Opera collection, DVD vs CD percentage

[DarkAngel]

I was just wondering how do members here spend thier opera budget?
What percentage goes to DVD versions compared to audio only CD purchases?

As a relatively new collector seems very important if you do not see many live performances to have a
reference DVD version of major operas with english subtitles to understand what scences are depicted by different vocal passages.

Also so much of opera is visual art with stage sets, costumes, and facial/body expressions that these are almost
equally important to vocals in conveying total impression/theme of an opera..........

I have noticed the DVD versions can be cheaper to buy than CD versions because of larger capacity of DVD media
can fit many operas on 1 DVD

[ChamberNut]

I have about a dozen different operas on CD, thus far.  None on DVD. 

[Brünnhilde forever]

100 LVD
80  DVD
40 CD
10 Vinyl

[DarkAngel]

100 LVD
80  DVD
40 CD
10 Vinyl

When did they stop selling LVD format operas?
How does picture/sound quality compare to newest DVD releases?

[Brünnhilde forever]

Not sure about the exact date, maybe 2003, that was the time no more new Laser Videos where produced, this included all subjects, opera, concert, et al.

With my layman's ear - and eyes! - I must say the LVD were superior to DVD. Of course a much larger disc space made available more features, like the exact frame-by-frame option, unblurred and steady. My favourite example is during the Kupfer/Barenboim Götterdämmerung Bayreuth performance. The confrontation scene between Brünnhilde and Siegfried. Jerusalem loses the ring in Even's costume and fumbles for it, beautifully singing all the time; he finds it, attempts to put it back on his finger, but Wagner's music doesn't give him enough time to slip it all the way on his finger. He has to point this finger with the ring sitting barely on the first joint and Evans, in her fury, slaps at it and swoops, Jerusalem bends his finger to save the ring from being knocked off.

On my LVD I can follow every move by the singers, stop and go, and admire Jerusalem's solid acting. Can't do that with a DVD! 

[marvinbrown]

I was just wondering how do members here spend thier opera budget?
What percentage goes to DVD versions compared to audio only CD purchases?

As a relatively new collector seems very important if you do not see many live performances to have a
reference DVD version of major operas with english subtitles to understand what scences are depicted by different vocal passages.

Also so much of opera is visual art with stage sets, costumes, and facial/body expressions that these are almost
equally important to vocals in conveying total impression/theme of an opera..........

I have noticed the DVD versions can be cheaper to buy than CD versions because of larger capacity of DVD media
can fit many operas on 1 DVD

  The best way to experience an opera is to see a visually pleasing (Warning: tastes may vary!) staged production of it.  Don't do what I did, investing a small fortune on CD recordings before switching to DVD (that said the Solti Ring Cycle on CD and Furtwangler's Tristan on CD and Chung's Otello on CD must be heard  ) but I digress......I think that when it comes to the operas of Verdi, Wagner, Puccini and Richard Strauss those are best served on DVD. After all opera is dramatic and anything that can enhance the drama is to be applauded!

  My current count:  67 operas on CD
                            26 operas on DVD

  marvin

[marvinbrown]

100 LVD
80  DVD
40 CD
10 Vinyl

  Nice Lis  I wish I had the sense to purchase my opera collection the way you did!

  marvin

[DarkAngel]

  The best way to experience an opera is to see a visually pleasing (Warning: tastes may vary!) staged production of it.  Don't do what I did, investing a small fortune on CD recordings before switching to DVD (that said the Solti Ring Cycle on CD and Furtwangler's Tristan on CD and Chung's Otello on CD must be heard  ) but I digress......I think that when it comes to the operas of Verdi, Wagner, Puccini and Richard Strauss those are best served on DVD. After all opera is dramatic and anything that can enhance the drama is to be applauded!

  My current count:  67 operas on CD
                            26 operas on DVD
  marvin

Yes I am tending to agree with you...........especially since cost of DVD version can be cheaper than CD version, the visual element is half the enjoyment. But also opens another whole visual area of subjective taste/variables, especially the modern versions 

Unfortunately many great opera performances from 1950s and 1960s (Callas etc) have no DVD option

[DarkAngel]

Yes I am tending to agree with you...........especially since cost of DVD version can be cheaper than CD version, the visual element is half the enjoyment. But also opens another whole visual area of subjective taste/variables, especially the modern versions 

Unfortunately many great opera performances from 1950s and 1960s (Callas etc) have no DVD option

Perhaps the best path is to collect 1950, 1960, and some 1970 operas in CD since that is usually only option,
but for 1980, 1990, 2000 operas DVD is preferred version

Unfortunately some of the great ones from 1950s, 1960s (Callas, Tebaldi) have almost no DVD versions available 

[Anne]

If I don't see the opera performed at least once, I always feel like I don't totally know it.  It doesn't have to be the best performance as long as the setting and costumes reflect the era the composer had in mind.

[Tsaraslondon]

If I don't see the opera performed at least once, I always feel like I don't totally know it.  It doesn't have to be the best performance as long as the setting and costumes reflect the era the composer had in mind.

