Blu-ray Opera and Ballet audio concerns

RBFC

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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I've now been personally involved in notifying two large record labels of audio problems on some Opera and Ballet Blu-ray discs. Mis-assignment of audio tracks to the wrong speakers has been the most common problem.

The first Opus Arte Opera and Ballet Sampler had the channels assigned to the wrong speakers on the Zoroastre ballet segment. The right speaker played the left channel information and the right surround speaker played the right channel information, rotating the soundstage 90 degrees! Opus Arte acknowledged the problem and sent me a corrected replacement AND a full BD of the Zoroastre Ballet for my trouble. This was, IMO, a fair and courteous handling of the situation.

The C-Major Entertainment Blu-ray set of the Wagner Ring Cycle with Zubin Mehta had the front audio channels reversed L<->R on the surround track. This made for some interesting audio! As the singer would walk across the stage, their voice would go the other way! I notified C-Major about the issue, and they were unaware of it. Their authoring studio has confirmed the defect, and I was told that the next production run will have corrected audio. I asked them for a replacement disc when it was ready. I have not yet received a reply to that request. If I do not hear from them soon, I will return the entire Ring Cycle set to the Amazon vendor and not purchase any further products from them.

There have been other reported mistakes on some performance Blu-rays, but I will stick to speaking about ones that I have personally experienced.

I truly hope that C-Major and other labels take greater care in the release of otherwise superb performances and music, and that they act honorably in correcting the existing mistakes.

Lee
 
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RBFC

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
5,158
45
1,225
Albuquerque, NM
www.fightingconcepts.com
Mehta Blu-Ray Ring

Well, C-Major returned my email and said that they don't know when they'll be printing another run of the Wagner Ring Cycle Blu-ray set. They just told me to do what I thought I need to do. So, I'm going to return the entire set to the Amazon vendor for a refund. This is quite disappointing, since they didn't offer to send me a replacement now or even in the future when a new disc is available.

Therefore, I can't recommend C-Major Entertainment as a "safe buy" for those desiring a quality product. With the obstacles faced by classical music in general, I am truly sad and shocked that a label would not work harder to ensure the satisfaction of their customers.

Lee
 

Kal Rubinson

Well-Known Member
May 4, 2010
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NYC
www.stereophile.com
Well, C-Major returned my email and said that they don't know when they'll be printing another run of the Wagner Ring Cycle Blu-ray set. They just told me to do what I thought I need to do. So, I'm going to return the entire set to the Amazon vendor for a refund. This is quite disappointing, since they didn't offer to send me a replacement now or even in the future when a new disc is available.

Therefore, I can't recommend C-Major Entertainment as a "safe buy" for those desiring a quality product. With the obstacles faced by classical music in general, I am truly sad and shocked that a label would not work harder to ensure the satisfaction of their customers.

Lee
While I do not dispute Lee's observations, I wish to say that I could not confirm these problems with my copies of the discs on which there is no such L/R reversal on the Rheingold or Walkure. I have the individual opera releases and not the boxed set but I do not know whether that is a significant issue.
 

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