Rameau: Zoroastre
Label: OPUS ARTE Catalog: OABD7014D Format: Jean Philippe Rameau’s Zoroastre is a piece that I was previously unfamiliar with, but am certainly glad to have seen it on Blu-ray! This is perhaps a gem that hopefully gets some serious attention as it’s a wonderful production that will surprise most, especially the usage here of the 18th Century Drottningholm Theater and it’s mechanics for this production, which certainly adds to the rawness and beauty of this performance. Zoroastre was first performed in the mid-1700’s in Paris with libretto by Louis de Cahusac and is the 4th and final of Rameau’s tragedies. This particular cast includes Anders J. Dahlin, Evgueniy Alexiev, Sine Bundgaard, Anna Maria Panzarella, Lars Arvidson, Markus Schwartz, Gerard Theruel, and Ditte Andersen, with stage directing by Pierre Audi, set and costume by Patrick Kinmonth, choreography by Amir Hosseinpour, and lighting designer Peter Van Praet. The Drottningholm dancers and chorus are featured with musical director Christophe Rousset. The opera is presented in French, but includes English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian subtitles, which is beneficial since this is an all-region Blu-ray disc. Like most of the Opus Arte titles, this one gets premium treatment as well with a 1080i High Definition transfer that delivers a very ‘live’ appearance and runs nearly 4 hours in total, which is why a 50GB disc is offered here. The colors and contrast on this disc are first-rate with natural expression and beautiful detail that really shines through on the Blu-ray disc. This particular production benefits greatly from Blu-rays ability and resolution to fully capture the complete gamut of colors and grayscale to offer a fine presentation. One thing that does standout from this particular release is the usage of Dolby TrueHD rather than PCM like we have seen on other Opus Arte titles. Here we get a Dolby TrueHD 2.0 mix and Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Both are quite good, although I personally am a bigger fan when it comes to musical reproduction with the PCM mixes. The Dolby TrueHD mixes work well here and are far from poor in any respect, but I have discovered that the PCM audio options seem to have more resolution and bring a more balanced audio presentation forward. However, there does seem to be more low-end presence in the Dolby TrueHD mixes that PCM is not nearly as proficient with, so it’s a matter of tradeoff in any case. Fans will greatly appreciate the illustrated synopsis that is included, a wonderful booklet, plus a terrific documentary called Zoroastre: Discovering an opera, which is directed by Olivier Simonnet and is great for people like myself who have never seen this particular opera until now. Factual, yet informative and engaging it’s a terrific addition that will help newbies out! Price: $57.98 |