Verdi: Alzira Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
No synopsis for Verdi: Alzira.
For more about Verdi: Alzira and the Verdi: Alzira Blu-ray release, see the Verdi: Alzira Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on January 29, 2013 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.0 out of 5.
Many times producers will opt for staged readings to save time and trouble, but in the case of Alzira, a little known
and very infrequently performed opera by the legendary Giuseppe Verdi, one might question the wisdom of that approach.
This is one of Verdi's most exotically set pieces, and seeing it stripped of its original sixteenth century Peruvian locale
means that at least something has been lost in translation here. On the other hand, having very little to look at does at
least offer the "viewer" the chance to listen to some of Verdi's most lustrous music, so there's a definite silver lining to be
found.
Alzira is based on a philosophical play by Voltaire, and its clash of religious and societal ideas did not sit well with
audiences when the opera premiered in 1845. Yet another piece about doomed love, Alzira at least had the
benefit of being set during the demise of the Inca empire, which gave it a certain evocative allure. Verdi doesn't fully
exploit the setting in terms of his musical language, which remains steadfastly sumptuous and even hedonistic at times,
which also unfortunately leads to at least a slight disconnect between the subject and its presentation. Still, Alzira
is among the most infrequently seen operas of Verdi's entire oeuvre, and this staged reading offers some beautiful
singing from the likes of Junko Saito as Alzira, Thomas Gazheli as Gusmano and Francesco Facini as Alvaro. Ardent
Verdiphiles may well want to check this out simply for curiosity's sake if not for any intrinsic worth of the actual piece.
Alzira is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of C Major and Unitel Classica with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1.
This staged reading frankly doesn't give viewers much to feast their eyes on, with only the different colored gowns of the
two principal females offering much of a palette in an otherwise pretty staunchly black and white clad affair. That said, the
high definition presentation is quite sharp and well defined, with only a few very minor combing artifacts showing up when
the camera catches bows in quick movements and the like.
Alzira features both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix as well as an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Perhaps
because the singers and orchestra share the same stage, there is less of a spatial difference between these two tracks
than might otherwise be the case. Both of these tracks offer very good fidelity and overall the balance between the
orchestra and the singers is fine.
Introduction to Alzira (1080i; 10:26). C Major and Unitel Classica have been standardizing most
of their Tutto
Verdi releases with these informative little introductions to the various operas. While this featurette gives the typical
historical background
and synopsis, it would have been interesting to have heard something about the unusual "staged reading" concept this
particular production
employs.
Alzira is frankly a pretty turgid piece of melodrama, an obvious decision by Verdi to try to clothe some heady
philosophical matters in a supposedly exotic locale, though with very little in the way of the music actually suggesting that
locale. But taken on its own merits, there is a lot of really gorgeous music in Alzira, and my hunch is many Verdi fans
will want to see this production simply because it's next to impossible to see Alzira at all.
Verdi: Alzira Blu-ray, News and Updates
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