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Content by Archie
Commentateur n° : 6,735
Votes Utiles:
6
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Reviews Written by
Archie (Ottawa ON Canada)
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Reviewer Rank:
6735 |
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
transcendent, Oct 27 2008
Abbado's Lucerne Festival Orchestra is arguably one of the all time best. The players are hand-picked by him for the Lucerne Festival and include soloists, principals from some of the foremost orchestras, and several quartets. They have been meeting for the past number of Lucerne Festivals; and EuroArts has released DVDs of their performances of Mahler's Symphonies 2, 5, 6 and 7. Now Mahler's 3rd has just been released.
Much has been written in reviews of the previous releases about this wonderful orchestra which enthusiastically assembles annually. Most of the players know and admire their colleagues, and this certainly comes out in their playing. One reviewer said that they play like a large chamber orchestra. Because I would advise anyone reading this review to get all the previous productions, take the opportunity to read the many glowing reviews of their performances. Therefore I will not reiterate them here. This performance is arguably the best of them all.
I have not experienced all the recordings of Mahlers 3rd, but I am sure that this would be right up there with the very best of those as well. 24 hours after playing this DVD, I can still feel the effects.
Claudio Abbado takes this wonderful orchestra through all the dynamic and tempo changes under great control and pace. There are so many individual solo bits for all of the instruments, that having an orchestra full of such accomplished musicians is an enormous advantage. As with the recording of Mahlers 2nd, Anna Larsson is the mezzo, and she does a splendid job.
If I have any complaint at all about this production it is that the offstage posthorn player, Hannes Laubin, who seems to have put his soul into his 3rd movement performance, does not get a soloist credit. He does take the curtain calls with Anna Larsson; but for what he has done, he should have more.
The only word I can think of to sum up this performance (and technical production) is TRANSCENDENT.
A must have!!
Archie
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Have a Valium, Dec 5 2002
Come on, chaps. Relax. Do not get hung up on a little bit of nudity. In the context, it is most appropriate.The Duke is not a nice man. His courtiers are not nice people. What goes on is not nice. This is a very powerful visual representation of what is going on; and the orchestra bopping away in the background in the first scene heightens the on-stage tension. Not to put too fine a point on it, this is a truly great interpretation and production. It is all of a piece. The singers can act (or should it be the actors can sing) and it fits together musically, dramatically and visually. I would consider it a "must" buy.
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Werther
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| DVD ~ Libor Dvorsky |
| Price: CDN$ 23.49 |
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| Availability: Usually ships in 3 to 5 weeks |
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Another great Weigl production, Aug 13 2002
There is little I can add to the review by Noam Eitan regarding the artistic merits of this production. I have been an unabashed fan of Petr Weigl ever since I obtained his productions of "Eugene Onegin", "The Turn of the Screw", "A Village Romeo and Juliet" in VHS format (all, alas, delisted). Cinematic interpretations of operas are, I believe, another artistic approach to these works. Even the live performance recordings come close to this freedom with elaborate sets and camera play. Admittedly Weigl tends to abridge and perhaps offends the purists, but he does end up with a very tight production. (After all, even in live productions, cuts are often made -- sometimes for no greater reason than to avoid paying overtime.) Opera is theatre and Weigl brings it all to life. His actors all look the part, can really act, and do more than lip-synch -- they sing on the set, although their voices are not used. Most importantly, he has a great sense of setting, costumes, and camera angles. However, in this production of Werther, he uses Dvorsky and Fassbaender visually as well as vocally, and very marvellous they both are.
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Weigl is wonderful, Aug 13 2002
I have been an unabashed fan of Petr Weigl even since I obtained his productions of "Eugene Onegin", "The Turn of the Screw", "A Village Romeo and Juliet" in VHS format (all, alas, delisted).Cinematic interpretations of operas are, I believe, another artistic approach to these works. Even the live performance recordings come close to this freedom with elaborate sets and camera play. Admittedly Weigl tends to abridge and perhaps offends the purists, but he does end up with a very tight production. (After all, even in live productions, cuts are often made -- sometimes for no greater reason than to avoid paying overtime. Opera is theatre and Weigl brings it all to life. His actors all look the part, can really act, and do more than lip-synch -- they sing on the set, although their voices are not used. Most importantly, he has a great sense of setting, costumes, and camera angles. Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk is a very vivid, emotional, opera. I understand that Shostakovitch planned it to be the first of three about the plight of Russian women through the ages. Unfortunately, Stalin had a hissy fit and Shostakovitch wrote no more operas. This production does great justice to the work. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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