Customer Reviews

Anna Russell - The (First) Farewell Concert

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

 

 

This video, billed as Ms. Russell's "First Farewell Concert," features almost all of her best routines including: a lecture in her series "Wind Instruments I Have Known," "How to Write Your Own Gilbert & Sullivan," and "The history of the Folksong." Of course, no Anna Russell collection would be complete without her analysis of Wagner's "Ring der Nibelungen." Creating great parody requires even greater knowledge of the subject being parodied, and Anna Russell, having studied at the Royal College of Music, is well qualified. The only other routine I would have liked to see on this tape would be "Introduction to the Concert (By the Women's Club President)." Truly classic Anna Russell! I'm glad this only the "First" farewell condert. I'm looking forward to many more. P.S.-- During the last folksong, look for a famous newscaster in the audience.

I know Anna Russell exclusively from earlier audio-only recordings which I have listened to many times and practically memorized. While it was terrific for me to see the ole gal in action, she is clearly not "up to speed" and the result is more sentimental than otherwise. Still I recommend her as one of the "greats" who has not had nearly enough American exposure. God Bless Her Majesty of Mirth.

While I grew up listening to the old double album, I was also lucky enough to see Anna Russell during her "first farewell" tour. It didn't matter a bit that she'd lost some of her vocal range, and during the performance we saw, at least, she accompanied herself (!). This DVD is just a wonderful reminder of one of my favorite people. And yes, the 'newscaster' appearance is fun...

I have listened for years to Anna Russell's great monologues of Wagner's operas or Gilbert & Sullivan's operettas,etc... and I thought that seeing her on DVD would be a bonus... But although she was entertaining, I think that I prefer the audio cassettes and let my imagination draw the pictures...

Anna Russell at her most hilarious. Contains, among other things, the Ring Cycle. No matter how many times one plays this, one laughs and laughs.

We found it very amusing and easy to watch .