Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		5.0

Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 23, 2019

Auralization is the process of re-creating the aural experience of a particular space through rendering of audio data by digital means to achieve a virtual sound space.

That intriguing piece of text shows up part way through what amounts to a "making of" documentary included on what is otherwise an audio Blu- ray release by the compelling vocal ensemble Cappella Romana. I'm fortunate to live in Portland, Oregon, where Cappella Romana is based, and I can tell you from personal experience their live concerts are often amazing, even if they're not, as in this instance, absolutely drenched in the reverberant atmosphere of Turkey's iconic Hagia Sophia cathedral, which is, as indicated above, "re-created" digitally for this often astounding release. Some wag might suggest that listeners let that above quote "sink in" for a while, since there is indeed an almost watery aspect to the sonics here, with an unabashedly "wet" (as in lots of reverb) sound, as is mentioned in the documentary included on the Blu-ray disc. Kind of interestingly, at least for metaphysicians familiar with the "old school" four elements of lore and legend, is some other discussion about how Hagia Sophia suggests the Divine not by offering depictions in the form of iconography, but instead by providing what amounts to a "Holy Space" filled with air, an air which carries (or at least carried , before the facility was turned into a museum and performances no longer were allowed there) the voices of the petitioner heavenward.

Cappella Romana often offers lesser known material in its concerts, and the “set list” here is an intriguing aggregation of medieval Byzantine chant (the “eastern sibling of Gregorian chant”, as liner notes in the expansive insert booklet included with this release state). There’s a “heaviness” to some of the material here that reminded me of some of the well remembered releases by the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Choir, this despite the fact that Cappella Romana is “co-ed”, and many of the tracks on this release actually emphasize very low bass tones often used as pedals. There’s really not much if any “traditional” four part singing here, with long monophonic passages, but with nice distinctions between soli and/or sectional moments interspersed with more powerful tutti phrases.

Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While essentially an audio Blu-ray release, Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia does contain a video element, as outlined below in the Supplements section. The documentary included on the Blu-ray disc is presented in 1.78:1 and 1080p via an AVC encode. The imagery here is generally very sharp and detailed, though there are some recurrent issues with banding. Fine detail is quite good in a number of shots within the cathedral, where things like dust mites floating through the air are clearly visible.

Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia offers a number of audio options, including Dolby Atmos (with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core), LPCM 2.0, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Auro-3D (which is the first such instance of this codec that I think I've personally encountered on an audio Blu-ray, but I frankly may not be remembering correctly). This is a release where I highly recommend the Atmos or Auro-3D renderings if you're so equipped, as the ambient decay (up to 12 seconds, as mentioned in the documentary) is rendered extremely well, with a noticeable vertical element, that is not nearly as evident in the stereo or even the 5.1 versions. The spill of the voices, with a slight "echo", wafts through the surround channels quite "realistically" (for want of a better term), and the Atmos and Auro-3D renditions in particular preserve the almost dreamlike sonics that ensue from the long decay and "traveling" of the sound. Perhaps surprisingly given the acoustics that were re-created for this performance, things never really sound "muddy", and there's clear delineation of the voices, which admittedly are frequently monophonic or heterophonic, but not traditionally "polyphonic" in the same way that some lovers of Renaissance music might think of with regard to that term.

Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

While this is essentially an audio Blu-ray release, there is one video and one audio supplement on the Blu-ray disc:

• The Voice of Hagia Sophia (1080p; 23:45) is an absolutely fascinating documentary that includes a number of interviews which seek to explicate both the "digital tweaking" done to re-create the acoustics of the cathedral, as well as performance issues like notation and melismatic flourishes.


• Bonus Track (3:35) Communion Verse, "The Light of Your Countenance", Mode 4

Additionally, the release comes with a CD and a quite thick and informative insert booklet.

Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Regular readers of my reviews know I have been championing audio Blu-ray releases for years, and despite the fact that at least some people seem to have written them off for one reason or the other (much as with 3-D Blu-ray releases), I personally still think they're offering something quite unique and immensely enjoyable for audiophiles. This new Cappella Romana offering should be a welcome addition for collectors who, like me, thrill to lossless audio, especially when it's of such evocative music with such a stunning sonic "backdrop". This is a stellar release all around, and Cappella Romana: Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia comes Highly recommended.