The John Adams Edition Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The John Adams Edition Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 27, 2017

Though it had nowhere near the impact as the venerable What’s My Line?, there was another, fairly short lived, Goodson — Todman game show that was on in the mid-fifties which had a similarly simple setup to the John Charles Daly hosted outing where celebrities would attempt to divine a contestant’s occupation. The Name’s the Same lasted only around four years (a good stretch by any standard, but nowhere near the seventeen years What’s My Line? aired for), but it has a number of interesting “trivial pursuit” tidbits tucked in its broadcast history, including the fact that it was (briefly) hosted by the comedy duo of Bob and Ray, and that the regular celebrity panelists featured an arguably staggeringly eclectic blend of folks which included Carl Reiner, Basil Rathbone, Bess Myerson, and two stalwarts of the Broadway scene, Abe Burrows (who famously wrote or co-wrote the books for Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, winning the Pulitzer Prize for the latter) and Meredith Willson (who just as famously wrote the music and lyrics for The Music Man and The Unsinkable Molly Brown). The Name’s the Same’s premise is probably pretty discernable from the show’s very title, since it featured “regular everyday folks” who just happened to share the same name as someone famous. While he only would have been a little boy during the show’s mid-fifties run, composer John Adams could have been a reasonable contestant on the show (and maybe the fact that he would have been a kid might have made it all the more enjoyable). Adams of course shares a name with a certain founding father, and like that now (in)famous curmudgeon, this Adams has forged a “new world” of his own, compositionally speaking, one that is at times intentionally provocative.

The “death” of traditional tonality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries gave rise to a number of sometimes confounding developments in music. The so-called dodecaphonists came along and attempted to replace harmonic tropes like ii-V7-I with quasi-mathematical systems that were almost as stultifying as they were (at times, at least) almost anti-musical (in terms of providing things like, you know, melodies). It’s interesting to see iconic 20th century composers like Stravinsky and Bernstein trying to come to terms with 12 tone technique, almost always surrendering to the pull of “tunes” and accompaniment (no matter how “evolved” those tunes and accompaniments might be). If dodecaphony can be seen as a “response” to harmony and melody being pushed to its breaking point by the likes of Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler, then minimalism might then be seen as a “response” to tone rows and compositional strategies that seemed to emphasize form (or at least structural approaches) over actual content. However, in this instance, the minimalists took unabashedly tonal (usually diatonic) material and then refracted it as if breaking off discrete chunks and examining them from every side, in an approach that at least in some ways was similar to the tone row proponents' deconstructionist tendencies.

While Adams’ works broadly fall into the minimalist category, there are interesting differences, with Adams seeming to understand that mere repetition of sometimes tiny motives doesn’t necessarily add up to anything other than repetition. Adams’ pieces therefore often at least attempt to forge a kind of “middle ground” where minimalism informs the underlying structure of pieces (or at least movements, or more finitely, sections), while the “larger” architecture can often approach the grandiosity of some of those late 19th century “Romantic” works that were pushing the tonality envelope. Adams typically doesn’t really “stretch” his harmonic language to any undue degree, but there is still a feeling of expansion in his melodic approaches, if not his harmonic ones, that tends to differentiate his music from some of his compositional kin like Philip Glass.

This latest release from the Berlin Philharmonic follows in the deluxe packaging footsteps of Schumann: Symphonies 1-4 and Bach: Johannes-Passion and includes an interesting if perhaps necessarily hit or miss collection of Adams’ pieces (see screenshots 19 and 20 for a list of what’s on each disc), tied to Adams’ tenure as Composer in Residence with the Berlin Philharmonic during its 2016 — 2017 season.

The John Adams Edition Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The John Adams Edition is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings with a set of AVC encoded 1080i transfers in 1.78:1. There are occasional slight issues like minor aliasing that can be spotted at times (keep your eyes focused on the right side of the frame during the "establishing" shots from what looks like a second balcony and you can see some anomalies along what looks like a grid or stairs stage left), or combing artifacts when things like string bows or the conductors' batons are moving rapidly, but generally speaking this is a sharp and well detailed looking release. The palette never really pops in any meaningful way, with most of the players and/or conductors clad in simple black or white and black. There's generally very good and in fact smart coverage of the orchestral forces by the cameras (one of the supplements documents the "musicality" of the directorial choices in decided what instruments or other forces to feature in any given shot).

The John Adams Edition Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All of the selections on the two Blu-ray discs feature DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 mixes in 48/24. These are both sterling audio options, though the surround mix does tend to offer greater spaciousness and clarity for what I term Adams' "swirlier" tendencies. There's extremely wide dynamic range in many of these pieces, and the tracks support the changes with fluidity and precision. There is consistently well maintained balance between orchestral forces and soloists like the singers or violinist Leila Josefowicz.

The John Adams Edition Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Bonus Videos include:

  John Adams in Conversation with Sarah Willis (1080i; 18:59) is an engaging interview by the horn player, evidently part of the Berlin Philharmonic's "Digital Concert Hall" internet presence.

  
  

  The Berliner Philharmoniker's Digital Concert Hall Trailer (1080i; 1:26) markets that very internet presence, and is available in either a German language or English language version.

  
  

  Behind the Scenes (1080i; 5:03) is also focused on the Digital Concert Hall, and is likewise available in either a German language or English language version.

Disc Two

• Documentary (1080i; 44:39), as its listed on the Menu for this disc, is an interesting piece actually called Short Rides with John Adams, which profiles Adams as composer in residence at the Berlin Philharmonic.


• Bonus (1080i; 15:40) is actually called John Adams in Conversation with Peter Sellars, and features the two catching up, including discussing the production of The Gospel of the Other Mary.

As with the other handsomely packaged set that Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings has released (see above), this comes housed in an oversized foldout case that contains 4 CDs along with the Blu-rays in a compartment on the left, and a rather beautiful softcover book on the right with writing and complete libretti for the sung material. Look under the envelopes containing the CDs and Blu-rays and there are "hidden" codes to download high res audio files as well as a 7 day pass for the Digital Concert Hall.

The John Adams Edition Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The John Adams Edition provides a well done selection of Adams' often idiosyncratic work, conducted by a coterie of folks including Adams himself and other stalwarts like Simon Rattle (now well represented on these deluxe Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings Blu-ray sets) and Gustavo Dudamel. It's perhaps notable that none of Adams' operas, including The Death of Klinghoffer, one of his most notorious and controversial works, are included in this set (though his newish oratorio The Gospel According to the Other Mary is). This release is currently a bit on the pricey side, but for the serious classical music aficionado, it would make a most excellent holiday gift. Video is a little spotty at times, but audio is first rate and as with the other Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings releases, supplements and packaging are excellent. Highly recommended.