Video Artists International's catalogue is at www.vaimusic.com. There you can find many historic performances preserved for posterity by this admirable company.
Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko is unknown to most opera-lovers. Philips, however, now offers conductor Valery Gergiev proudly unearthing yet another Russian masterpiece to a possibly skeptical international public. The DVD is of a video dating from 1994. The massively solid production looks old-fashioned when compared with Paris-Bastille's hi-tech sophistication, but there's much to enjoy nonetheless.
Sadko (Vladimir Galusin) is a Sinbad-like figure, a humble musician who leaves home to make his fortune. He meets the Tzar of the Sea and other mythological figures and returns to his native Novgorod a hero. It's a slow-moving, undemanding story, but the whole project, besides constituting an important collector's item, has a genuine charm that will appeal to many. The sound quality is excellent, incidentally.
It's extraordinary what four years can do. In 2003 I reviewed Bryn Terfel: Live in Concert in somewhat unfriendly fashion [Taipei Times Nov. 7, 2003]. Now that the same Amsterdam concert has been re-issued in extended form as Bryn: Songs and Arias it feels like a historic occasion. To hear the great Welsh bass-baritone sing Wagner, for instance, is to be reminded of his recent triumph as Wotan at Covent Garden. A feature called XIF (eXtended Interactive Feature) allows you to switch from performance to interview where the two are related.
Newly added duets with Renee Fleming and Andrea Bocelli are taken from over-blown celebrity occasions. What is really wonderful is the bonus track dedicated to the filming of Verdi's' Falstaff with Terfel and the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado. The footage of the recording of the final fugue is stupendous, and the best thing on the whole DVD.- BRADLEY WINTERTON
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