Description

Aida
A spectacular Covent Garden production of Verdi's most popular opera featuring Cheryl Studer and Dennis O'Neill. Also starring Luciana d'Intino, Alexandru Agache, Robert Lloyd, Mark Beesley, John Marsden, and Yvonne Barclay. Edward Downes conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

Otello
Superstar tenor Placido Domingo performs one of his signature roles in this thrilling Covent Garden production of Verdi's operatic tale of jealous love. Starring Dame Kiri Te Kanawa as Desdemona, Sergei Leiferkus as Iago, and conducted by Sir Georg Solti. Also starring Roderick Earle, Robin Leggate, Ramon Remedios, Claire Powell, Christopher Lackner, and Mark Beesley. Sung in Italian with English subtitles.

Un Ballo in Maschera
Placido Domingo stars in this powerful Royal Opera House production of Verdi's great romantic opera. Domingo is memorable in the role of Gustavus, with Katia Ricciarelli as Amelia. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House gives a superb performance of Verdi's score under the baton of conductor Claudio Abbado.

La Forza del Destino
Taped live at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Valery Gergiev conducts this landmark production of Giuseppe Verdi's operatic masterpiece. This opera premiered at the Maryinsky Theatre in 1862, and is performed here in its original St. Petersburg version using reconstructions of the magnificent painted scenery. Starring Galina Gorchakova. Also starring Nikolai Putilin, Gegam Grigorian, and Marianna Tarasova.

Stiffelio
Jose Carreras stars in the lead role with Catherine Malfitano in this Royal Opera performance of Verdi's dramatic opera. Also starring Catherine Malfitano, Gregory Yurisich, Gwynne Howell, Adele Paxton, Robin Leggate, and Lynton Atkinson. Conductor: Edward Downes.

Luisa Miller
June Anderson gives a moving performance as the ill-fated Luisa in this Opera National de Lyon production of Verdi's tale of jealousy and deception. Jacques Lassalle's production also features Taro Ichihara (tenor) as Rodolfo, Paul Plishka (bass) as Count Walter, and Edouard Tumagian (baritone) as Miller. Maurizio Arena conducts the Lyon National Opera Orchestra and Chorus. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This is a highly professional, sometimesoutstanding production of one of Verdi's greatest operas. With lavish staging by Franco Zeffirelli and distinguished performances by Luciano Pavarotti (Don Carlo) and Samuel Ramey (King Philip), as well as the La Scala Orchestra and Chorus, under Riccardo Muti, it can be recommended as the best available DVD edition of the four-act version that Verdi prepared in response to complaints about the production expense and the length (nearly four hours) of his five-act original.

The hard choice for a prospective owner is between the four-act andthe five-act versions. Riccardo Muti, like most conductors today,omits the first act, set in the forest of Fontainebleau, in whichDon Carlo meets and falls in love with the French PrincessElisabeth, who was his fiancée but instead, tragically, becomes hisstepmother. This is a serious omission of thematically powerfulmaterial, and James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera includeit, beautifully produced, in their all-star video with Placido Domingoin the title role. --Joe McLellan ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good Don Carlo.
I still prefer The Met production with Domingo, however, I bought this for Sam Ramey's performance as King and certainly wasn't disappointed! He was great! Dessi was a pleasant surprise as Elizabetta! Enjoyed her performance very much! Pav is much better than usual, thinner and more animated. It was well known that his voice cracked on a high note during one of the performances of this run without anyone mentioning the thousands he has hit and, of course, the audience booed. If it was during this one, they fixed with dubbing. Why any major stars put up with the audience behavior at La Scala and Muti's tantrums is still a mystery. The only weak voice was Cano's as Rodrigo - too much vibrato for my taste but his acting was acceptable. Sets were grand if somewhat lifeless. The costumes were beautiful but somewhat colorless which gave the whole effect a dark and somber look. The minor characters were well sung and the orchestra sometimes too loud but colored nicely and chorus sounded just fine. Enjoyed it as a different version when I'm tire of watching The Met and the French verson from the Chatelet in Paris. Both of which I rank above this one. A definite good buy if Pav and Dessi fan and a "must have" if you love Ramey! I look forward to sharing it with friends who haven't seen it and consider it a worth addition to the collection. ... Read more