For me, many of the best visual performances exists in my imagination. The Callas/Visconti La Travaiata is a case in point. I've seen so many photographs of the production that, when I listen to the recording, I can almost visualise every move in my mind's eye. Ditto the Callas/Zeffirelli Tosca, though here I do have the assistance of the TV recording of Act II to aid imagination. However, when I was young, I got to know many operas on record, long before I saw them in the theatre, and I would follow very thoroughly, libretto in hand, the action fully playing out in my mind's eye.

Even now, given the excesses of certain producers, who seem not to understand a note of music, I often prefer to just listen to the music, and enjoy my own imagination's version of a piece.

After almost 40 years of opera going, I now feel that opera is almost impossible to get right. However, when it does work, I believe it to be the greatest expression of art possible, which is why it is worth going again and again. I would gladly sit through twenty bad, mediocre, or just plain boring performances, just for the chance of seeing that one which transcends all others. So, even better, when it is that one that is set down for posterity on DVD.

[DarkAngel]

Tsaraslondon

How large is your opera DVD collection compared to CD collection?
Have you found any reference opera DVD performances?

[springrite]

No exact count, but my guess is about 40 operas on CD, 80 operas on VHS, 60 operas on DVD.


PS: Should point out that much of that are duplications, especially VHS and DVD.

[Wendell_E]

However, when I was young, I got to know many operas on record, long before I saw them in the theatre, and I would follow very thoroughly, libretto in hand, the action fully playing out in my mind's eye.

That was my experience as well, and if Anne doesn't feel like she totally knows an opera until she's seen it, I feel the the same way if I haven't sat down and followed along with the libretto (or score) in hand. 

I've got over 200 (probably 250 by now, I haven't counted in a while) opera titles in my collection, many in multiple performances.  DVDs?  Maybe 3 or 4 dozen.  If I buy more DVDs lately, it's because more operas seem to be coming out in that format, rather than CD.

[Fëanor]

I haven't be a huge opera fan heretofore, but I'd like to get into it more.  Presently I have 2(?) on LP, zero on CD, and 8 or so on DVD.

Sorry folks, but to me opera isn't primarily music rather it's a multimedia thing.  I want sound, pictures, subtitles, and good acting.  And hell yes, I'd sooner have attactive people (at least, women) who sing very well, than fat, ugly people who sing superbly.
For example, I've got La Boheme by Levine /Met /Pavarotti /Renata Scotto.  I mean ??
The fat, ugly, middle-age Scotto as the the starving, consumptive waif, Mimi?  Give me a break. 

[DarkAngel]

Sorry folks, but to me opera isn't primarily music rather it's a multimedia thing.  I want sound, pictures, subtitles, and good acting.  And hell yes, I'd sooner have attactive people (at least, women) who sing very well, than fat, ugly people who sing superbly.
For example, I've got La Boheme by Levine /Met /Pavarotti /Renata Scotto.  The fat, ugly, middle-age Scotto as the the starving, consumptive waif, Mimi?  Give me a break. 

Feanor you are a cruel cruel man, but.......

Yes I know what you mean in the world of DVD opera visual appearance matters..........fortunately there are several very attractive female sopranos active now including:

Anna Netrebko
Angela Gheorghiu
Malin Hartelius
Natalie Dessay

I just recently purchased this La Boheme with above mentioned AG:




Also find it very useful to either watch DVD first from NETFLIX or at least check some youtube clips out to get a feel
for stage set and overall appearance before buying a DVD

[bhodges]

Although I began collecting opera on CD, now I often prefer operas on DVD, simply because the format is made-to-order to capture the demands of the genre.  That said, sometimes there is no DVD available for a particular piece, especially if it is not well-known.

I have roughly 100 operas on CD (including multi-disc sets) and perhaps 20 on DVD.  I would have more, but I listen to many other types of music, e.g., chamber, orchestral, choral, etc.

--Bruce

[DavidRoss]

94 CD titles, 7 DVD (counting the Ring as 4 titles).  I'm with Tsaraslondon on this: enjoy opera in person but would generally rather hear a recording than watch a DVD.  In addition to the few I own, I've also rented some via netflix and seen telecasts via PBS.  They've all put me to sleep.  On the other hand, I've seldom seen a boring dance film.

[yashin]

Lots of cd's ...too many in fact. So when i moved i burnt my favourites into itunes and have 20Gb in there with 100's left to burn whenever i get home next.  I have to say it is fantastic having them all on one device and at the touch of a button! 

These days i prefer to buy on DVD unless it is a really special release.  I must have about 70 operas on DVD now.  I prefer the newer ones to the old Met series which look really dated. I collect Ring cycles and have 5 cycles at the last count. Have avoided the Met one and the Boulez ones in favour of the others. Crazy to collect 5?  Not really since i have 25 versions of Madame butterfly on cd! haha

[Sergeant Rock]

I have 215 operas on CD, 122 on LP and 2 on DVD (Kleiber's Rosenkavalier and Bergman's Magic Flute). So my ratio is about 168:1. Like Tsaraslondon I find a far more satisfying visual experience in my head than I usually do on screen.

Edit: Correction. I just recalled another DVD opera I own; this one:



and it is a rather satisfying visual experience 



If only real opera singers looked like this I might own more DVDs 

Sarge