Opera on DVD

[bhodges]

Thank you, Bruce and Karl !

Bruce,

Laurent Pelly's production of La Fille du Régiment, with the winning team of Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez is a smash hit. Luckily, we have it on DVD !

But each and every one of Pelly's filmed opera productions that are available on a commercial DVD is worth watching:

Rameau – Platee
Prokofiev – L'Amour des Trois Oranges
Donizetti – La Fille du Régiment
Offenbach – La Belle Hélène
Offenbach – La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein
Offenbach – Orphée aux Enfers

Pelly is really outstanding in all kinds of comic operas. But this year, he will direct at the Vienna state opera, Debussy's masterpiece Pelléas et Mélisande with Natalie Dessay, her husband Laurent Naouri and the young and excellent French baritone Stephane Degout. This is really intriguing!

Thanks, I should really get all of those!  PS, I have the Fille DVD but haven't watched it yet, and one of its attractions (I hear) is Dawn French as the Duchess of Krakenthorp.  (I just love typing that name.  )  In the Met's version here, the role was done by Broadway veteran Marian Seldes, who was superb.

And that Pelléas et Mélisande does sound mighty tempting...I doubt I'll get to see it live, so hopefully they will tape that as well.

--Bruce

[knight66]

TC, great to know you are still around, and I hope well in all senses. And a warm welcome stridonolassu. Thanks for the list.

Mike

[Haffner]

Delighted to see you again, TC!

Welcome Back!

[T-C]

Thanks, Mike and Andy.

With a warm reception like this, I already feel obliged to visit here more often... 

[Anne]

I'm glad to see you come back too, TC.

[stridonolassu]

Thank you all for the kind words and the very warm welcome!  Now I know this IS the place to hang out...

Speaking of Pelly, I am a big fan.  I love the Offenbach productions (and the Platee is truly a milestone in staging a baroque opera these days), but my number one favorite from T-C's list is The Love for Three Oranges.  The opera itself doesn't seem to get much attention at least here in the US so I was glad we had three DVD releases last year (one in Russian!).  I did like all of them but Pelly's from Amsterdam was by far my favorite.  Out on Opus Arte DVD now, it's coming out on Blu-ray soon and I can't think of a more deserving production for the full HD treatment.  The spectacular Fata Morgana/Tchelio duel with the cards alone is worth the price.  Highly recommended to all, even those who are not so much into 20th-century opera.

Thanks again guys.  I look forward to checking out this thread with your opinions and recommendations of opera on video.

[Brünnhilde forever]

A name sending shock waves through opera lovers: Calixto Bieito! I have watched his Don Giovanni and it did not entertain me, so I sold it. Others have praised it and they are still my friends. I wanted to see more than one of his creations - not fair to judge a director by just one work - but did not chose any of his Verdi efforts. From what I understand reading reviews and critics, screwing to Verdi's music seems to be the predominant activity. I bought Alban Berg's Wozzeck, hoping Bieito has discovered a deeper meaning in Berg's composition than intercourse. I'll approach it with an open mind.

Any members of this opera section have seen this DVD:

BERG Wozzeck. Franz Hawlata, Angela Denoke, Reiner Goldberg. Directed by Sebastian Weigle, Calixto Bieito. Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. BBC Opus Arte DVD

label: BBC Opus Arte
format: DVD-Video

Composer: (click for full listing)
BERG, ALBAN

released: 01/10/07  

[Gurn Blanston]

Be careful, Brünnhilde, else you'll have even ME watching Verdi...   I have to admit to a reticence to watching opera that is so far from the original intent of the composer. Or hell, maybe that WAS his original intent but public scruples of the time wouldn't allow it. I really do prefer my operatic sex to be implied though, where my fervid little imagination can do as it will...



----------------
Listening to:
Pinnock, Trevor; The English Concert - Symphony #20 in D, K. 133: IV. [Allegro]

[T-C]

Any members of this opera section have seen this DVD:

I have, and quite enjoyed it, but I know of others who did not...

Anyhow, from the musical point of view, this is a good performance, so in case you don't like what you see, you can close the TV set and listen to the music...