Amazon.com

If his life had not been so tragically short, GiovanniBattista Pergolesi (1710-1736) might have become a friend ofMozart. Musically, he is a predecessor. He used the idioms ofbaroque comic opera (which were much more flexible than the rigidforms of opera seria) to convey emotional depths as well ashilarity. Sometimes he anticipates Mozart's style a half-centurylater. Most of the time, Lo Frate 'Nnamorato (using a Neapolitan dialectthat makes the subtitles doubly welcome) is a delightfully melodiousromp through standard opera buffa situations: servants are smarterthan their masters, old men scheme to marry young women who findingenious ways to resist patriarchal pressure, young lovers havesilly quarrels. The music is splendid and beautifully performed.There is much virtuoso singing and Ricardo Muti stylishly conducts a smallorchestra of period instruments. The visual elements--sets,costumes, and acting--are all excellent. Baroque comic opera hasbeen underrepresented in video recordings, but this outstandingproduction does a lot to make amends. --Joe McLellan ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Buy this opera for the singing alone
This 3 hour opera purports to be 100% Pergolesi. I wouldn't want to have to swear to that, but certainly the music is quite nice and is baroque with a few classical touches. R. Muti conducts a portion of the La Scala orchestra along with arch lutes, theorbos, and harpsichord. The playing is very good, though the string sound is more what I expect of a more modern period. I won't list all the singers, none of whom I recognize except for the Marcaniello (Alessandro Corbelli). There are 6 almost equally important soprano roles and each is sung extremely well. Several of the sopranos are so good that you can only wish the opera were longer so that you could here more. The male roles are well sung and the Marcaniello is excellent for the comic old codger role. While the plot is inconsequential, the comedy is very well done.

Italian baroque opera treat....lose a star for dvd transfer
The sound is excellent, the menu is good, the performance is delightful. I turned up the "sharpness" on my Sony 7000 player to compensate for softness. Fortunately, the lighting is great which helps. I think that the softness is the result of a less than premium conversion from the European video system. Nevertheless this kind of thing must be enormously expensive to produce. We should be thankfull to IMAGE for it. I love the disk. I look forward to some "DDD" (all digital) opera dvds of 1998 performances. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In its first video recording, the unfamiliar opera that follows the ultra-familiar overture is presented uncut--four hours of music, which seem shorter thanks to powerful conducting, virtuoso singing, and imaginative staging that often suggests more than it actually shows. Instead of scenery, a sense of time and place is evoked by projections of Swiss scenes on three large screens, and well-used props and costumes (of Rossini's era, not the Middle Ages where the action is usually set). The music is uneven but always effective and often splendid. The solo singers are good--particularly Chris Merritt in a very challenging role--and the orchestra and chorus are superb. --Joe McLellan ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Released under a differnt lable in the UK
If you are a serious Rossini fan, then this UNcut Gugliemo Tell broadcast is a must have. Although this DVD has been out of print for at least a year... and very hard to find... (and yet not worth the $239 or such price tag I saw here on amazon) well simply go to amazon.co.uk and see that Opus Arte is releasing old LaScala broadcasts. I bought it and to my suprise.. they had gone back to the original source from RAI so its actually a nicer quality then the old Image DVDs. It is NTSC not the PAL as listed so it will play in the US. Hope that you enjoy its a great performance.

Stunning production, superbly conducted
This video is a wonderful document of a beautifully conceived production of this monumental opera. The use of enormous screens to project scenes from the mountains of Switzerland is superbly handled, frequently breathtaking, and the visuals always complement the mood of what is taking place on stage. (I am contrasting this to a dreadfully silly production at the San Francisco Opera that put the performers on a spinning turntable for no discernible reason at the end of the opera.) Musically the performance is very exciting, and competes well with the variously available studio recordings for overall quality, especially due to Muti's sensational conducting. All the singing is good, but the complex choral passages are particularly thrilling, and obviously thoroughly rehearsed. You'll finish this one hoping you can get a chance to see the same production on stage someday.

At Last! An Uncut William Tell!
Finally, to be able to see a full-length production of Rossini's final opera is a must for any full-fledged operaphile. The principals are equally wonderful and sing with a true dedication to the work. The production is modern and traditional at the same time using, as it does, motion pictures of the Swiss countryside rather than painted scenery. Even the ballets are included and they are charming, especially the one in the First Act. As with all La Scala DVDs, we get the quality of the original videotape with its somewhat fuzzy focus, yet the sound is much improved.

Poor picture quality
The picture quality is very poor. At times the scenes are so dark you can hardly see anything. The singing and music are very good, but this is a waste of the DVD format. ... Read more