Opera on DVD

Started by uffeviking, April 08, 2007, 12:54:48 AM

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uffeviking

Quote from: Anne on July 31, 2007, 01:14:13 PM
Dearest Uffe,
  (Have you even heard the Performance?)

If this is a discussion among all of us, I cannot stand by and not stand up for a performance that IMHO is very good.  Peace!   ;D

Yes, Dear Anne, I have watched this DVD, once, and put it up for sale in my amazonMarketplace account!  ;D

Of course you should stand up for a performance you deem to be good, I am not denying you this right, I only wish you would acknowledge the fact other opera houses also know how to present a great performance. Have you tried any others?  ???

Maciek

Can it be true? Has no one really watched an opera DVD in the last... almost 3 weeks?! :o OK, I haven't - but I've only posted once before in this thread anyway. ::) This is just a reminder-bump from me. ;D

bhodges

Quote from: Maciek on August 20, 2007, 12:02:07 PM
Can it be true? Has no one really watched an opera DVD in the last... almost 3 weeks?! :o OK, I haven't - but I've only posted once before in this thread anyway. ::) This is just a reminder-bump from me. ;D

I still have Langgaard's Antikrist in the queue...it's a little slow this week so maybe I'll get around to it.  ;D

--Bruce

uffeviking

Quote from: Maciek on August 20, 2007, 12:02:07 PM
Can it be true? Has no one really watched an opera DVD in the last... almost 3 weeks?!

It's NOT true, dearest Maciek!

Scroll up - or down - and you will have a chance to read about one of the most exciting opera DVDs I have experienced in a long time, even an opera by a composer sometimes accused of writing 'organ grinder' music!

Go read my review of Il Trovatore!  ;D

marvinbrown

Quote from: Maciek on August 20, 2007, 12:02:07 PM
Can it be true? Has no one really watched an opera DVD in the last... almost 3 weeks?! :o OK, I haven't - but I've only posted once before in this thread anyway. ::) This is just a reminder-bump from me. ;D

  Sadly in my case it is true Maciek.  I am on holiday in Spain at the moment and I do not have a DVD player nor any opera DVDs to view  :'(.

  marvin

Anne

I've watched the Orfeo ed Euridice DVD from Glyndebourne with Janet Baker.  What a classic!
I also have a CD for the same opera with Marilyn Horne.  IMO Horne's voice does not fit the music like Baker's but Pilar Lorengar on the Horne CD is terrific!  She soars up to the high notes so effortlessly.

Maciek

I'm actually in the market for a good Orfeo ed Euridice currently so thanks very much for those comments, Anne - they're very welcome! :D

yashin

We are really spoilt for choice these days with opera on DVD.  I was worried a few years ago when the big companies stopped producing much in the way of opera on CD.  Luckily DVDs have replaced them.

Here are some of the offerings just out/coming soon.

Opus Arte have a new Cav and Pag with Galouzine playing Canio and La Scola Playing Turiddu.  Maria Bayo will partner Galouzine as Nedda and Urmana will play Santuzza. This looks like a good one to me. We need a decent Cav and Pag with so little competition out there.

Also on this label we have a new Il Trovatore from Breganz.  Carl Tanner is the Troubadour and Iano Tamar sings Leonora.  Any Il Trovatore is good but this one had mixed reviews i believe.

TDK have some mouth watering DVDs coming out.

Dialogues des Carmélites conducted by Muti with Sets by Robert Carson.

Jenufa
with Marton and Stemme. This came out a month or so ago.  I welcome any version of this opera and these two stage animals should be great to watch.  There is of course a classic DVD from Glyndebourne which is number 1.

Pique Dame from Paris 2005 with Galouzine as Hermann partnered by Hasmik Papian.  At least 2 decent versions of this opera exist on DVD.  This was well received in the opera house so it should be good to watch.  Galouzine is probably the best Hermann of recent times.

Il Trittico from Modena 2007.  Not many big names in this cast.  However this opera has been poorly served on DVD so this is very welcome.

Tosca - Cedolins and Alvarez with Raimondi as Scarpia at the Arena in Verona. Cedolins got a mauling for her Butterfly with Giordani which was released a while back.  I decided not to buy it after watching clips on Youtube. However, Cedolins was a superb Leonora in Il Trovatore and Marcello Alvarez has a beautiful tenor voice.  Raimondi is an excellent Scarpia on the Opus Arte DVD with Dessi and Armiliato so i look forward to this one.

