If Opus Arte ever managed to get its website working (now down for about 6 months with a simple place holder only) we would provide you with the usual full details.As an aside, and while on this subject, the attitude of many, but thankfully not all, providers of classical music - and opera in particular - continues to leave us flabbergasted. The fact that Opus Arte's website has now been down for months is a symptom of this. No other part of the "entertainment industry" (which whether it would like to admit it or not opera is) would be so downright "lacklustre" either in its general marketing or the face it presents to the general public. Imagine for example a film distributor - which Opus is in the classical music DVD field - such as Warner's or 20th Century doing the same? If the public has grown used to this it is rather sad, however, if artists have - whose livelihoods rely on companies like Opus Art marketing and distributing their work to the widest potential audience - have grown accustomed to it, it is not only a sad indication of the state of the industry but has a direct impact on their "earning potential" and their ability to reach new audiences.
Anyway, back to the matter at hand. As the distributor seems unable we will reprint the press release below. Have a read, then a look at the video and you may even decide to feed some starving member of the Chorus or Orchestra.
De Nederlandse Opera
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (Götterdämmerung & Die Walküre)
The Hague Philharmonic (Das Rheingold)
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (Siegfried)
Conductor: Hartmut Haenchen
Director: Pierre Audi
Running time: 16 hours 48 minutes approx
Subtitles: EN/FR/GE/SP/IT/NE/JA
Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS
This 1999 production of The Ring was the first to be based on the definitive complete edition of Wagner’s music. Pierre Audi’s production for the etherlands Opera blends the lyrical, mythical and philosophical qualities of Wagner’s tetralogy into a profound unity. Amazing sets by George Tsypin and wonderful costumes by Oscar-winning Eiko Ishioka complement singing and playing of great intensity from the cast under the baton of Hartmut Haenchen, who leads an unusually flowing, texturally sensitive interpretation, creating a vigorous yet often intimate impression that comes closer than many modern performances to the scale of Wagner’s original conception.
