DVD : Handel - Rodelinda / Roschmann, Chance, Palmer, Nilon, Robson, Chiummo, Bolton, Munich Opera |
|
|
see more
Rating:  - * Roschmann is perfect! ... I love this opera, and recordings of it are in short supply, so I actually bought this DVD (and the Glyndebourne one as well) just to hear some different renditions of this wonderful music. Both DVDs are good, but Roschmann's singing is a revelation! Anna Caterina Antonacci, on Glyndebourne's DVD, is a bit stretched by the tessitura of the part, but Roschmann has the coloratura, volume, and luminous shimmering tone that sets her apart from any other voice I have heard in the role. Her acting is also less stilted, although I think that has more to do with the productions they are in (the Glyndebourne is set in a sort of 1920's silent film Hollywood milieu). The Glyndebourne production is better overall, and better cast overall (Scholl is much better than Chance is here), but this one is still essential. The production here (Dir. David Alden) is really not THAT bad, and he doesn't betray the basic plot or emotions that the libretto calls for, but it is just a little silly sometimes (Garibaldo forces Bertarido into the trunk of a car after the duet "Io t'abraccio"). This silliness never touches Roschmann, however, who Alden respects and gives dignified stage direction. Anyway, even if the production were awful, it would still merit five stars for Roschmann's Rodelinda recorded in CD quality sound. Felicity Palmer's singing of Eduige's arias is exciting, and she acts the part well, especially given some of the silly stage business (she seems to have a sort of violent relationship with Garibaldo). Chance's voice sounds very weak and quiet to me, especially in comparison to Palmer and Roschmann, but he acts very well and sings with style. Alden has him play the part as some kind of middle aged mafia don who is "on the run" for the moment, and he carries out some difficult stage business well ("con rauco marmorio" in Act two becomes a drunken lament as he slowly dances with a bottle in one hand--he is drowning his sorrows over Rodelinda's supposed infidelity...anyway, it's a difficult little piece of business that he pulls off well). Chiummo's Garibaldo is excellent on both the Glyndebourne DVD and this one. He is an enthusiastic performer who seems to love this role. Again, any fan of this opera should get this DVD if only for the audio track. It is worth 5 stars for the musical side alone. Rating:  - * It is not the worse Eurotrash ever ... The music of Rodelinda is glorious. The singers are great, I particularly liked the dramatic, almost... verista!!! :) , performance of Dorothea Roschmann and the delicate voice of Michael Chance. The interpretative (from the musical standpoint) aspects of this Rodelinda are great too. Yes Mr (or Mrs.)Didden (from Pennsilvania) it is Eurotrash at its best, I agree. But do not forget that it is a David Alden's production after all. However, it is not the worse attempt of this british stage director to ruin a Handel's opera. If you did not like this Rodelinda keep away from his other stagings of Ariodante (ENO) and Rinaldo (Munich?) otherwise you will be horrified!. I also hate his stage productions and I think the guy (David Alden) should be in jail or sued by Handel's heirs, but this Rodelinda is OK among his other disgraces. A bit too dark to my taste though. Anyway, after watching so many Eurotrash productions of Handel's operas (it seems that this is the most common way of staging them in Europe these days) I have developed a sort of inmune system (or thick skin) that allows me to enjoy the music and the musicians and forget everything else. By the way, about the comparisson Mrs. Didden makes between Glyndebourne and Munich's Bertarido's interpreters I cannot disagree more. I think Michael Chance is far more superior to Andreas Scholl in this role. The rendering of his fantastic second act aria "Con rauco mormorio" is unbeatable. He really acts the delicate dialog between the voice and the orchestra whereas Andreas Scholl does not seem to feel what he is singing. By the way do not get me wrong, I am a big fan of Andreas Scholl but think I should be fair here. Rating: - * A great performance ... I agree for the most part with the reviewer from Carlisle, PA. Having had a chance also to view and listen to the Glyndebourne DVD published by Kultur, I definitely prefer the Munich opera performance. Why? There are 2 main reasons: First and perhaps most importantly, the sound of the music on this DVD is very warm and much more brilliant than that of the Glyndebourne DVD. This may be due to different recording techniques and therefore be unrelated to the quality of the musicians. In fact, the singers in the Glyndebourne performances (especially Anna Antonacci and Andreas Scholl as Queen and rightful King) appear at least as good artistically as their Munich counterparts (Dorothea Roschmann and Michael Chance). Listening to the Munich performance, you feel as though you are in a theater auditorium. I don't have this feeling at all when playing the other DVD. Of course, one needs a high quality stereo system to appreciate the differences. Second, I like the more dramatic and passionate singing and playing of the Munich rendition. Rodelinda is a highly dramatic Italian opera ("dramma per musica"), and the great difference in this respect between the two performances becomes apparent as early as in Rodelinda's first aria at the beginning of Act 1. Perhaps Verdi himself would have approved of this performance! I disagree with the above reviewer on some minor points. With the aid of subtitles (provided in English, German, Italian, and Japanese), the plot does make sense, and in fact is quite interesting. Christopher Robson sings and plays his somewhat tricky dramatic role very well. What I do not like in the Munich performance is the staging but viewed against the overall quality of the DVD, this is not a major flaw. Rating: - * a voice teacher and early music fan ... THE TRULY MAGNIFICENT SINGING MUST BE THE FOCUS OF THIS PRODUCTION! 