On Jul 2, 2:12 pm, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
<evgm...@earthlink.net> wrote in response to Samurai's complaint about
a Corelli CD received from Premiere Opera:
>Many of the "pirate" concerts and recitals are similar - public appearances by our favorite artists which were not INTENDED as solo recitals. You wouldn't complain because a Met gala included other performances along with some by your own favorite, would you?
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I agree with your point, Evelyn, that many concerts include orchestral
pieces or other artists. But part of the problem is that this was a
surprise, and really shouldn't have been, especially if, as Samurai
says, the orchestral pieces comprised almost half of the concert, and
if it was indeed advertised on the website as a Corelli concert.
That's where Premiere Opera could also do a much better job---with
their item descriptions. (However, I think calling it "fraud," as
Samurai did, is an overstatement.) At least, then, everyone would know
what they're getting. Same with the Fleming/Thibaudet DVD I referenced
in my previous post. At the very least, it should be stated in the
product description that the picture and sound are very substandard.
You know, I own the Bel Canto Society DVD release of the Corelli 1972
Tokyo concert. The sound and picture, pretty awful as they are, and
probably no better than the Fleming/Thibaudet DVD, are acceptable to
me because 1) the problem, unlike with the Fleming DVD, is with the
source material. That's all that exists, unfortunately, to work with.
And 2) It's Corelli and there's very little video of him and that in
itself gives it great value. The Fleming DVD, on the other hand, came
from a recent British TV show. I wouldn't even know how to make such
an awful recording off of my TV. Even using a plain old VCR would have
created a product that was literally, without exaggeration, ten times
superior to what I got from Premiere Opera.
Again, to me, with an artist for whom there's little or no video
available, the standards are different. But for Renee Fleming, why
would I even want this DVD, with its very muddled and monaural sound,
and very blurry picture, when I have my choice of other Fleming videos
done beautifully? It seems to me there's little reason for its
existence, in her particular case.
Lastly, while these unauthorized non-commercially available products
will certainly vary in production value, and that should be expected,
there can be minimum standards, no, especially with a concert from
only a few years ago. Also, would it really be going overboard for me
to expect a simple menu and chapters to be added to the DVD, too?
Almost every newer computer these days can do this fairly simply. Even
though it still wouldn't help the fact that I just can't bring myself
to watch this horribly recorded Renee Fleming concert, at least I
would have thought, had I been able to jump from one song or aria to
another, that someone was making some kind of small effort before
expecting to be paid.
