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RAMEAU: Dardanus (complete opera), Blu-ray (2016)

by Audiophile Audition | Oct 9, 2016 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

Rameau is always worth seeing as well as hearing, even in a piece as whacky as this. [This is our free drawing for October!] RAMEAU: Dardanus (complete opera), Blu-ray (2016) Performers: Reinoud Van Mechelen (Dardanus)/ Gaëlle Arquez (Iphise)/ Karina Gauvin (Venus)/ Florian Sempey (Anténor)/ Nahuel Di Pierro (Teucer, Isménor)/ Katherine Watson (Un Songe/ Amour)/ Etienne Bazola (Berger)/ Virgile Ancely (Un Songe)/ Guillaume Gutiérrez (Un Songe)/ Ensemble Pygmalion/ Raphaël Pichon Producer: Michel Fau Studio: Harmonia mundi/PIAS 9859051.52 2015 Video: 16:9 HD 1080i fir 16:9 Audio: PCM stereo 2.0, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Subtitles: German, English, French No region code Length: 3 hr. 12 min. 24 sec. Bonus: Dardanus: Behind the Scene (Blu-ray only), 20 min. Rating: **** Dardanus is opera number six out of the composer’s 30-odd creations in the genre. The court of Louis XV was a gaudy, irascible time for spectacular productions—the kitsch present in this age is something that many directors have attempted to avoid or at least soften. Not here. This production embraces it as a legitimate and even beautiful expression of style that so marked the transitional time between Rameau and Lully, rivals at the time, but more exacerbated by their followers. In fact, after the 1739 […]