December 22, 2008.

Terrific Opera Performance in Blu Ray Format.

Rating: 5
This is a beautiful production of one of the most popular Operas. The colors and detail in the Blu-Ray format is simply amazing. A great cast of singers, and the Franco Zeffirelli designs has to be seen to be believed. A+ all around!!!

December 20, 2008.

Worth Watching/Owning....

Rating: 4
At first, I hesitated to get this because of the negative reviews here but wanted to see for myself and got it anyway. After watching, I thought this blu-ray was not bad. Yes, the video pro-production was annoying in some parts but overall I enjoyed this blu-ray. The orchestra conducted by Chailly was really good and Urmana and the other female singer did a good job. I thought Alagna sang fine but notes were sometimes not accurate. I liked the ballet and kids' dance. The PQ is somewhat disappointing: distant (zoom-out) shots don't look very clear and sharp. AQ is excellent, however. All in all, this blu-ray was an enjoyment to me. I will definitely watch it over again. I'd encourage you to see it for yourself. You can rent at least...

December 09, 2008.

Verdi Aida on blu ray.

Rating: 1
The poor Decca engineers cant be musicians,because although the visuals are fine,the sound is dry,the female voices become unappealing.Its my fault
i keep hoping Roberto Alagna will produce a bel canto head voice,he sounds almost baritone like.The rest chorus etc again dry
unappealing,what are they doing,these poor decca engineers.
J Escott

December 29, 2008.

disappointing return.

Rating: 2
This was supposed to be a magnificent return of Aida to La Scala. It is very disappointing. The singers and their signing and acting are OK, but far away of being magnificent. The sound of the Disc is certainly not portraying the incredible amount of people on the stage, in Act II in particular. Bluray technology allows for a much fuller sound. The worst of all is the video production and camera movements. The close-ups in the middle of the arias and the ballet make no sense at all and are really disturbing.
The only reason to buy this Disc is to see the glitzy production in full Bluray detail. Verdi deserves better!

December 27, 2008.

GOSH... COULD LOOK EVEN WORSE ON BLUE-RAY!.

Rating: 1
This is Zeffirelli at his very worst. An incredibly tasteless and vulgar production, with more cheap gold than anyone could bear in a casino show and without a single original idea about the staging of this wonderful but overexposed opera. The level of incompetence is hard to beleive and La Scala has reached a new low in its undistinguished recent history. The Orchestra sounds very good, but Alagna is uncomfortable as Radames, with a voice inadequate for the role, although he does try. Urmana is somewhat better, but it isn't enough. To make things worse the video producer thinks he can improve this sad event with silly camera movements and very distressing close-ups of the fabrics of every costume! Do yourself a favour and totally ignore this release.