You need To Check this Mozart Figaro Cotrubas Pritchard Glyndebourne
The reviews I have read hailing Kiri Te Kanawa's performance were fully justified. She has a beautiful voice which she uses to effortlessly explore the full range of Mozart 's The Marriage of Figaro.
I would rate the overall sound quality a 4, considering the cast as a whole did not fully enunciate as loud as the accompanying orchestra. Other nitpicky things: The recitatives were overly fast, as if they were trying to rush through to the next song, and I thought Frederica von Stade was a bit too feminine for the part of Cherubino (yes, it's a female part playing a young boy, but again, that's my opinion).
The chemistry of the duets was exceptional. I part icularly enjoyed the Countess and Susanna singing the song to the air. Te Kanawa and Cotrubas sounded especially inspired. Again, the word "effortless" seems appropriate for such a beautiful performance.
The Marriage of Figaro is by far my favorite opera, and this is the third performance I have bought on DVD. Having worn out the DVD of the first performance I bought, I had to get different ones to appreciate the variations in other performances. And being resistant to change, I am always surprised when I prefer a subsequent performance to a previously viewed one. It is easy to see though, why this 30+ year old performance still retains a high demand with viewers. In short, it is a welcome addition to my collection, and I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteThis surpasses the old Guilini set as the best Figaro on record, either cd or dvd.
ReplyDeleteIts hard to imagine a better Susanna than Cotrubas in her prime, a better countess than Te Kanawa in her prime, and a better Cherubino than Von Stade in her prime. The other parts are nearly as good, with Luxon shining as one of the best counts ever. I found Skram's Figaro a bit dull, but its a very steady performance nonetheless. Bartolo, Marcellina, Alfonso and Barbarina are all excellent.
Pritchard's conducting is very sharp and disciplined, the kind of conducting that one can listen to over and over and never tire of. It does not have the hushed sense of magic that Guilini often evokes, but at the same time is more straight forward and less self-conscious. The playing is for the most part, immaculate. The wood wind shine especially, which means alot in Figaro.
Its also well staged and filmed rather naturally and has another benefit of excellent subtitles and switching of camera's to help make sense of the text for those new to the opera. Of course there is so much wit and fast comedy in Figaro, not everything can be captured, but they manage to get alot in, much more than, for example, Haitink's recent Glyndebourne Figaro which has very vague titles and poor camerawork.
With all these plusses, the minor minus of Skram's mediocre Figaro hardly detracts from this magnificent issue.
There is unfortunately however, a rather major minus: the sound quality. The whole thing seems to have been recorded with a pair of mikes sitting in the orchestra pit and the resulting sound is strident, completely lacking in dynamics. It starts to tax the ear that everyone seems to be singing and playing at the same volume all the time, and the soundstage is very cramped. You might be able to work some wonders with equalization, but I found the sound a rather large blot on this otherwise top shelf favorite of all my opera recordings.
Nevertheless, when you see and hear Cotrubas in the part she was born to play, playing it to perfection, or Te Kanawa capture the sorrow and nobility of the Countess so meetly, or Luxon's lovely suave voice matching his guilefull looks so well,I think you will agree this is still one of the best opera discs out there.
The reviews I have read hailing Kiri Te Kanawa's performance were fully justified. She has a beautiful voice which she uses to effortlessly explore the full range of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.
ReplyDeleteI would rate the overall sound quality a 4, considering the cast as a whole did not fully enunciate as loud as the accompanying orchestra. Other nitpicky things: The recitatives were overly fast, as if they were trying to rush through to the next song, and I thought Frederica von Stade was a bit too feminine for the part of Cherubino (yes, it's a female part playing a young boy, but again, that's my opinion).
The chemistry of the duets was exceptional. I particularly enjoyed the Countess and Susanna singing the song to the air. Te Kanawa and Cotrubas sounded especially inspired. Again, the word "effortless" seems appropriate for such a beautiful performance.
The Marriage of Figaro is by far my favorite opera, and this is the third performance I have bought on DVD. Having worn out the DVD of the first performance I bought, I had to get different ones to appreciate the variations in other performances. And being resistant to change, I am always surprised when I prefer a subsequent performance to a previously viewed one. It is easy to see though, why this 30+ year old performance still retains a high demand with viewers. In short, it is a welcome addition to my collection, and I highly recommend it.
This production is a delight from start to finish. It has really great singing and acting from everyone.
ReplyDeleteI had the pleasure seing Knut Skram at the Norwegian Opera in Tosca and Flying Dutchman as Scarpia and the Dutchman and it was simply stunning. What a great actor and singer he is. His performance of Scarpia was his farewell performance, so the world won't be seeing him again on stage. Therefore we are so fortunate to have his Figaro on this performance. His great abilities as an actor is in full effect and his singing is top notch too. He has done so much on the Norwegian Opera's stage, practically every major baritone role in the German and Italian repetory.
