OK, folks, some of you said you miss voting for stuff now that we've reached the end of our Most Recommended Opera DVDs-Blu Rays project (I mean, almost the end, revision of the votes is taking place right now but will be over shortly).
For your delight and peace of mind, I must say that I have a couple of big projects in planning stages.
But until we get to the big ones, here is a small one to get you guys entertained in-between the big projects.
Let's vote for the top 10 Opera DVDs or Blu-rays with the best MUSICAL aspects, *completely disregarding* staging, acting, costumes, props, camera direction, etc.
We all know that when we privilege visual media we have a lot to gain in terms of the whole art form that opera represents with its theatrical aspects, but we also have a lot to lose since most of the great recordings with the best singers and conductors and orchestras are on audio media and not on visual media (not to mention those stagings that are actually detrimental to the enjoyment of the work).
However there are a few exceptions - those DVDs and blu-rays that one would be able to enjoy with the TV monitor turned off, because they have as good musical performances as the best vinyl or CD recordings of the same opera.
I believe the very top ones are few and in-between... thus my intention of just getting to top 10.
So please nominate your first 3 choices - the order matters. Tell us what DVDs-BluRays you intensely praise for the singing/conducting/orchestral playing - your number 1 choice, then your number 2 and your number 3. We may change the method as we go if this method doesn't generate enough overlapping votes to allow us to easily rank them 1 through 10 by simple attribution of points to the three categories of votes (1st, 2nd, 3rd), but let's start by doing this and we'll see how it goes.
I encourage you to only nominate DVDs-BluRays that excel in ALL 3 musical aspects - and particularly, those that have a cast of singers that is good across the board.
Please don't merely nominate a DVD that features a favorite singer of yours who does a wonderful job but is not helped by a weak supporting cast with many weak links, or by a pallid orchestra with the wrong tempi. If we vote for only the top 10, we gotta keep the bar very high and only nominate the very best. Sometimes ONE weak link singer can ruin a performance. Let's think of products that have practically no weak links, or at least, few weak links that are in minor roles and don't ruin the performance.
So, I repeat, I'm interested in those recordings that wouldn't be ashamed if compared to the best audio recordings of the same opera, given that all or most singers perform at a high level, helped by an excellent conductor and orchestra. Please when nominating *don't consider the visual aspects* at all - regardless of how helpful or how detrimental they are (I know it can be hard to avoid being influenced by the visuals, but please do your best to abstract from them). If you are profoundly disgusted by the staging but the singing/playing is exquisite, it's a valid nomination because the spirit of this exercise is one of finding the products that you'd love to listen to with the TV monitor off.
I have no time now to give my choices enough consideration and I'll be providing my 3 nominations later (I do have a few in mind) but I thought I should go ahead and open the project.
Thanks in advance for your participation.
For your delight and peace of mind, I must say that I have a couple of big projects in planning stages.
But until we get to the big ones, here is a small one to get you guys entertained in-between the big projects.
Let's vote for the top 10 Opera DVDs or Blu-rays with the best MUSICAL aspects, *completely disregarding* staging, acting, costumes, props, camera direction, etc.
We all know that when we privilege visual media we have a lot to gain in terms of the whole art form that opera represents with its theatrical aspects, but we also have a lot to lose since most of the great recordings with the best singers and conductors and orchestras are on audio media and not on visual media (not to mention those stagings that are actually detrimental to the enjoyment of the work).
However there are a few exceptions - those DVDs and blu-rays that one would be able to enjoy with the TV monitor turned off, because they have as good musical performances as the best vinyl or CD recordings of the same opera.
I believe the very top ones are few and in-between... thus my intention of just getting to top 10.
So please nominate your first 3 choices - the order matters. Tell us what DVDs-BluRays you intensely praise for the singing/conducting/orchestral playing - your number 1 choice, then your number 2 and your number 3. We may change the method as we go if this method doesn't generate enough overlapping votes to allow us to easily rank them 1 through 10 by simple attribution of points to the three categories of votes (1st, 2nd, 3rd), but let's start by doing this and we'll see how it goes.
I encourage you to only nominate DVDs-BluRays that excel in ALL 3 musical aspects - and particularly, those that have a cast of singers that is good across the board.
Please don't merely nominate a DVD that features a favorite singer of yours who does a wonderful job but is not helped by a weak supporting cast with many weak links, or by a pallid orchestra with the wrong tempi. If we vote for only the top 10, we gotta keep the bar very high and only nominate the very best. Sometimes ONE weak link singer can ruin a performance. Let's think of products that have practically no weak links, or at least, few weak links that are in minor roles and don't ruin the performance.
So, I repeat, I'm interested in those recordings that wouldn't be ashamed if compared to the best audio recordings of the same opera, given that all or most singers perform at a high level, helped by an excellent conductor and orchestra. Please when nominating *don't consider the visual aspects* at all - regardless of how helpful or how detrimental they are (I know it can be hard to avoid being influenced by the visuals, but please do your best to abstract from them). If you are profoundly disgusted by the staging but the singing/playing is exquisite, it's a valid nomination because the spirit of this exercise is one of finding the products that you'd love to listen to with the TV monitor off.
I have no time now to give my choices enough consideration and I'll be providing my 3 nominations later (I do have a few in mind) but I thought I should go ahead and open the project.
Thanks in advance for your participation.