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List Price : $109.98 Price : $37.20
List Price : $109.98 Price : $37.20
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MONTEVERDI:OPERA BOXED SET - DVD Movie
Monteverdi - L'Orfeo, L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (Boxset) Reviews
Monteverdi - L'Orfeo, L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (Boxset) Reviews
| 28 of 29 people found the following review helpful  The First Operas Ever, Together At Last, By Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: Monteverdi - L'Orfeo, L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (Boxset) (DVD) Before Puccini there was Mascagni. Before Ponchielli there was Verdi. Before Donizetti there was Bellini. Before Spontini there was Salieri. Before Cherubini there was Paisiello. Before Pergolesi there was Vivaldi. Before Cavalieri there was Monteverdi. And that is as far back as Italian or any other European opera goes.This is Harnoncourt's second recording of the surviving Monteverdi opera trilogy, which was lipsynched for video by Unitel by the great director Ponnelle. Polygram released the ORFEO and the POPPEA on laserdisc in America, but ULISSE got skipped over (appearing on laserdisc only in Japan). Now at last the three will appear on DVD together in America, with the wonderful option of libretto-on-screen. ORFEO (1607) simulates a stage production, cutting back and forth between the actor/singers on stage and the musicians in the pit. Harnoncourt himself becomes practically a character in the play. This is particularly appropriate because the theme of the... Read more 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful Harnoncourt Monteverdi operas are the best, By This review is from: Monteverdi - L'Orfeo, L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (Boxset) (DVD) I agree, basically, with the review by Joseph L. Ponessa of Glendive MT USA. These operas are gorgeous! Consider, also, they were done in the relatively small opera house in Zurich, Switzerland (seating capacity 1100). Ponnelle makes it feel like a much larger venue. The settings are baroque, but this is how many of these early operas were staged. It is very effective. And the music on period instruments directed by Harnoncourt is impeccable! And, don't forget, this is a set of operas that delve into the relationships between mortals and the gods; however, in the last opera one must admit that Nero himself is the god! These operas are not about some abstract existential something or other!L'Orfeo (Zurich, 1978) This opera is stunning. The very best that's available on DVD. Get it and enjoy it! Next best is Jordi Savall's 2002 Barcelona production--perhaps closer to what Monteverdi would have produced but not as spectacular visually as Ponnelle's Zurich... Read more 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful Monteverdi operas, By This review is from: Monteverdi - L'Orfeo, L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria (Boxset) (DVD) Of all the operas that Claudio Monteverdi wrote, only three survive. In the late 1970s the Zurich Opera performed all three, staged by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. They were filmed and later shown on PBS. I had all three on Betamax tape ... but no longer have a Betamax player. Finally, they have come out on DVD.I can't praise these productions highly enough. Musically and dramatically they are at the top of the tree. Particularly memorable are the performances of Philippe Huttenlocher in ORFEO, Paul Esswood and Alexander Oliver in POPPEA, Werner Hollweg, Simon Estes, and Arley Reece in ULISSE. But the moments that I looked forward to the most, as I finally slid the DVD into my computer, were some of Ponnelle's bits of "business," as for example how each of the gods in ULISSE has his own personal group of instrumentalists who follow him about or go forth to do his bidding, or Iro's last desperate stumble down through the orchestra pit,... Read more |
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