing funeral fire, […]
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor (Nowak Ed.); WAGNER: Tannhauser: Overture and Venusberg Music
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor (Nowak Ed.); WAGNER: Tannhauser: Overture and Venusberg Music Sir John Barbirolli conducts Halle Orchestra BBC Legends BBCL 4161-2 78:40 (Distrib. Koch)****: Only in 1951 under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt had the Halle Orchestra performed Bruckner’s Third Symphony–at least since the 1913 Manchester appearance by Hans Richter–so it was with a sense of its time being ripe that Sir John Barbirolli (1899-1970) took up the score in mid-1963 for its presentation at the September 23-24 concerts and the 18 December 1964 recording session at Free Trade Hall. Barbirolli chose the 1877 reduced version of the score, the edition accepted as the least padded (with Wagnerian leitmotifs) and most thematically integrated – although advocates exist for the 1873 original score. While Barbirolli’s repute in Mahler accords him celebrity status, he is less well known as a Bruckner acolyte, despite his having added to the Seventh (from 1939 on) his readings of the Fourth, Eighth and Ninth. Having cleared the audience section of Free Trade Hall for the recording session, engineers had the full acoustic of the venue for the shimmering and exalted sentiments the Halle realizes in this performance. Long, sustained pedal points and clarion horn calls, […]
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 – The Utah Symphony Orchestra/Maurice Abravanel
From the acclaimed Abravanel/Utah Sym. Mahler series, now in 5.1 surround for the first time
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor; Leonore Overture No. 3 in C Major – Philharmonic Promenade Orchestra of London/Sir Adrian Boult – Vanguard/ Silverline Classics DualDisc with DVD-Audio – 284219-2, 45:00: A straightforward interpretation of the Beethoven warhorse, again recorded in four-channel in the early 1970s by Vanguard and here remixed to 5.1 surround on the DVD-A side of the disc. There is also a stereo hi-res mix on this side, along with that “Restoring a Legacy” short video found on all these Silverline Classics DualDiscs and DVD-As. There is a gallery of still photos and memorabilia on Boult and a bio on Beethoven… if you don’t happen to know who he is. Again, don’t expect to see a video of Sir Adrian Boult conducting even a minute of this symphony.
The Middle of the World (O Caminho das Nuvens) Brazil
The Middle of the World (O Caminho das Nuvens) Brazil English Subtitles Starring: Claudia Abreu and Wagner Moura Studio: Film Movement Series Video: Enhanced for Widescreen 16:9 Audio: 5.1 Surround Extras: Biographies of Cast, Short Film: Brin’s Hill, The Ecology of Love Length: 86 minutes Rating: **1/2 In an early scene from “Middle of the World” the first feature film by director Vicente Amorin, a crying infant, alone and temporarily separated from his family, faces a terrifying death as a semi-truck barrels down the road towards him. The youngster survives unharmed–the scene is equally frightening and effective– though his near tragic fate underscores the seemingly impossible journey his family has begun. His father Romao, (Moura) a poor but determined young man has set out to change the grim circumstances for himself and his large family of seven. Romao feels destiny is calling him to Rio De Janeiro, where in his mind, a secure job of 1000 reals ($300.00/month) awaits him. So, he leads the entire lot, including his infant child, on a grueling bicycle trip down the back roads of Brazil, south to Rio. It is exhausting journey and based on a real story. Both Moura and Abrue, playing Rose, […]
Tesla, Standing Room Only
Tesla, Standing Room Only — Silverline Records — 284582-2 — Dual Disc, 1 hour 18 min. DVD Side: Entire album in DVD-A 5.1 surround sound, Liner Notes, Artist Photos and ROM Content **: Another live album from a very popular 80’s hair band has been released by Silverline Records. Standing Room Only, Tesla’s newest attempt to sell some records while they embark on a national tour is a rehashing of 2001’s Replugged Live. The 13 track 2 sided CD& DVD does have excellent live quality sound. All the songs were recorded in 2001. I haven’t heard any of these songs in many years and this was definitely a trip down memory lane. If you haven’t heard Signs lately give this a listen. I do recommend this disc if the price is right. It is very important for me to go back and listen to the bands that were such a big part of my growing up. Standing Room Only is also a great reminder why big hair and loud guitars can still fill the seats at stadiums, and leave your ears ringing for days. Standing Room Only is another good reason to grow your hair out and get your air […]
Is It Rolling Bob? A Reggae Tribute To Bob Dylan, Vol. 1
Is It Rolling Bob? A Reggae Tribute To Bob Dylan, Vol. 1 — Silverline Records — 284603-2 — Dual Disc, 58:00 DVD Side: Entire album in DVD-A 5.1 surround sound and stereo, Videos, Bonus Dub Remixes, Photos, Liner and Track Notes.****: Singer, songwriter, author, freedom activist, poet, actor, music God, are all terms used to describe Bob Dylan. The 13 track release by Silverline Records, Is It Rolling Bob? A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan, Vol. 1; puts another exclamation point on his brilliant career. Produced by Dr. Dread, Is it Rolling Bob rolls folk/rock and reggae into the biggest joint of the year. One of my absolute favorite songs Lay Lady Lay, performed by the classic group The Mighty Diamonds, captures the pure essence of the song, like it was written for them. We know the history behind Reggae music and its musicians. Listening to this CD really captures the folk spread that Dylan put out there. There is also an amazing rendition of Maggie’s Farm by Toots Hibbert, one listen and you will be sold too. These are Dylan’s everyday man and woman songs, the feelings of emotions put out there, spreading the gospel with music. This is […]
Gene Simmons – ***Hole — Simmons Records Ltd.