Ilena Cotrubas is also totally great as Susanna. This has to be one of the most convincing performances of the role on DVD and record. Kiri Te Kanawa's Countess is also such a delight. It was just the beginning of a brilliant career and she proves here that she was the reigning Countess for the next couple of decades.
Benjamin Luxon was also extremely good as the Count. I had never heard of him before, but he had the appropriate mixture of noblity and arrogance making his plead for forgiveness at the end all the more effective. Frederica von Stade was also the most convincing Cerubino I have seen and heard. Her acting and singing alike are so much at the heart of the boy page who has hormones going all over the place. The Marcellina and Bartolo duo was also exceptionally good.
John Pritchard's conducting was so in tune with the great demands of Mozart's great opera, mixing great lyrical and comical moment perfectly. It was also a delight that the whole 4th act was done with both Marcellina's and Basilio's arias, which are normally cut.
The sound here is really good. It is presented in PCM stereo sound. The picture is also quite good. The colors are a bit too saturated, but it is very good considering that it is 30 years old.
This DVD is very highly recommended to all lovers of this great opera.
This DVD is a treasure. Perhaps one of the best productions ever. Terrific cast, great direction, wonderful music interpretation, great acting and singing. I am personally quite taken with some of the Met productions I've seen, but this is right up there with them, and in some cases (Contrubas' Susanna, Skram's Figaro), this production exceeds any of the Met performances I've heard. Of course, Frederica von Stade is THE definitive Cherubino, in singing and acting, and Kiri Te Kanawa is brilliant as the Countess.
ReplyDeleteThis is a truly lovely jewel-box of a production that is a triumph of simplicity and traditionalism. "Concept" opera can work, don't get me wrong, but what a treat it is to sit back and wallow in the pleasures of a beautifully staged, designed and -- most importantly -- sung performance as this. There isn't a weak link in the cast. Particularly, Cotrubas may be the best Susanna ever, shining with an inner radiance that brings a smile to your face whenever she's on stage. And Te Kanawa is as beautiful as ever, her customary richness of tone and heartbreaking expressiveness solidly on display. The director has given the perfomance terrific pace and momentum (as does Pritchard in the pit) and has gotten his singers to be terrific actors as well. I was concerned that the picture quality would not be the best (given that this is 30 year old video), but it's clear as can be. The audio is less than wonderful at times (not too bad and not for too long), but that may simply be my copy. In any event, look no further if you want a "Figaro" for the ages, one that honors the intent and brilliance of its creators.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first dabbled into Le Nozze di Figaro I decided to start at the library. I chose the version from the two they had because:
ReplyDelete1. It has Kiri Te Kanawa- one of my favorite opera singers of all time
2. It was a Glyndebourne production (in which I had already seen Die Zauberflote and Don Giovanni.)
I was not too enthusiastic because I tried to get into Cosi Fan Tutte but that didn't go very well. But the vivid plotline and talented singers quickly changed my mind. Though there were some-very, very few- bad things the good things cancelled them out. The bad things were: it was a rather old-fashioned production with very sterile sets but the singers make the sets bright with color when they are singing. The good things are innumerable but I will TRY to sum it up: Kiri Te Kanawa is a very lovely and luscious singer and handle her voice with a certain dignity yet anguish in her role as the countess. Benjamin Luxon was great as the count and made me believe he really loved Susanna. Speaking of Susanna, Ileana Cotrubas was a very good Susanna as was her husband Figaro. Knut Skram is virtually unknown singer and makes the best of that by having at least one good performance. Nucci Condo and Martius Rintzler are very believable as Marcellina and Bartolo. Marcellina was THE best I have ever seen. In her duet with Susanna she holds her own and in "Il capro e la capretta" one of the greatest I have ever seen. Fredericka von Stade is a perfectly believable Cherubino-the best I had ever seen. John Fryatt is very believable as my favorite character Don Basilio. He has a certain sneakiness to him that makes him very believable. His "In quegli anni" is a highlight of the DVD. Which brings me to a very confusing situation. At the library all they had was the video version of this and it had Marcellina and Basilio's arias cut. I have no idea why so I went to Borders and found the DVD. It was 185 minutes while the Vhs was 165 minutes. I couldn't find and explanation for it so I bought it and watched and there they were Basilio's and Marcellina's arias not cut! I was very happy because these are my two favorite arias in the whole opera. Even the minors were good and held their place. The best minor character was Elisabeth Gale as Barbarina. Overall the best "Figaro" I have ever seen.