Gilbert & Sullivan - Patience / Douglas, Olsen, Warlow, Australian Opera (1995) Review

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Gilbert & Sullivan - Patience / Douglas, Olsen, Warlow, Australian Opera (1995) ReviewUnlike previous Australian Opera adaptations of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, this production
does not suffer from lyric substitution (that made obscure references even more obscure to non
Australian audiences).
The sound is very good and the quality of singing is about the best I've heard recorded on DVD (so far).
Unfortunately, there is no closed captioning or sub titles, so following along, for those unfamiliar with this score, can be a challenge. But everyone, including the chorus, enunciates quite well, so there shouldn't
be too much distress.
I hope there is more coming from Sydney. It would be nice to have a complete set (as the BBC attempted about 15 years ago). (I wonder if they are forthcoming?).
The quality of production was reminiscent of the D'Oyly Carte one that I caught (and carried in my memory)
in the early 1960's (at the NY City Center).
This is a Must Buy for a true Savoyard!Gilbert & Sullivan - Patience / Douglas, Olsen, Warlow, Australian Opera (1995) OverviewFull of all the popular tunes and rousing choruses expected from a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, Patience is a delightfully ridiculous story satirizing the late 19th century's obsession with beauty and emotion. The production opens with 20 lovesick maidens who abandon their worthy fiances to moon over two poets. Both bards, however, are distracted by the good-natured milkmaid Patience, who is far too sensible to fall under their spell. The hilarity inherent in the satire still remains, and this Australian Opera production is an irrepressibly cheerful piece of nonsense.

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Twin Spirits: Sting performs Schumann Review

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Twin Spirits: Sting performs Schumann ReviewSongs from the Labyrinth
The Romantic Cello
Schumann: Dichterliebe,Brahms:Lieder
2010 will mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Robert Schumann. Opus Arte has gotten a jump on the celebrating by releasing this 2-DVD set. The first disc is the stage performance of "Twin Spirits", in which Derek Jacobi narrates the story of Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck, and how these two great artists came to be one of the greatest husband/wife teams in classical music history.
The letters and diaries that the Schumanns wrote to each other are spoken by Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler (I should stress that Sting acts, but does NOT sing, on this DVD!). The songs of the Schumanns (and a performance of Mozart's "La ci darem" from "Don Giovanni") are sung by baritone Simon Keenlyside (featured on the November issue of BBC Music Magazine) and soprano Rebecca Evans. Songs and chamber works are performed by very talented artists, including cellist Natalie Clein.
The second disc is loaded with great extras. Cast discussions offer the artists' viewpoints on these two amazing figures. The documentary "One Heart, One Soul" features discussion from the caretaker of a Schumann museum, offering sharp insight into the lives of Robert and Clara. Add to that a chronology and a sort-of "infomercial" for Royal Opera House Education, and you've got a DVD set packed with many interesting ways to learn about Robert and Clara Schumann, two of the greatest artists of their time. Look for Sir Willard White and Alfred Brendel among the audience members!Twin Spirits: Sting performs Schumann OverviewTWIN SPIRITS: PORTRAYING THE LOVE OF ROBERT& CLARA SCHUMANN IN WORDS AND MUSIC. Twin Spirits is a unique and intimate, live theatrical performance by a chamberensemble of actors, singers and musicians, portraying the deep and ultimatelytragic love between the composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife ClaraWieck. Robert's letters to Clara are read by Sting and his songs sung by SimonKeenlyside, with accompaniments and instrumental music played by Iain Burnsideand Sergej Krylov. Clara's letters to Robert are read by Trudie Styler and hersongs sung by Rebecca Evans, with accompaniments and instrumental musicplayed by Natalie Clein and Natasha Paremski. The narrator, Derek Jacobi, linkstogether the letters and lyrics to complete the essential outline of the story.Conceived and directed by John Caird, Twin Spirits was first performed in June2005 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London and has since beenexperienced only at private performances for charity by small audiences of allages and interests, leaving them deeply touched and inspired.

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Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov (1990) Review

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Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov (1990) ReviewLook no further - finally, Mussorgsky's ideas about his great drama have been realized. This is the ONLY video of Boris Godunov using Mussorgsky's own orchestration. (After the composer's death, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov took it upon himself to create a new orchestration, arrogantly considering that Mussorgsky could not possibly have meant his music to sound the way it did. Unfortunately, this reorchestration was the standard version until very recently - almost all the available recordings of the great Russian basses in this role are the Rimsky-Korsakov version.) Murder, treachery, passion and misery - what more could one want from a great opera? Mussorgsky's epic is brilliantly staged by the great Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky in a rich production from London's Covent Garden (1983). Tarkovsky succeeds in posing disquieting psychological questions in a brutally faithful rendition of great originality and profundity. There are no cuts in Mussorgsky's music in this production: it is allowed to speak for itself. The film dates from 1990, when the production was given and filmed at St. Petersburg's ornate Mariinsky Theater. A mostly Russian cast, including Olga Borodina as Marina, Alexei Steblianko as the false Dimitri, Sergei Leiferkus as Rangoni and Alexander Morosov as Pimen, is headed by the English bass Robert Lloyd in the title role (and only rarely is his foreign accent noticeable!). The singing is magnificent throughout - I think the recording technology itself is responsible for a loss of sheen from the soloists and the orchestra, conducted with true insight and bravura by a young Valery Gergiev. The chorus is superb. My only criticism is that, throughout, the film is somehow too clean and self-conscious. The extensive subtitles are extremely helpful, as are the all-too-brief notes included with the set. I hope your interest will be piqued enough to delve into this fascinating period of Russian history. Perhaps the greatest triumph of this film is that Mussorgsky's own vision of Russia is at last presented as I feel he would have wished. Bravo to the entire production!Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov (1990) OverviewItem Name: Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov; Studio:Philips

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Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Donkin, Saks, Stratford Festival Review

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Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Donkin, Saks, Stratford Festival ReviewThis is the version done at the Stratford Festival in the late 80s with Eric Donkin and Marie Baron. The staging is very sparse, but quite well done. This new version is not as high quality as the earlier (more expensive) version, but well worth the $17. Purists beware -- some of the songs have been gutted and the lyrics have been changed!Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Donkin, Saks, Stratford Festival Overview

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Beethoven Lives Upstairs (1992) Review

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Beethoven Lives Upstairs (1992) ReviewOur family (girls ages 4 and 6) loved the CD by the same name so much that we bought the video too. We were impressed at the ability of the writers and director to rearrange the story and the music to fit a film version. I realized that I knew nothing of Beethoven and read his biography after viewing the video. Then I was really impressed to find how much accurate information about Beethoven's life was interwoven into the story. Although we prefer the CD version, I think that seeing the period costume and setting helped the girls place the story in an historical context. We are now all Beethoven fans and listen to his music with new appreciation.Beethoven Lives Upstairs (1992) Overview

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