Gene Simmons – ***Hole — Simmons Records Ltd., Sublicensed to Sanctuary Records Group/Silverline Records. — 284601-2 — Dual Disc, 45 minutes DVD Side: Entire album in DVD-A 5.1 surround sound and stereo, Firestarter Music Video, Photos, Lyrics and ROM Content ***: [Parental Advisory Explicit Content] I am not a member of the Kiss Army, but sign me up now! Simmons Records Ltd. has released ***Hole, by Gene Simmons. Another Dual Disc that fails to disappoint. The 13 track album is Gene’s latest pacifier for any Kiss fan, and his first solo effort since 1978. With his cover version of Prodigy’s Firestarter, Gene liberates his pop/rave ego that he has been so eager to let out of the cage. The mass of soldiers used to put this album together spans many genres and decades of music. Bob Dylan helped out with the writing on the surprise hit, Waiting For The Morning Light. The Zappa family; Dweezl, Gayle, Moon, and Ahmet all join in as there is also a spoken word and guitar selection from the archives of Frank Zappa on the song Black Tongue. Dave Navarro helped out with guitar on Firestarter. As well as the Tweed/Simmons families singing background […]
Weekly Audio News for May 11, 2005
Philadelphia Orchestra Records Again – After nearly a decade without new CD releases – since Sony Classical dropped them – the Philadelphia Orchestra has announced signing a three-year recording partnership with the Finnish classical label Ondine Records. A new recording contract was one of the goals of Christopher Eschenbach when he took over as Music Director of the Orchestra. The first disc will be released this fall, and the entire series will be recording in multichannel during live concerts and issued on hybrid SACDs. The project has similarities to the self-labels launched by the San Francisco and the London Symphony Orchestras, although it with an already-existing label. The high rates required by the American Federation of Musicians for U.S.-based labels to record American orchestras has prevented many of the leading orchestras from recording. The AF of M is currently reconsidering their rates to encourage more recording activity by U.S. orchestras. CEA/FCC News – The Consumer Electronics Association has asked the FCC to not allow the 50% DTV tuner mandate timetable desired by TV manufacturers. It calls for 50% of new analog (NTSC) TV sets to incorporate a digital tuner to receive DTV signals by July 1 of this year. The […]
BACH: Six Brandenburg Concertos – Tacet
BACH: Six Brandenburg Concertos BWV 1046-1051 – Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra – 2 Multichannel (4.0) SACD CDs Tacet S101 ****: I have been a Brandenburg junkie for ~50years . From my first Westminster LP set with Karl Haas conducting The London Baroque Ensemble, to my favorite Decca recording with the English Chamber Orchestra led by Benjamin Britten, my Brandeburg recordings have been played en chambre, al fresco, and en passant, in auto or on foot. They are an integral part of my essential whistling repetoire- as in the third concerto where I dare to go where no whistler ought – with that trumpet solo.This Tacet set achieves yet another level of excellence! Utilizing SACD five channel technology, the listener is presented differing instrumental placements for the various concertos. The first Brandenburg with horns, winds, abd strings finds the orchestra in “standard” position with the rear channels adding ambiance. The second concerto places the listener inside the orchestra. The trumpet is R. rear, the oboe L. rear, the flute R. front, the violin L. front, while the remaining orchestra is arrayed around the listener. The effect is quite thrilling. The voices and counterpoint are so clear. It is as if you are inside of […]
MOZART: Flute Concerto No. 2 in D Major; Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra K299; Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major
MOZART: Flute Concerto No. 2 in D Major; Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra K299; Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major – Patrick Gallois, flute; Fabrice Pierre, harp; Roderick Shaw, harpsichord/Swedish Chamber Orch./Patrick Gallois – Naxos multichannel SACD 6.110055, 70:15 ****: These three fairly familiar Mozart works were written for amateur performers but are nevertheless full of typically wonderful Mozartian melodies and harmonies. They have been recorded many times before but this disc brings all three together in superb interpretations and in excellent 5-channel sound, recorded in a concert hall in Sweden. Flutist Gallois has received raves for previous recordings, and brings his players together here for a thoroughly satisfying Mozartian chamber concert.
