User Reviews

One of the series of Vitaphone shorts that played on the program of the screen premiere of DON JUAN -- itself a landmark as the first feature film with a full synchronized score -- this is nothing more or less than a performance of the Metropolitan Opera company playing.... well, the overture to TANNHAUSER, in the pit at the old Opera House.

The camera is leaden, as you might expect. There are two basic camera positions, a medium long shot with most of the orchestra in view, and a closer camera. The second is the one that moves a bit in pans, mostly to show you the flautists to the left of conductor Henry Hadley.

The sound is also pretty good, although a bit thin in the upper registers. Still, given the restrictions of the era, this is an important document of the era, as it was meant to be. And the performance is, as one would expect of the Met, excellent.

Overture: Tannhauser (1926)

*** (out of 4)

The title might not be too familiar to many people but this ten-minute short is in fact rather historically important as it was actually the second film to debut Warner's new sound process. When the feature DON JUAN was shown on August 6, 1926, this short was second on the program right after Will Hayes introduces people to Vitaphone. In terms of quality this short certainly isn't anything overly special as we get the New York Philharmonic Orchestra being conducted by Henry Hadley as they perform the overture to Tannhauser (just as the title says). I'm sure some some music fans may want to check this out just to see the New York Orchestra from this period but the real highlight is simply in terms of the history surrounding the picture. Overall the music is quite impressive but that's to be expected. The most shocking thing for me was hearing how incredibly good the sound quality was because a couple of the shorts shown on the program this night were a little off in terms of quality and even DON JUAN had a few noticeable low-quality moments but the sound to this short is actually quite powerful.