The Merchant of Venice

Quite a few composers have attempted to turn Shakespeare's famous play mixing comedy, drama, and romance—centering on Shylock, a Jewish moneylender who attempts to take a pound of flesh from the Christian debtor Antonio, who's serving as surety for his friend, Bassanio—into opera over the centuries, but André Tchaikowsky's version appears to be the first on home video. Tchaikowsky was a Polish Jew who survived the Warsaw Ghetto and became a noted concert pianist after the war. But his real passion was composition, and he worked for nearly a decade on The Merchant of Venice (his only opera), which was nearly finished when he died at the age of 46 in 1982. The orchestration was completed by Alan Boustead, but the work was not staged until this 2013 Austrian production at the Bregenz Festival. John O'Brien's libretto lifts much of its text directly from Shakespeare, while Tchaikowsky's music bears the influence of the Second Viennese School—sounding somewhat similar to Berg's Wozzeck. As played by the Vienna Symphony conducted by Erik Nielsen, it comes off as well-crafted if not especially memorable. The staging opts for a vaguely modern look in sets and costuming, but is effective enough, while the singing by Christopher Ainslie (Antonio), Adrian Eröd (Shylock), Charles Workman (Bassanio), and Magdalena Anna Hofmann (Portia), is certainly committed. The result is an interesting modern opera, made even more so by the drama of its composer's life. Presented in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.0 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include a “making-of” documentary. Recommended. (F. Swietek)