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN = “Telemann in Minor”
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN = “Telemann in Minor” – Orchestral Suite in A Minor for 2 oboes, bassoon, strings and basso continuo (world premiere); Sonata in F Minor for 2 violins, 2 violas, cello and basso continuo; Concerto in E Minor for flute, violin, strings and basso continuo; Sonata in B-flat Major for 2 violins, 2 violas, cello and basso continuou; Concerto in E Minor for 2 flutes, violin, strings and basso continuo – Pratum Integrum Orchestra (historical instruments); Pavel Serbin, artistic director – Caro Mitis multichannel SACD CM 0042004, 57:20 ****: Pratum Integrum is the only original-instrument orchestra in Russia and one of the few ensembles specializing in early music. The members are nearly all very young but also very skilled. The entire package is beautifully designed and carried out, with an informative note booklet decorated with lovely medieval-looking artwork along the sides. The actual disc is imprinted with what looks like a Classical period dish design – one of the most striking optical disc printing jobs I have seen. The 5-channel recordings for this Russian label are made by Netherlands-based Polyhymnia International and are of great clarity and focus, with the surrounds giving a fine impression of the concert […]
HOMAGE TO KREISLER: Works by Fritz Kreisler
HOMAGE TO KREISLER: Works by Fritz Kreisler – Daniel Gaede, violin, with Phillip, piano – Tacet S 52 – Multichannel Hybrid SACD, 64 min. ***: Of the three Tacet discs I had the pleasure to evaluate this month, this collection of works by Fritz Kreisler is, unfortunately, the most mixed bag of the three. Not that the performances aren’t all superb – they are, and Daniel Gaede, who is the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic, plays these pieces with finesse and gusto. Tacet doesn’t provide an excess of information on the recordings, either in the supplied booklet or via the web, so one can only make certain suppositions with regard to why some of the recordings here sound so much better than others. This disc is the only one of the three that doesn’t utilize an all-tube microphone complement in the recordings, and it’s my guess that the tracks that didn’t exactly blow me away were the ones recorded with the Neumann KM140’s. Excellent microphones, no doubt, but just not in the same class as Neumann’s tube offerings. This disc also employs the most distant recorded perspective of the three – which might also have colored my perception of the […]
KREISLER: Praeludium and Allegro; Menuett; Tambourin; Rondino; Melodie after Gluck; Allegreto; Hindu-Lied; Mazurka from Chopin’s Op. 67, No. 4; La Gitana; Impromptu after Schubert; Liebesfreud; Liebeslied; Tambourin Chinois, Op. 3; Cavatina
KREISLER: Praeludium and Allegro; Menuett; Tambourin; Rondino; Melodie after Gluck; Allegreto; Hindu-Lied; Mazurka from Chopin&Mac226;s Op. 67, No. 4; La Gitana; Impromptu after Schubert; Liebesfreud; Liebeslied; Tambourin Chinois, Op. 3; Cavatina; Schoen Rosmarin; Songs My Mother Taught Me; Hungarian Dance from Brahms; Hymn to the Sun; Malaguena from Albeniz, Op. 165, No. 3 – Salvatore Accardo, violins Laura Manzini, piano – Foné Stereo-only SACD 003 69:17 ****: Subtitled The Violins of Cremona, this 1993 extended tribute to the art of Fritz Kreisler has virtuoso Salvatore Accardo in the Cremona Town Hall Violin Room, plying his craft on five classic instruments, the Charles IX Amati; the Hammerle Amati; the Quarestani by Guarneri; the Cremonese of Stradivari; and the Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu. Each violin comes complete with details of its provenance in the liner notes, so I felt like I was listening to a scene from the movie The Deep, except with Viennese music. For my money, the Charles IX and the Guarenri del Gesu steal the show with their rich tone and luster, which Accardo communicates with aplomb. The selections themselves need little by way of restatement: most are stylistic reconstructions by Kreisler of ersatz composers whose contributions are more […]
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4 in F Minor
