SuperHeroBooks - Opera Highlights Vol. III - Elektra, Salome, Capriccio, Tannhauser, Cosi fan Tutte, Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail

	List Price: $21.98 Our Price: $34.41 Your Save: $ ( % ) Availability: Manufacturer: ArtHaus Musik Starring: Bryn Terfel, Waltraud Meier, Christine Schafer, Kiri Te Kanawa, Paul Groves Directed By: Luc Bondy
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Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD EAN: 0807280205190 Format: Classical Label: ArtHaus Musik Manufacturer: ArtHaus Musik Number Of Discs: 1 Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: ArtHaus Musik Region Code: 0 Release Date: 2007-07-31 Running Time: 86 Studio: ArtHaus Musik Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Highlights from Austro-German Operas Comment: This is the third in the series of 'Opera Highlights' from ArtHaus Musik. This series contains excerpts from full-length opera DVDs all of which are otherwise available. Generally speaking these discs contain arias or scenes that are extractable without too much difficulty. They are not necessarily, though, the best known arias from their respective operas. As Amazon has not listed the precise contents on this DVD I shall do so. (I might point out that the DVD box does not list precise provenance data about these excerpts and I have added some of what I could find out, mostly by carefully studying the end credits on each segment of the DVD itself.) And I will add a few comments here and there. Each aria is preceded by a spoken introduction by the singer involved (except for Schäfer's aria, which is introduced by conductor Marc Minkowski) From 'Entführung aus dem Serail' (Salzburg Festival, 1999): 1. Franz Hawlata, as Osmin, singing 'Solche hergelaufne Laffen' from Act I and 'O wie will ich triumphieren' from Act III. A modern dress version of 'Abduction from the Seraglio' which nonetheless has the characters in the Pasha's palace dressed in quasi-Arab dress. Hawlata is in good voice but he doesn't have quite the bass heft required particularly in the second aria. 2. Christine Schäfer singing Konstanze's 'Martern aller Arten' in the longer version of this florid and difficult aria. She really doesn't quite have the laserlike coloratura required but she is dramatically and generally musically effective. Not surprisingly the four instrumentalists featured in this aria -- flute, oboe, violin, cello all from the Vienna Philharmonic -- are outstanding. 3. Paul Groves, as Belmonte in the final aria 'Wenn der Freude Tränen fliessen'. I had not been that familiar with Groves but this is a superb performance of this joyous aria. From 'Così fan tutte' (Australian Opera, 1995): 1. Yvonne Kenny, as Fiordiligi, singing a moving 'Per pietà ben mio perdona'. From 'Tannhäuser' (Munich Opera, 1995) 1. Waltraud Meier singing Venus's 'Geliebter, komm! Sieh dort die Grotte!' in striking fashion. And she looks fabulous as Venus! 2. René Kollo, as Tannhäuser, singing 'Inbrunst im Herzen'. He sounds wobbly and tired. He was actually probably too old to be singing the part at this point in his career, in my opinion. From 'Salome' (Covent Garden, 1997) 1. Bryn Terfel singing Jokanaan's 'Wo ist er, dessen Sündenbecher jetzt voll ist?' fabulously and looking appropriately wild-eyed, as if he'd been in that cave for a looooong time. Great performance. From 'Elektra' (Vienna State Opera, 1995) 1. Brigitte Fassbänder singing Klytemnestra's 'Ich habe keine guten Nächte' (and joined for a few lines by Eva Marton as Elektra, in good voice). Extraordinary makeup for Fassbänder, scary even. And she is marvelous. The conducting by Claudio Abbado and the playing of the VSO orchestra is superb. From 'Capriccio' (San Francisco Opera, 1993) 1. Kiri te Kanawa as the Countess in her final scene, some of Strauss's loveliest music for soprano and it fits te Kanawa's voice like a glove. A magnificent performance. So, with the exception of a couple of sort-of-clunkers, this is a pretty darn good DVD of bleeding chunks (and I'm never one to turn my nose up at excerpts from operas). Sound: PCM stereo; Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish; TT: 86mins; Picture format: 4:3/4:3 letterbox; Region code: 0 worldwide; DVD9/NTSC Scott Morrison More Reviews
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