Don A. Mele

Another Arthaus Musik Technical Disaster, 21 April 2011

This is a magnificent work that is marred unfortunately by Arthaus Musik's inability to produce Blu-Ray discs without debilitating technical defects. In this case, I was fortunate. Most of the unplayable sections were not in the ballet itself but in the curtain calls and extras. Most, but not all. In other Arthaus Musik Blu-Rays, I was not so fortunate. I had to return two different Arthaus Musik's Blu-Rays of Braunfels's Die Vögel before Amazon and I gave up trying to get a playable copy. By now, I have become expert on trying to remedy these defects with the help of Amazon's technicians. Alas, when the defect is in the manufacture, nothing can be done. I have contacted Arthaus Musik… Read more

Poor Arthaus Musik Quality, 27 Feb 2011

Be careful. I've tried two of these discs and they both were flawed in the same way. My first order appeared pristine with no smudges or scratches. It proved unplayable. It had whole areas blacked out with no sound or picture, only static. The disc skipped in the other areas. I returned it to Amazon, which replaced it immediately with no charge. The same thing happened with the replacement. I tried everything: cleaned the discs, checked their region, checked the player's firmware, played other Blu-Rays and DVDs to test my equipment. I worked directly with Amazon's on-line chat and did everything Amazon's technicians suggested. Nothing helped. Both of these Blu-Rays continued to have the… Read more

Exquisite Opera -- Techncial Disaster, 22 Feb 2011

What a disappointment, and a hugely expensive one to purchase at that. This is a Nikolaus Lehnoff production, and as such is absolutely stunning it its presentation. Unfortunately, they must have used a high school student as a sound engineer and you can hardly hear the singers. Lehnoff had the same problem with his Tannhäuser, but solved it admirably with his Lohengrin and Parsifal. I recommend the last two highly, but not this Tristan. Don't get me wrong. The sound of the orchestra here is sublime, but the singing is drowned out and indistinct despite the noblest efforts of the cast. Singers at the back of the stage are virtually mute. It looks as if they are miming in a silent film… Read more