'Rodelinda' was first performed in the Haymarket Theater on February 13, 1725 (ten days before Handel's 40th birthday). The success was supposed to have been ecstatic, and his fame increased, He stood at the height of his art as an opera composer. David Alden has staged Handel's hymn to women's love in time of battle in a modern setting. He stages it somewhere in Italy in the 50's and turns it into a story of an occurrence in the Mafia. To my mind the story is not as important as the production itself. And it is indeed an excellent rendition by the singers as well as the orchestra. There are 7 characters one of whom is a young boy who really is only a "prop"; the son of the male lead Michael Chance, who plays Bertarido, and does it gloriously with his wonderful countertenor voice and his great dramatic sense. He plays the role of the tragic exile returning to his country incognito to regain what has been taken away from him: namely his wife and son and country. And he is stupendous in his portrayal as is Dorthea Roschmann in the role of the captive wife who has been taken over by the enemy, 'Grimoaldo' played by Paul Nilon who sings his part to perfection. I was particularly impressed with Felicity Palmer's role as Bertarido's sister who featured in his exile from his position of power. The only weak voice in the opera was Christopher Robson (also a countertenor). Dramatically he projected his character well, but his singing is really "poor". Taking all into consideration, it's quite exciting to watch made so by the SUPERIOR singing!!!! Rating: - * More Eurotrash Porduction Values ... I watched my copy of this production after I had seen a pirated copy of the Glyndebourne production and listened to the new cd set conducted by Alan Curtis. I also have the older LP set on Westminster, very admirably sung, and the cd set of the older still production with Sutherland etc. which I am going to listen to, soon. If this dvd were the only game in town, then I would advise the prospective viewer to go for it. However, with the announced dvd version from Glyndebourne, one would be advised to wait and watch a much better staging, with in most cases superior singing. Like the Munich production, the British is set in twentieth century, but the era seems closer to the twenties than the Munich's thirty's fascist Italy, which conceit is a bit strained anyway. Too bad we do not, and probably will not, have the new Met production with Fleming and Daniels; THAT would probably put these out of contention, but the british production is highly satisfactory in staging and singing, and above all, acting. The title role is well sung by both ladies, a bit more tremulously by Roschmann, but she sings expressively and with great beauty. With her stage sister, Eduige, the honors must go to Louise Winter, who chews up the scenery, but with much inuendo and dymanic. Felicity Palmer for Munich is fine but seems old and blowsy, the tone a bit frayed and doesn't seem to be as believeable a seductress. The villan,Garibaldo, is sung in BOTH productions by Umberto Chiumo, who does well in both houses, looking and acting the part to a "t", but Munich's director has him acting the Nazi thug more strenuously, seeming to be overdone to make a point. The userper, Grimoaldo, is better taken by Kurt Streit, who sings very well and looks more commanding in the part, but Munich's Paul Nilon sings well and acts well, but Streit is a little more believeable. Both boy roles are fine, as it is not a sung role anyway, but the younger boy for the Brits is more creditably vulnerable. I have left the two counter-tenor roles for last, because it here the the british production is noticeably superior: interestingly, the british have a german countertenor, and the germans have a british one. Andras Scholl is wonderful in tonal beauty and acting, while Michael Chance is, like Palmer, a bit over the hill. His voice is weaker and not as varied in expression. The other countertenors are not contested; Christopher Robson for Munich is weak and hooty, sounding like a bad "Dame Edna" or Monty Python drag, while the British singer is better and not played as caricature. Of the two stagings, if you like your up-datings eurotrashy, like many other productions coming out of Germany and sometimes England, than this is for you. I found it repugnant, hard to understand what they are driving at, stupid. If other viewers found it hard to understand what is going on in the Munich version, I can sympathsize. The dramaturgy is more understandable and believeable at Glyndebourne. Of COURSE opera plots are silly and implausible, but the british make a much greater case for character motivation and interaction. When the Munich production has the king saying he can't find the proffered sword for his escape because of the darkness, and is doing so in full stage light, common sense takes a backroad, as it does at many other points in this staging. If you haven't bought a version of this yet wait for the Glyndebourne, due at summer's end. If you bought the Munich and are unsatistied, as you SHOULD be, treat yourself to a MUCH finer representation of Handel's wonderful masterpiece. Not incidentally, the music is glorious and deserves our patient attention. As a postscript, both orchestras and conductors are fine; Mr. Bolton has a larger, more traditional size orchestra, while Mr. Christie does, as always, a superb job with his period group, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Enlightenment indeed! |
The real joy of the set, however, is nine NBA playoff games presented as they were originally broadcast and almost in their entirety. They last about 90-100 minutes with TV introductions and post-game interviews, but minus halftime, commercials, and some slower moments. The games include such absolute classics as the game in which rookie Magic Johnson started at center in place of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the 1987 "baby hook" game against the Boston Celtics. If you're used to watching current NBA games you might be tempted to just skip to the end, but it's surprisingly rewarding to watch the game develop, to watch the game's superstars strut their stuff (or see a couple of 1972 reserves named Phil Jackson and Pat Riley), and to observe how radically the sport has changed over the years. Variable picture quality and technical glitches are unavoidable (even the 2002 game looks washed out), but this is the first time complete or nearly complete NBA games have been available in the home-video era, and they probably still look better than the VHS tapes you've been saving over the years. Yes, it'd be easy to argue about which games from the Lakers' long history should have been included, and the highlight videos don't have a ton of replay value, but the NBA Dynasty series is a major milestone in archived sports. --David Horiuchi
