Libera Dreams

TullyBascombe wrote:All is not lost. I contacted Amazon.com again via chat and was fortunate enough to connect with someone knowledgeable. She informed me that the Blu Ray product offered was indeed region B/2 and would not play on a standard American player. I cancelled that order and then looked around. I was peeved and was looking to give someone at Warner Music a piece of my mind. On Bluray.com I found a region A Blu Ray version. Strangely when I ordered it I was taken right back to Amazon.com, but on this order page it clearly indicated that the disc was region A, so I ordered it. Go figure.

I tried recreating your steps but it takes me to the same order page and it still says "Region: Region B/2"

This is very frustrating.

You're right. Does anyone know what company is the ultimate producer of this DVD? Is it PBS, Warner Music Group or Warner Brothers?

Probably not the answer you are looking for, but region free Blu Ray/DVD players are really quite affordable now. A basic model costs around $100.

That really jacks up the cost of one or two Blu-ray discs.
Am I not correct that this album was sponsored by PBS or a related an American group? I fail to understand why they would decide to have the album produced in Blu-ray format for Europe but not for the United States? Do they think they're benefiting PBS, that keeping a Blu-ray version out of the US market will somehow improve funding for PBS by driving viewers to watch the show on their local PBS station instead of buying the Blu-ray? Well guess what, my local station isn't even going to broadcast it. It doesn't make any sense. PBS stations are funded by their viewers, not by advertisers. How does preventing the viewers from being able to purchase a higher quality DVD increase their chance of obtaining donations? I've been donating to PBS every year for the past 30 years, my parents were annual donators for nearly twenty years before. I'm seriously thinking of discontinuing that tradition.

TullyBascombe wrote:That really jacks up the cost of one or two Blu-ray discs.
Am I not correct that this album was sponsored by PBS or a related an American group? I fail to understand why they would decide to have the album produced in Blu-ray format for Europe but not for the United States? Do they think they're benefiting PBS, that keeping a Blu-ray version out of the US market will somehow improve funding for PBS by driving viewers to watch the show on their local PBS station instead of buying the Blu-ray? Well guess what, my local station isn't even going to broadcast it. It doesn't make any sense. PBS stations are funded by their viewers, not by advertisers. How does preventing the viewers from being able to purchase a higher quality DVD increase their chance of obtaining donations? I've been donating to PBS every year for the past 30 years, my parents were annual donators for nearly twenty years before. I'm seriously thinking of discontinuing that tradition.

I'm really disappointed as well. I was really looking forward to a higher-quality version of the concert. It just seems silly to prevent US customers from using the Blu-Ray version - this isn't even listed as an import, so that makes no sense at all. I hope this doesn't turn people off to Libera if they end up buying a disc they can't use. It looks like there is now a warning on Amazon's page that this won't play on most US players, but there wasn't a warning when I pre-ordered and I wouldn't have found out until the disc arrived and I couldn't play it. I wonder if emailing PBS directly would find any answers, since that's probably their decision - I may eventually try contacting them to see what they say.

Looking at the Blu-ray region issue, I would be surprised if it really was region locked. None of the other DVD's they have released (all be it they weren't blu-ray) have had any region coding which makes it cheaper to produce. Also, you can't always trust Amazon. As an example the Billy Elliot Live Blu-ray is listed as region B on Amazon UK. Because this hasn't been released in the US many fans of the show were dismayed that they couldn't buy it. However, the disc is region free and works perfectly in North America (although the DVD is region locked in case you were going to buy that).

What we need is one brave soul in the US to risk it and order it and then they can post to say if it works or not. Any volunteers?

Yorkie wrote: What we need is one brave soul in the US to risk it and order it and then they can post to say if it works or not. Any volunteers?

I'll take the hit.

Surpinto wrote:

Yorkie wrote: What we need is one brave soul in the US to risk it and order it and then they can post to say if it works or not. Any volunteers?

I'll take the hit.

That's the spirit

chris17 wrote:

TullyBascombe wrote:That really jacks up the cost of one or two Blu-ray discs.
Am I not correct that this album was sponsored by PBS or a related an American group? I fail to understand why they would decide to have the album produced in Blu-ray format for Europe but not for the United States? Do they think they're benefiting PBS, that keeping a Blu-ray version out of the US market will somehow improve funding for PBS by driving viewers to watch the show on their local PBS station instead of buying the Blu-ray? Well guess what, my local station isn't even going to broadcast it. It doesn't make any sense. PBS stations are funded by their viewers, not by advertisers. How does preventing the viewers from being able to purchase a higher quality DVD increase their chance of obtaining donations? I've been donating to PBS every year for the past 30 years, my parents were annual donators for nearly twenty years before. I'm seriously thinking of discontinuing that tradition.

I'm really disappointed as well. I was really looking forward to a higher-quality version of the concert. It just seems silly to prevent US customers from using the Blu-Ray version - this isn't even listed as an import, so that makes no sense at all. I hope this doesn't turn people off to Libera if they end up buying a disc they can't use. It looks like there is now a warning on Amazon's page that this won't play on most US players, but there wasn't a warning when I pre-ordered and I wouldn't have found out until the disc arrived and I couldn't play it. I wonder if emailing PBS directly would find any answers, since that's probably their decision - I may eventually try contacting them to see what they say.

Who would you e-mail?

I think I will be the guinea pig on this issue. I ordered the Blu-Ray from Amazon when it was first listed for pre-order and the price was low. I will just leave the order in place. I now plan to also order the DVD.That should arrive about the same time as the Blu-Ray, and I can use it where a Blu-Ray player isn't available. If the Blu-Ray is usable in my equipment I will keep it because of the superior quality. Since I should not need to unseal the package to actually determine the region limits, I can still return it to Amazon for credit if it is actually B/2 restricted. Then I can report my findings here and on the Amazon review section.

Apparently the manufacturer / distributor is Warner Classis. I've sent an email to them. Maybe I'll get a reply, maybe I won't.

After considering the whole Blu-Ray matter, I decided to go to the source to get what I expect to be accurate information. I sent an email directly to Libera on Sunday Feb. 15. A few hours later, I received a replay from Mrs. Lewis thanking me for the information. It sounds like Libera were not aware of the issue. She said that they will look into the matter and get back to me. I plan to post any information I get.

Just saw this posted on Twitter - it's a clip of just the first verse of Be Still My Soul. I like how the camera slowly moves around so you can see the whole choir - it seemed like there weren't as many shots like that in the last DVD.

[BBvideo 425,350][/BBvideo]

Yes the camerawork on this one adds to the emotion. There's something about the way they sing 'Be Still My Soul' gets me every time. The full version will have the lower voices on the second verse.

Libera tweeted they will post a behind-the-scenes video next week on last year's concert. I think it might be the one included on the DVD.

I just received a reply from Libera relative to the Blu-Ray situation. Apparently the description on Amazon is WRONG. Here's the message from Libera. It makes me happy, and I hope it does everyone else concerned with this matter:

"Hello Bruce

Thank you for your email bringing this confusion to our attention.

We have been assured by the recording company that the Blu-ray is region free and available for all territories. No restriction was intended and we understand that the information provided by Amazon is being reviewed. We do hope that you and others who support Libera will go ahead and purchase the recording and thoroughly enjoy watching and listening to it.

best regards,

Libera"