A very favorable review is here: WOZZECK

[Brünnhilde forever]

I knew I could count on hearing from you, T-C, and that you have watched this Bieito work. Thank you! 

Now as to the review at Arkiv: Maybe I should not have read it.    Somehow intercoursing to Verdi's music now looks like clean, natural human activities compared to cannibalism and feces all over the stage and people. But I'll give it a try, promise! - fingers crossed behind my back.

[Hector]

Thanks, I should really get all of those!  PS, I have the Fille DVD but haven't watched it yet, and one of its attractions (I hear) is Dawn French as the Duchess of Krakenthorp.  (I just love typing that name.  )  In the Met's version here, the role was done by Broadway veteran Marian Seldes, who was superb.



--Bruce
[/quote]

You heard wrong although, like me, you may find her as funny, if not more so, than the opera.

If only Offenbach had composed this.

[Wanderer]

Any opinions on this Tosca?

[Harry]

Last night I saw on a HD channel,  a stunning performance of Don Giovanni by Mozart in a modern French setting Razor sharp images and some fabulous vocals.
That prompted me to go in search for Blu-Ray's with opera's on it, for to see and hear it, is to believe it.

[knight66]

Tasos, Here is a copy of my comments from the Puccini thread.

Mike

I assume there will be celebrations to mark the anniversary of the composer's birth. Every opera house will be programming at least one of his works; though I wonder, will we notice; as his operas are fairly ubiquitous in non-anniversary years.

I have started the year by buying a newly issued Tosca. It is by Decca:
Bryn Terfel (Bass Baritone), Catherine Malfitano (Soprano), Richard Margison (Tenor)
Conductor:  Riccardo Chailly
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra,  Netherlands Opera Chorus Director: Nikolaus Lehnhoff.

This DVD has been mentioned elsewhere on the forum. Although it may not please purists, I thought it was a completely successful fresh take on the piece. The sets and lighting are atmospheric and the timescale indeterminate; late industrial revolution meets frock coats with a futuristic twist.

Act two looks almost art deco, a very stylish black marble hall. Each scene is dominated by a vast turbine, sometimes still, other times turning slowly and with dramatic shadows from the lighting effects.

The singing is never less than good. Malfitano has lost power in her lower register and she seems to avoid the etched exclamations Callas brought to this role. That sometimes leaves her sounding undercharacterised. But it is a committed performance, she looks sensational and stylish. Her acting is more 'grand' that Terfel's. This was his first stab at the part and he was well able to make it his own. He looks sexy and dangerous and his acting is much more natural than his Tosca's. He uses small gestures, a slightly raised eyebrow, a face going slowly rigid. She signals everything to the back stalls.

Margison has no noticeable expressions and that pretty much goes for his singing. He has a good voice, sings well, but does not appear to be all that engaged. He is a complete biffer to look at and when standing next to a similarily clad Terfel, the difference was marked. Terfel has such presence and is projecting communication all the time.

The orchestra sounds superb, Chailly does not go hell for leather, blood and guts. Rather he takes some passages dangerously slowly, the Te Deum is funereal, but it works. Act 2 seems a bit too much stop and start, I prefer a sweep that grips you. But his is a valid way, he is always thoughtful.

The look of it, Terfel, the production, Chailly and a good Tosca. It really is compelling. A winner of a performance.

Mike

[Wanderer]

Mike, many thanks for the detailed review. It does look (and sound) compelling enough. 

[Brünnhilde forever]

Nostalgia 1993

Telling you about my afternoon! I was going through my LVDs and there is one called 'Wagner Gala' with Claudio Abbado, the Berliners, Cheryl Studer, Waltraud Meier, Siegfried Jerusalem and Bryn Terfel! Surprise! Where did that one come from? I didn't remember having it. It's a 31 December 1993 New Year's celebration. 16 years ago, All the old Berliners are still with the orchestra, everybody is so young and good looking. And there is Studer! Mercy me! When Meier stood next to her singing the confrontation between Elsa and Ortrud, Meier looked like a Barbie Doll! I had the feeling Waltraud was still working on making this one of her very own roles; not quite as good yet as the later ones, but still very impressive. I had so much fun watching this young Bryn Terfel! 16 years ago, very big face but a slim figure with lovely shoulder-length curly blond hair. And he was so happy with the roaring applause, just stood straight, taking it all in, his eyes roving to every section of the hall, smiling, and finally managed to bow once or twice. He was not a bad Hans Sachs already then in the Fliedermonolog.

