DVD 7472 LEAR (Reimann)

I'd give the sound (which gets pretty bad, especially in Part II) one star. There's a frequent buzz, mainly on high frequencies (of which there are a lot), and tiny dropouts, and some curious changes of sound, especially in the second half of Part II. The picture is pretty poor - 2 stars. The performance is gripping. If this comes out in a commercial release, I'll definitely get it. Meanwhile, this is what we've got, and I'd recommend it for the musically adventurous/curious.

This production of Lear was performed in Munich and stars Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (for whom the role was written) as Lear. According to Naxos.com, where I find opera synopses that Premiere never provides, this opera was first performed at the Nationaltheater, Munich on July 9, 1978. The libretto closely follows Shakespeare's play. Jean-Pierre Ponnelle is the stage director. The costumes are elaborate and the simple set is very atmospheric (think Elektra) with a background that reflects at times huge shadows or flickering colors. The picture does flicker and whether it is just the background or the whole thing, I don't know. There are no subtitles and I understood a small fraction of what was sung, but managed to follow along because I know the story. The music is by Aribert Reimann and libretto by Claus H. Henneberg, 1978. I think this is a must see. I took off a star because the DVD quality is not five star.