Masterpieces of the Hermitage-Volume 2 (1992) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Art |
Gallery-Photo Notes-History |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1992 | ||
Running Time | 84:03 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 1,2,3,4,5,6 | Directed By | L. Schwartz |
Studio
Distributor |
Warner Vision |
Starring | R. Parsons |
Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
RPI | ? | Music |
W. A. Mozart Ludwig Van Beethoven J. S. Bach |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
The State Hermitage Museum of St Petersburg is one of the largest museums in the world, with a collection of around 3,000,000 works of art. It is housed in seven buildings constructed by Catherine the Great and her successors, starting in the mid-Eighteenth Century. Following the construction of the Winter Palace, Catherine decided that she wanted a smaller, less formal building to hold balls and parties. This new building was known as the Hermitage, literally the dwelling place of a hermit, after the French fashion.
The second disc in this series looks at some of the less well known facets of the collection, including decorative arts from Europe, art from the ancient East and artworks from the time of Peter the Great. This is interesting material, although the short running time precludes studying any of the subject matter in depth. Again, the three episodes on this disc are narrated by R. Parsons.
The three episodes on this disc are:
Decorative Arts of Italy, France and England (28:58)
This episode concentrates on cabinets, pottery, porcelain, plates, vases, urns, glassware, furnishings, mosaics and tapestries from various eras, including a segment on English silverware.
Art From Mesopotamia to Ancient China (28:33)
Episode five looks at the museum's artworks from ancient times, but from regions other than Greece and Rome, which are covered in later episodes. Sumerian and Assyrian art are covered, as well as the products of India and China. The array of artworks includes sculpture and statuary, tablets, reliefs, pots, urns, vases, rugs, books, clothing, jade and even bronze arrowheads.
Russia in the Age of Peter the Great (26:59)
This episode looks at the life and times of Peter the Great, who established the city of St Petersburg at the beginning of the 18th Century. A traveller and successful military leader, Peter acquired artworks from all over Europe, but especially from the Netherlands and England. His life is seen through engravings, paintings, furniture, machines and even his Royal Coach.
As with the first disc in this series, the video quality is quite disappointing.
The video is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, being a series made for television.
The video is not sharp, and has the look of being transferred from a video master. At times, it looks as if it was transferred from a VHS copy. Shadow detail is not really an issue with this sort of material.
Colour is somewhat muted, but I suspect that this is due to the colour of a lot of the works of art, which have faded over the years. Bright colours appear when paintings and frescoes that include such colours appear, although as I am not familiar with the originals, I cannot comment on the fidelity of the image to the original.
There is some grain present, particularly in the opening and closing sequences, which are repeated from episode to episode and look different to the rest of the material, as if they were from a different source, such as stock footage. This footage also has some film artefacts, such as dirt and black flecks.
This transfer is badly affected by aliasing throughout. The moving camera brings out aliasing in almost every shot, with some examples being at 1:31, 31:04 and 34:49. This makes a lot of the video difficult to watch. This may be less of an issue with small display devices.
There is also a problem with some of the darker works, particularly those that are dark brown. There appears to be a sort of thin gauze over the image, resulting in a scaly appearance to the image. Some of the more obvious examples are at 5:14 and 6:23.
There is an example of the Moire effect on the tapestry at 26:34.
No subtitles are provided on this single-layered disc.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
As in the first disc in this series, there is a loud hum present throughout, possibly due to interference during either the recording or transfer process. It is not dissimilar to the background hum you get from a record player or turntable. This is annoying at times, although as it is continuous, the ear adjusts to a point.
There is one audio track, in English Dolby Digital 2.0.
Dialogue is generally clear and easy to understand, the narrator's foibles notwithstanding. Audio sync is not an issue.
Classical music excerpts are played in the background. The sound is a little thin and the dynamic range is that of video. Not all of the musical excerpts complement the images, but this is not a major distraction. The second episode on this disc has traditional music from the countries represented.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
10 photographs of pottery and porcelain from the collection. Of minor interest, if only to see them without aliasing.
Six pages of history relating to the construction of the Winter Palace and the acquisition of artworks by Catherine the Great, as well as her accession to the throne. The grammar is not always very good, and the information provided is not detailed, so this extra is really not worth very much.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This series has been released on a 2 disc set in Region 1. I have not been able to locate any reviews of this set to determine whether the transfer is better or the same, so at this time the best version cannot be determined.
An interesting series of programmes about the massive art collection held by the Hermitage Museum, which is spoiled by the transfer.
The video quality is very poor.
The audio quality would have been satisfactory if it were not for the omnipresent hum.
The extras are not substantial.
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Extras | |
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Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV-S733A, using Component output |
Display | Sony 86CM Trinitron Wega KVHR36M31. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to DVD player, Dolby Digital, dts and DVD-Audio. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
Amplification | Yamaha RX-V596 for surround channels; Yamaha AX-590 as power amp for mains |
Speakers | Main: Tannoy Revolution R3; Centre: Richter Harlequin; Rear: Pioneer S-R9; Subwoofer: JBL SUB175 |