I love Mozart Le nozze Figaro Blu ray
This is a traditional-modern production. Traditional in the sense that time and place are kept as Mozart and Da Ponte intended. It takes place in Seville (Spain) before the French Revolution. It is modern because the sets are very fresh, sophisticated and not overwhelming. The use of a front semi-transparent curtain, and the lighted background is very effective.
But of course, the most important ingredient is the music . Singers are up to the task with the music and active acting. The orchestra is just wonderful. There are some few instances when seemed to me that the singer and the orchestra where not in perfect synchronization. Also, at some points, the orchestra volume masked some the voices. I assume it is a recording issue. In the theater it was probably different.
The plot is a critic on aristocracy of its time and can easily be boring or confusing to contemporary audiences. This production makes it alive, enjoyable and easy to follow. I watched the Blu-ray version, and it is just perfect. In fact, it would seem that the stage director had in mind that it will be filmed. Some of the video shots composition are very art istic and beautiful. My kudos to the camera director.
The extras are in Spanish (with subtitles), interesting but not too deep. For those that know the opera, it will not provide any new insights.
Overall, I highly recommend this Blu-ray. Enjoy Mozart at his best.
I've been collecting video versions of this work for 30 years, first on VHS, then on laserdisc, next on DVD, and finally on blu-ray. There is certainly no lack of excellent versions of this work with superb casts, direction, sets and camerawork. I was mainly seeking something as good as what I already have, but with more wide screen, 5.1 DTS sound and sharper image. I wasn't prepared for this being as good as it is. Yes, all principals are cute, animated, attractive and superb of voice, including an extremely charismatic Cherubino, lacking in several other, recent issues. But what really stands out are the sets and lighting.
ReplyDeleteTaking advantage of the sharpness of blu-ray and the huge stage at Madrid, this allows for filmic, visuals of a quality I've rarely seen before. In many scenes we are aware of, not just the foreground, but what is happening through windows, room dividers, in other rooms or garden areas of the manor. It really has the feeling of a movie, but on stage in a live performance. And the lighting! Brilliant "day" light streaming through windows, reflected off back walls giving an overall luminosity and sparkle to the scenes. Also, many directorial bits of added actions, almost acrobatic motions on the part of the principals. Be prepared for a sonic and visual experience a quantum leap above anything else you may have seen on video, film or live!
Update - Cast is:
Luca Pisaroni as Figaro
Isabel Ray as Susanna
Marina Comparato as Cherubino
Ludovic Tezier as Count Almaviva
Barbara Frittoli as Countess Alaviva
Update Update -
Unfortunately, Amazon has replicated this review under the Australian version, creating confusion! Please be clear that my review belongs only under the Madrid, Teatro Real Blu Ray version! Hopefully Amazon will notice and correct this error!
This performance from 2009 is a new production of the opera by Emilio Sagi and is of the full non-cut version of the opera. This is important as it makes sure that the original balance of the composition as conceived by Mozart is retained with all characters fully drawn by the appropriate recitatives and arias. This desire for completeness was very important to Sagi and conductor Lopez Cobos as they individually explain in the accompanying bonus interview.
ReplyDeleteThis approach extends to the staging which is not only generous in its sumptuousness but also manages to create a great sense of 3D. This is done through imaginative and frequent use of intermediate gauze curtaining beyond which relevant action continues supplementing that of the foreground. The fine costuming continues these themes of historically accurate and generous detailing.
In summary therefore it would be fair to state that this is a remarkably satisfying feast for the eyes and the senses in terms of staging.
Great attention has been brought to bear on the roles of all the characters seen on the stage at any one time and also wherever positioned both in terms of drama and stage depth. These roles never cease to act their parts fully in character even when not the prime focus of attention, thus giving a great boost to the continuing sense of reality. This was a prime aim of the director and in that he totally succeeds. He also has firmly established the various connections with Seville by underlining Mozart's inclusion of the Fandango which would have been known to both the Count and the Countess as well as Figaro. (See Rossini's Barber of Seville).
Musically this is a first rate production with characterful singing of accuracy delivered by everyone without exception. Tezier, as the Count, gives the most impressive performance I have ever seen from him largely because he is so fully inside the part that he is able to rise beyond the notes and is really able to communicate to those on stage throughout. He is ably supported by Barbara Frittoli as the Countess, now ten years older than when she gave a wonderful rendition of Mrs Ford, a Merry Wife of Windsor, in the Royal Opera's production of Verdi's Falstaff. At this point in the story she is just about the correct age to be believably paired with Tezier as his wife.
Luca Pisaroni is also outstanding as the rather na�ve, young Figaro partnered by Isabel Rey as Susanna, his new wife, and claimed by Jeannette Fischer as Marcellina, ultimately revealed as his long-lost mother. Both sing and act their parts with all the skill resulting from years of operatic experience. However, as the clarity of the excellent recording only makes too clear, both of these women are about the same age as each other and certainly much more advanced in years as the much younger groom/son they covet. This, in a production that aims at such veracity of detail, may seem a little odd to some while others will not consider it a matter of importance especially as their roles are otherwise so well done. All the other parts are taken and delivered with equal commitment and complete conviction, and I include the many non-singing roles.
The recording provides excellent DTS-HD sound as well as stereo and reveals the excellence of the orchestra and the many orchestral details so frequently brought out by Lopos Corbos under his exhilarating musical direction. The visual recording is in the same league with crisp and accurate camera work. Technically we seem to be moving into a new era of technical excellence as this is not the only such example that I have been fortunate enough to experience lately.
This outstanding issue must surely please a great number of people for a great deal of the time. In my opinion it would be less than just to award less than the full 5 stars, so well done Teatro Real for yet another fine recording on your new `own' label.
ReplyDeleteThis is a traditional-modern production. Traditional in the sense that time and place are kept as Mozart and Da Ponte intended. It takes place in Seville (Spain) before the French Revolution. It is modern because the sets are very fresh, sophisticated and not overwhelming. The use of a front semi-transparent curtain, and the lighted background is very effective.
ReplyDeleteBut of course, the most important ingredient is the music. Singers are up to the task with the music and active acting. The orchestra is just wonderful. There are some few instances when seemed to me that the singer and the orchestra where not in perfect synchronization. Also, at some points, the orchestra volume masked some the voices. I assume it is a recording issue. In the theater it was probably different.
The plot is a critic on aristocracy of its time and can easily be boring or confusing to contemporary audiences. This production makes it alive, enjoyable and easy to follow. I watched the Blu-ray version, and it is just perfect. In fact, it would seem that the stage director had in mind that it will be filmed. Some of the video shots composition are very artistic and beautiful. My kudos to the camera director.
The extras are in Spanish (with subtitles), interesting but not too deep. For those that know the opera, it will not provide any new insights.
Overall, I highly recommend this Blu-ray. Enjoy Mozart at his best.