Video Asylum

Posted by jsm (A) on January 12, 2008 at 12:37:21

In Reply to: RE: HD DVD have a much better selection of music posted by Ole Lund Christensen on January 08, 2008 at 11:26:41

Mainly it was the very low price here in the US, but the first time I saw an opera in HD on my 58-inch plasma set, I was stunned. Just about every weekend Dishnetwork shows an opera in about the highest quality HD of any of their broadcasts, and on a big screen it can be comparable to a live performance, especially when you usually sit way up there in a high balcony. Seeing the expressions on the faces and the fine details of excellent staging adds a lot to the experience. The sound is quite good, as I play it through my main system which has been designed to reproduce classical music as realistically as possible. While it may not be up to the ultimate of a fine SACD or the best vinyl, it's at least as good as a standard CD. Add a large HD picture, and the experience is very satisfying. Last night I watched Don Giovanni and was impressed by the 3-D effects in the sound, with off-stage sound sounding definitely off-stage, etc.

I have the Magic Flute HD DVD you list, but haven't watched it yet. It has excellent reviews and was one of the discs that finally pushed me over the edge to make me make the purchase; I had just seen a live performance of this by the SF Opera. Unlike movies, which I find I don't want to repeat-view all that often, music can stand repeat-listening much more often. I'm not worried that BD may or likely will "win," as I expect that I will have a nice collection of music discs that I can enjoy for quite a while on my bargain player. These discs don't even cost any more than equivalent SACDs or CDs, at least here in the US.

Joe