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4 in F Minor – Vienna Philharmonic/Valery Gergiev (live recording) Philips multichannel SACD 475 6196, 40:31 ****: Stubble-faced Gergiev continues his series of gutsy standard-fare recordings with the Vienna orchestra, featuring his in-your-face face on the cover photo.It’s not difficult to pull out all the stops on this extroverted Tchaikovsky symphony. Gergiev does, and Philips’ engineer capture it well, with it seems more natural hall information on the surrounds than previously – perhaps due to the live recording situation? Gutsy bass drum whacks on this one too – emulating Telarc’s approach perhaps? A Tchaikovsky filler would have been nice to expand on this short 40-minute program. Having done the SF SymphonyTilson Thomas Tchaikovsky Fourth DVD last issue, I’m Fourthed out at the moment. [and see the competing SACD just above]
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36; Romeo and Juliet
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36; Romeo and Juliet–Overture Fantasy in B Minor – Ivan Fischer conducts Budapest Festival Orchestra – Channel Classics multichannel SACD CCS SA 21704 61:13*****: I have awarded this fine disc five stars because it is simply an exemplary SACD offering, delighting in the music it contains and consistently gratifying in its splendid sonics. Ivan Fischer (b. 1951) and his Budapest Festival Orchestra have collaborated in some magnificent Tchaikovsky, played for all its virtues and defects, with real passion. The Fourth Symphony, with its fate motifs, coems across stylistically somewhere between the emotional and virtuosic outpourings of Koussievitzky and the leaner approach of say, Cantelli. The surround-sound audiohpile component allows the Tchaikovsky-ite to relish the horn calls, the tympani and cymbal outbursts, and the oboe solo from different points of entry into his listening space. In the Romeo and Juliet, which is executed with every kind of sensitivity to balance and spaciousness (without inflating to Celibidache’s overwrought proportions), the harp and muted tympani effects combine with smoothly evocative transports of the melodic line to achieve a monumental luster. This is the kind of CD that invites one to listen with score in hand, […]
What about this, Mr. Paganini?
What about this, Mr. Paganini? – Saschko Gawriloff, violin, with Kira Ratner, piano – Tacet S 36 – Multichannel Hybrid SACD, 53 min. ****: This recording is another one of those “gimmick” discs that Tacet is constantly throwing our way, with the end result being some seriously good listening for everyone. The concept here has the violinist, Saschko Gawriloff, playing seven different violins, of different vintages, in a kind of “show-down.” All seven violins are used to play the Sarabande movement from Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D, and then several of the individual violins are used for a variety of pieces including works from Veracini, Kreisler, Dvorak, Paganini and Webern. It’s much more than just an exercise, hearing the seven instruments back-to-back playing Bach, and really interesting how very different they all do sound, indeed! The remaining tracks are all accompanied by Kira Ratner on piano, and all tracks are recorded using vintage tube microphones. The sound quality is uniformly superb, regardless of which layer you choose to listen to, though the SACD tracks get my nod for best overall sound. As with the Bach disc above, the multichannel layer uses the surround channels for additional ambience, which does […]
Slaughter, Then and Now
Slaughter, Then and Now — Silverline Records — 284501-2 — Dual Disc, 58 minutes DVD Side: Entire album in DVD-A 5.1 surround sound, Band Bio, Artist Photos and ROM Content **: Then and Now, Silverline Records release of Slaughter’s greatest hits on Dual Disc format has one thing going for it, the sound quality is superb. Slaughter’s two MTV and radio hits Fly to the Angles, and Up all Night are included with live versions of them both. As well as other favorites from the band that rocked their socks off for over a decade. There are artist photos, band bio, and ROM content on the DVD side, as well as the whole thing in 5.1 Stereo Surround Sound. I don’t see this being the catalyst for Slaughter’s comeback, but for any fan a must have if they want the 5.1 Surround Sound quality that does not disappoint. Other songs included are: Get Used To It, Tongue and Groove, Searchin’, Heaven it Cries, It’ll be all Right, Breakdown N’ Cry, Can We Find a Way, American Pie, Let the Good Times Roll, and Unknown Destination. I like this format of CD/DVD Dual Disc. There is a band bio, artist photos […]