Now, lets hope that these two companies keep the price down. We need less glossy booklets with nothing in them but screenshots and more info about the production and concepts.

I see that Belair classiques has a new DVD of Mozarts Die Entfuhrung aus dem serail from Aix-en-Provence.  Not sure why after they have another excellent one a year or so ago.

They also have Prokofiev's Love of Three Oranges.  I have never seen this and i know there is a very good DVD from Amsterdam on Opus Arte.

I like Belair classique releases.  Good price.  Excellent productions from Zurich or Aix and very informative booklets.

All mouthwatering releases i think

uffeviking

Quote from: yashin on August 23, 2007, 06:22:01 PM

Also on this label we have a new Il Trovatore from Breganz.  Carl Tanner is the Troubadour and Iano Tamar sings Leonora.  Any Il Trovatore is good but this one had mixed reviews i believe.


Evidently you have not read my review of this Trovatore! Nothing ''mixed' about it. Thumbs up from me all the way!  ;D

Small point: the correct spelling of the name of the town is Bregenz; natives are picky about that!  ;D

yashin

Thanks, i will look back at your review.  I did read some mixed reviews though.  I was very interested in the Il Trovatore recording but after reading the reviews i thought i would give it a miss.

uffeviking

The reason you overlooking my review could be because I titled it 'A Stage on a Lake' or something similar!  :-[

Lethevich

I just finished watching Offenbach - La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (Piau, Beuron, Le Roux/Minkowski/Virgin) and it's probably the best production I've so far seen on DVD - immaculate in every way, wonderful costumes, makeup and choreography - also a very convincing overall look to the conception: a lot of updated productions look disparate or odd to some degree. Just a fine spectacle, and a lot of fun to watch.

Can anyone recommend any other DVDs which provide a very good spectacle? I found Die Soldaten, Boris Godunov (Gergiev), Die lustige Witwe (Welser-Möst/Arthaus), Falstaff (Solti/DG studio film) to be similarly sumptuously conceived.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

marvinbrown

Quote from: Lethe on September 02, 2007, 08:49:05 PM

Can anyone recommend any other DVDs which provide a very good spectacle? I found Die Soldaten, Boris Godunov (Gergiev), Die lustige Witwe (Welser-Möst/Arthaus), Falstaff (Solti/DG studio film) to be similarly sumptuously conceived.

   Yes Lethe,  R. Stauss' Elektra (Bohm/DG studio film) and Wagner's Meistersinger (Levine/DG MET). The Bohm Elektra is a must see....it is remarkable! 

  marvin
   

Lethevich

#233
Quote from: marvinbrown on September 03, 2007, 01:29:43 PM
   Yes Lethe,  R. Stauss' Elektra (Bohm/DG studio film) and Wagner's Meistersinger (Levine/DG MET). The Bohm Elektra is a must see....it is remarkable! 

  marvin

Hehe, how strange :) I actually own both of those :D* I've yet to watch either - the Meistersinger as I'm experiencing serious Wagner/enjoyment issues ATM (but I'll keep working on him - and I suppose Meistersinger is the easiest of his mature pieces to get into), and I got briefly put off Elektra by another DVD (Dohnányi, TDK) that I didn't particularly like. I'll try the Elektra ASAP, thanks :)

*I was going to say that my collection wasn't even particularly large, but then I actually counted it... kind of a surprise: 58 single operas, and the 11 DVD La Scala collection on Opus Arte (as it was so cheap at the time). Bloody hell...

Edit: And on the subject of Böhm's Strauss, can anyone compare the new Salome to the Elektra? Grammophone gave the Salome a surprisingly poor review - I could make a summary of it if anyone is interested.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

Anne

#234
Lethe,

The third(last) act of Die Meistersinger is extremely easy to like.

The first act is a little more work.  Start with David.  He has a motif that is heard whenever he speaks or his name is mentioned (it's located in the first 2-3 minutes of the opera itself; I don't mean Prelude).  Pogner has a motif also.  I think Beckmesser has a motif also.  Find them and it will be easier for you to enjoy the opera.  For sure, other people here can give you some more suggestions for help.

