DVD + Blu-Ray:
Hindemith – Mathis der Maler (Theater an der Wien)

The first DVD/Blu-Ray release of Paul Hindemith’s opera Mathis der Maler staged by Keith Warner and performed under the baton of Bertrand de Billy.

Hindemith conceived Mathis der Maler, his ‘opera in seven tableaux’, as a reimagining of Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, a depiction of Christ’s intense suffering and crucifixion. Set during the turbulence of the German Peasants’ revolt in the early 16th century, the work’s focus is on artistic freedom of expression and human isolation during a time of plague, repression and violence. Hindemith wrote his own libretto finding in Grünewald a metaphor for his own times. Performances of the opera in Germany were duly banned by the Nazis.

Opera in seven tableaux (1938), Libretto by the composer – Sung in German
Cast Mathis – Wolfgang Koch, baritone / Albrecht von Brandenburg – Kurt Streit, tenor / Riedinger – Franz Grundheber, bass-baritone / Ursula – Manuela Uhl, soprano / Hans Schwalb – Raymond Very, tenor / Regina – Katerina Tretyakova, soprano / Lorenz von Pommersfelden – Martin Snell, bass
Orchestra/Band Slovak Philharmonic Choir, Wiener Symphoniker
Conductor Bertrand de Billy
Stage Director Keith Warner
Set Designer Johan Engels
Film Directors Peter Landsmann/Paul Landsmann
Recording Location Theater an der Wien, Vienna, Austria, December 2012
[2.110691-92 / NBD0130V]
Duration 190 minutes
Language German
Subtitles German, English, French, Japanese, Korean
DVD: NTSC 16:9 · PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 · 2 DVD 9 · Region: 0
BD: HD 16:9 · PCM stereo and DTS-MA 5.1 · BD 50 · Region: A, B, C