Then came Jerusalem and Meier as Siegmund und Sieglinde, the big last part of Walküre's Act I, over 18 minutes of it, wonderful those two together. But the biggest hit for me, was the last one: The Ride of the Walkyries - that's what it says on the album cover! - only the orchestra. I don't remember ever having seen it played as a concert piece, only in an opera with the stage teeming with those assorted females cavorting around. The cameras did a beautiful job showing all the musicians, alone, in groups, all of their faces or only their fingers on their instruments, great camera work. And the sound! Ceiling rattling here! After the last note, Abbado just stood there as if he just finished the Boston Marathon!

At the very end I remembered the disc because when the four soloists descend stairs in the background, Jerusalem steps on Studer's long train, tried to support himself on the blank wall and goes down to his knees. Camera cuts away, I hope nobody got hurt.

It would be nice if this performance would be released on DVD!

[knight66]

I have a couple of those New Year Day concerts; but not that one. I have a Strauss one on CD, great programme. I think these give more pleasure than the recently tired Vienna ones. I assume Rattle has been continuing the Berlin tradition.

Mike

[Brünnhilde forever]

I have to check on Rattle's New Year's performances, surely there should be some available. I agree with you on the Vienna concerts. Very few are worth collecting, among them the ones with Herbert von Karajan and Carlos KLeiber, the two best Johann Strauß interpreters. Nikolaus Harnoncourt too is acceptable. I didn't listen to this year's Barenboim. Did you?

This one from 1993 I am afraid will not be published as a DVD because of the grotesquely huge figured soprano. She will never give permission. 

[Haffner]

Nostalgia 1993

Telling you about my afternoon! I was going through my LVDs and there is one called 'Wagner Gala' with Claudio Abbado, the Berliners, Cheryl Studer, Waltraud Meier, Siegfried Jerusalem and Bryn Terfel! Surprise! Where did that one come from? I didn't remember having it. It's a 31 December 1993 New Year's celebration. 16 years ago, All the old Berliners are still with the orchestra, everybody is so young and good looking. And there is Studer! Mercy me! When Meier stood next to her singing the confrontation between Elsa and Ortrud, Meier looked like a Barbie Doll! I had the feeling Waltraud was still working on making this one of her very own roles; not quite as good yet as the later ones, but still very impressive. I had so much fun watching this young Bryn Terfel! 16 years ago, very big face but a slim figure with lovely shoulder-length curly blond hair. And he was so happy with the roaring applause, just stood straight, taking it all in, his eyes roving to every section of the hall, smiling, and finally managed to bow once or twice. He was not a bad Hans Sachs already then in the Fliedermonolog.

Then came Jerusalem and Meier as Siegmund und Sieglinde, the big last part of Walküre's Act I, over 18 minutes of it, wonderful those two together. But the biggest hit for me, was the last one: The Ride of the Walkyries - that's what it says on the album cover! - only the orchestra. I don't remember ever having seen it played as a concert piece, only in an opera with the stage teeming with those assorted females cavorting around. The cameras did a beautiful job showing all the musicians, alone, in groups, all of their faces or only their fingers on their instruments, great camera work. And the sound! Ceiling rattling here! After the last note, Abbado just stood there as if he just finished the Boston Marathon!

At the very end I remembered the disc because when the four soloists descend stairs in the background, Jerusalem steps on Studer's long train, tried to support himself on the blank wall and goes down to his knees. Camera cuts away, I hope nobody got hurt.

It would be nice if this performance would be released on DVD!

I have that one on VHS, and the overture to Tannhauser is particularly rocking!

[Brünnhilde forever]

Somehow Claudio Abbado turned those Wagner overtures into a rousing New Year's celebration! Andy, have you ever heard the Ride of the Walküres performed like that? Perfect way to send audience, listeners and watchers off into a New Year.