If you can ever find the recording by Rafael Kubelik and the Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, grab it.  It is very good.  I purchased mine when the Calig label was selling it.

Here is the cast:
Hans Sachs - Thomas Stewart
Pogner - Franz Crass
Beckmesser - Thomas Hemsley
Kothner - Keith Engen
Walther - Sandor Konya
David - Gerhard Unger
Eva - Gundula Janowitz
Magdalene - Birgitte Fassbaender

Lethevich

Thank you :) I'll try Meistersinger soon and listen for that motif.

Marvin: I watched the first half of Böhm''s Elektra yesterday - wow. I didn't expect the set to be so large, or the rain to be so heavy. Some parts reminded me a lot of the Japanese "Ring" film series in look. It must be closer to the original stage directions as well, as it was much easier to understand than the other DVD I had watched (in which Klytemnästra didn't first appear safely blocked from Elektra before going down to her - she just stood further across the stage initially, for eg).
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

uffeviking

The Karl Böhm Elektra is a film version, not an opera stage production, which explains what you perceive to be a huge set. This fact does not at all discredit the outstanding performance by all. Götz Friedrich is one of the best directors we have.

Lethevich

Quote from: uffeviking on September 04, 2007, 07:01:20 AM
The Karl Böhm Elektra is a film version, not an opera stage production, which explains what you perceive to be a huge set. This fact does not at all discredit the outstanding performance by all. Götz Friedrich is one of the best directors we have.

Oops, calling it a set may have been deceptive - I knew it was a film, but even knowing that, the big location was a surprise. A really impressive film, and well-acted (Klytemnästra was scarilly unhinged) :D I wonder if this is the kind of thing that Wagner would approve of if he were around nowadays, with his plan of "total synthesis" of visual and musical.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

Anne

Quote from: yashin on August 23, 2007, 06:22:01 PM
We are really spoilt for choice these days with opera on DVD.  I was worried a few years ago when the big companies stopped producing much in the way of opera on CD.  Luckily DVDs have replaced them.

Here are some of the offerings just out/coming soon.

Opus Arte have a new Cav and Pag with Galouzine playing Canio and La Scola Playing Turiddu.  Maria Bayo will partner Galouzine as Nedda and Urmana will play Santuzza. This looks like a good one to me. We need a decent Cav and Pag with so little competition out there.

Also on this label we have a new Il Trovatore from Breganz.  Carl Tanner is the Troubadour and Iano Tamar sings Leonora.  Any Il Trovatore is good but this one had mixed reviews i believe.

TDK have some mouth watering DVDs coming out.

Dialogues des Carmélites conducted by Muti with Sets by Robert Carson.

Jenufa
with Marton and Stemme. This came out a month or so ago.  I welcome any version of this opera and these two stage animals should be great to watch.  There is of course a classic DVD from Glyndebourne which is number 1.

Pique Dame from Paris 2005 with Galouzine as Hermann partnered by Hasmik Papian.  At least 2 decent versions of this opera exist on DVD.  This was well received in the opera house so it should be good to watch.  Galouzine is probably the best Hermann of recent times.

Il Trittico from Modena 2007.  Not many big names in this cast.  However this opera has been poorly served on DVD so this is very welcome.

Tosca - Cedolins and Alvarez with Raimondi as Scarpia at the Arena in Verona. Cedolins got a mauling for her Butterfly with Giordani which was released a while back.  I decided not to buy it after watching clips on Youtube. However, Cedolins was a superb Leonora in Il Trovatore and Marcello Alvarez has a beautiful tenor voice.  Raimondi is an excellent Scarpia on the Opus Arte DVD with Dessi and Armiliato so i look forward to this one.

Now, lets hope that these two companies keep the price down. We need less glossy booklets with nothing in them but screenshots and more info about the production and concepts.

I see that Belair classiques has a new DVD of Mozarts Die Entfuhrung aus dem serail from Aix-en-Provence.  Not sure why after they have another excellent one a year or so ago.

They also have Prokofiev's Love of Three Oranges.  I have never seen this and i know there is a very good DVD from Amsterdam on Opus Arte.

I like Belair classique releases.  Good price.  Excellent productions from Zurich or Aix and very informative booklets.

All mouthwatering releases i think

yashin,

Do you know where to find a list of what opera recordings Belair Classique offers?

knight66

DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.