Monteverdi-Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (ASKO/Porcelijn) (1993) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	Opera	Booklet Introduction
Rating
Year Of Production	1993
Running Time	23:50 (Case: 31)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Rob van den Berg
Studio Distributor	Opus Arte Select Audio-Visual Distrib	Starring	Lorna Anderson Maarten Koningsberger Guy de Mey
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	Box	Music	Claudio Monteverdi

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Italian Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s) Italian dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	German English Spanish French Italian Dutch	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda is not an opera as such, but an operatic scena, a brief vocal work in operatic style. In some respects it is an extended madrigal, a form of which Monteverdi was a master. This work only runs about 23 minutes and so it is included in the Monteverdi Cycle box set as an exclusive disc, not available separately.

    The work is based on an epic poem by Torquato Tasso, himself the subject of an opera by Donizetti. The story was inspired by the real-life exploits of Tancred, a crusader who lived at the end of the Eleventh century and who gained the title of Prince of Galilee. The story itself is fictional. Tancredi has met a Muslim woman at a banquet and they fall in love. But they are on opposite sides of the conflict. Clorinda, being a warrior herself, dons armour to join in the ensuing battle. The scena picks up where Tancredi and Clorinda meet on the battlefield, and as both have armour covering their faces they fight to the death, each unaware of who the other is.

    The setting has most of the vocal work done by a narrator, which occasional interjections from Tancredi and Clorinda, who spend most of the time in the background doing battle. This dramatised version is something of a curio, not really recommendable by itself but a useful appendix to the set of Monteverdi's surviving operas. A pity that Arianna's Lament, the only surviving portion of Monteverdi's second opera L'Arianna, could not also have been included. Like the operas, this performance was staged by Pierre Audi and it precedes those, dating from 1993.

Video

    The video is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The video is not the best, with annoying artefacts in the form of thin horizontal bars that form a sort of film over the image. The video is reasonably sharp, but not as detailed as other releases in this set. Colour is adequate, being compromised by the relatively subdued lighting.

    There is some mild aliasing and low level noise, but no other significant artefacts. Being a video presentation there are no film artefacts.

    Optional subtitles are provided, which translate all of the text. The subtitles are in a clear white text without any grammatical or spelling issues.

    The disc is single-layered.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are two audio tracks available, both in the original Italian. I listened to the DTS 5.1 track in full and sampled the Linear PCM stereo track.

    The audio tracks are both excellent. The voices are well captured and the unseen instruments are well defined. There is little in the way of surround activity on the DTS track, and the subwoofer barely grumbles into life. There is a slight digital edge to the audio, less obvious on the Linear PCM track. There are no issues with audio sync.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Booklet

    The four page booklet has some brief text about the work.

Introduction (7:20)

    This introduction, which features interviews with Pierre Audi and Maarten Koningsberger (Tancredi), appears to have been made in about 2003.

    This disc is part of a box set that appears to be the same in every region.

    An interesting appendix to the Monteverdi Cycle box set.

    The video quality is average.

    The audio quality is very good.

    A couple of minor extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall