Customer Reviews

All the Great Operas (in 10 minutes) [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a good resource for people who are new to opera and a good laugh for anyone! It is especially helpful if you want to sound like you know a lot about opera without having to go to one. Of course, after you watch, you'll probably want to see them all! A friend gave this video to me for my birthday. It makes a great gift!

This video is hilarious. In a brief overview of the plots of a large handful of the most famous operas ever, the narrator has you in stitches and also leaves you with a sense of just how many people bite the dust, enter into incestuous relationships, murder, steal, and crossdress, among other things, within the few hours that you might spend at the opera. And they do all this while singing.

As a music educator (of Jr. High students), I have found this video to be the perfect way to introduce kids to opera. The irreverent approach (Pythonesque) appeals to kids who tend to believe opera is not something worthwhile. The humorous fast-paced synopses work extremely well for our MTV reared children. Many students also learn for the first time that operas might actually have a plot, and not just music. Time and again I have seen this video tear down the inherent resisitence to opera found among many young people, and even stimulate an interest in seeing an opera. The format is also thoroughly entertaining for adult music afficionados--who don't take themselves too seriously-- including an opera lover like myself.

Something that could have come straight from Monty Python (and in particular their illustrator Terry Gilliam), this is not really much of an Opera primer, but rather a brilliantly fascinating expose of the silly dramatic excesses of operas, without being disrespectful. It whisks you quickly through each opera, noting just the barebones plotlines, emphasizing love and violence (with a running death tally) in wonderfully understated narration that will have you laughing harder with each successive opera. It's animation is reminiscent of paper doll cutouts, giving it a puppet show feel that makes it even more humorous. Anyone with any love of the opera who also has a sense of humor will enjoy this short film thoroughly.

I... APSOLUTELY LOVE THIS MOVE!!!!! THE LIMIT IS FIVE STARS. I GIVE IT LIKE... 100!!!!!! I don't know how, but my art teacher has a copy of it. And she showed it to the class. I want a copy really really bad! I can't believe they stopped making it. The only problem is that the list price is $13.00, and the lowest you can get it for on Amazon is $190! OUTRAGEOUS!!! And that's used even! Oh well, I guess it's pretty rare because alot of people didn't give it a chance and it didn't sell well. I'll go ask my teacher if I can copy her tape(hopefully with subtitles!!). Ya know what, screw that old man's review. He doesn't know what he's talking about. (I wonder if he'd sell me his copy for under $40.00....)

This is a great little tape. It is imaginative and even a little informative. It is certainly amusing. Nice for a short party item. Nobody gets everything in the first viewing. We've shown it to many people, then we have to order it for them.

I received this video as a gift. As an opera lover I immediately watched and was disappointed. I found the narration much too fast and unclear. I expected music and there was none.

I thought this was a great film with opera plots for the non-musician or opera lover. I can't wait to have my own copy!