Customer Reviews

The Berlin Concert: Live from the Waldbühne

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My DVD collection is now quite extensive and I give away some that I won't return to, but this concert is so good that I watched it twice in two days. It has earned a place on my "to keep" shelf. First of all, the filming and the sound are excellent and you almost feel that you are there, in the best seats, of course. Placido Domingo, gray hair and all, still has his powerful voice and real star presence. He sings with two of the greatest current vocal greats, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon, in a beautifully chosen and most enjoyable repertoire. The orchestra is a good match for the three stars in quality. You won't regret acquiring this DVD. It is an outstanding concert and perhaps there won't be that many more with Placido Domingo singing, rather than conducting,as he does more and more often these days. Highly recommended!

Yes, Netrebko, Villazon, and Domingo all sing as perfectly as we could imagine. But the surprise for me was the acting and passion that each brought to this outdoor performance before a gigantic and appreciative audience.

First, it's Netrebko, swaying to the music and almost dancing as she sings the line, "My mother was a dancer" from Franz Lehar's Giuditta.

Later, Villazon captivates the audience with a rousing, delightful, "Italian Wedding-style" La Danza by Rossini. Alongwith the audience, Netrebko is so inspired that she's still dancing, as he leads her out for her La Boheme aria.

As twilight approaches at this outdoor "forest concert" in Berlin, the night is capped off by all three, performing a Lehar song, "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" ("You are my only love"), in which Domingo and Villazon alternate their wooing, each pulling Netrebko towards them. Alternating her own flirtations, she puts the cherry on the sundae with a high note that brings down the house. It just doesn't get any better than this.

I was so enthusiastic about this concert that I invited friends over to see whether I was just bewitched, or if they too, found it enchanting. Indeed, they too found it irresistible. You will love this concert so much that you will barely be able to wait to share it with friends!

If you love good operaric singing but you're not in the mood for an entire opera, play this festive and informal DVD from the 2006 outdoors Berlin concert. Everybody-the singers,the conductor, the orchestra, the audience-is happy and having a good time. The informality of the concert does not diminish or affect the quality of singing or the orchestra playing. Domingo's almost exclusive involvement with the dramatic/heroic tenor roles has not affected the legato and timbre of his voice, and its expressiveness and lyricism are so beautiful in "Federico's" aria from L'Arlesiana. Villazon's clarion and top ring are glorious. Netrebko's voice is bigger, darker and sweeter. In the last encore from Lehar's "Merry Widow," Netrebko overpowers both Doomingo and Villazon in the last high note the three are singing together! The video is sharp and first rate. The audio is well-balanced, and thanks to Armiliato's conducting and fine acoustics engineering, it produces a studio quality sound. This DVD deserves, unquestionably, 5 stars for entertainment and artistic value.

Constantine A. Papas
El Paso, Texas

This concert is a treat for all opera lovers. The selections are wonderful, the singers deliver as hoped and the sound is glorious. I admit that I am a huge fan of Netrebko and what more can anyone say about Domingo. Villazon is in good voice as well. I certainly didnt know about this when it took place but what a wonderful gift to us from DG. Pick up a copy of the Netrebko-Villazon duet cd as well

The dream couple of opera along with Placido Domingo provide many highlights in this well filmed concert from Berlin to celebrate the closing of the Soccer World Cup. I do agree with many of the reviewers that Domingo's diction is exemplary, compared with the new kids on the block. However, I must confess slight disappointment that none of the reviewers make mention that Domingo transposes most of his solo arias than what is originally written, which I am sure is to be expected, given the fact that he was 65 at the time of the recording.
However, Anna and Rolando's performances are incredible. Each aria or duet is sung with such passion and fervour. Highlights are definitely Rolando's 'La Danza' which gets the audience clapping and up on their feet and Anna's 'Quando m'en vo', where she also surprises the audience. Watch the DVD and see what I mean. Reservations aside, this is a classy concert, excellently filmed and the enormous audience of over 12 000 people enjoy every minute. Conductor Marco Armiliato and the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper provide warm and sympathetic accompaniment to the star singers.

What a concert! I have viewed this DVD at least 5 times from the day I bought it, and I have listened to it so many times that I stopped counting.
Domingo at 65 (This was taped in 2006) is still singing and how!
and Netrebko and Villazon are incredible, but let's not forget the orchestra!
The program selection was just great and the direction of the production was such that it really gave you a feeling of almost being there, especially during the encore pieces, you could be moved along with the adoring audience. Buy it and enjoy!
This is a DVD to treasure and be played over and over in the years to come.

These concerts with excerpts from the great opera compositions make for a fun , light evening of great music. My whole generation, somehow, grew up thinking that opera was "square". The sad thing is my generation is now, practically, culturally underpriveledged, like so many peasants from vast, barren desert lands. Some of the most gorgeous music ever written was produced by the likes of Rossini, Puccini, et. al. during a time when classical painting was also achieving the highest levels of expertise ever in the entire history of man. Why should this music be systematically passed over then? It should not. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the greatest tenor in the past generation, our beloved "Iron Man of Opera", Placido Domingo - who also happens to be the most genuinely likeable person on any stage, this great music IS being brought center stage; and is gaining popularity by leaps and bounds.
The new kids on the block, Anna Netrebko, and Rolando Villazon do shine nicely in this extravaganza. They bring a wonderful , and spontaneous joy to the works. Exactly what the doctor ordered. Yet it is interesting to "shop and compare" these artists, and their unique personal styles they bring to the stage..especially when compared to the inimitable maestro, Sr. Domingo. One would think, "Oh..65...old, shot, worn out, poor thing"....well,that's what you get for thinking! Au Contrare, mon frer. Just for fun, select Italian subtitles, and listen carefully who sings Italian correctly! Although Rolando ought to be able to do a good job with Italian, he falls well short of the mark.( Albeit he does do a very Italian job of Rossini's " La Danza" - close coaching from Placido perhaps?) Rolando's arrows sort of land all over the straw bull's eye...then listen to Placido doing a duet with him and see for yourself how he nails it- Placido's are perfect bull's eyes- every syllable, every note...and much, much more than that....the expression, the 'spinto' it is called; the many subtle nuances of timbre and emotive expression that causes the composition to soar, and majestically so. Once again, we all get a free lesson in how to sing by the greatest tenor of our age. Anna also pronounces the Italian "e" as a short "i", rather than "eh" as it should. But that is a small thing compared to the brightness and sweetness she brings to all of her beautifully done pieces. This DVD is worth the price if you selected only the Domingo tracks alone! I adjure you all not to miss this one. There are five encores, each one more tumultous and joyous than the last. Also,it is wonderful to see an audience so animated. So often the audience makes you want to ask, "Are you an audience or an oil painting?" Thank you, Placido for helping us all to understand and to appreciate this great music...for getting an audience on its feet. Also I would be remiss if I did not praise the orchestra and its young conductor...absolute shining brightness.

Filmed outside in widescreen before 20,000 fans who gathered along the steep hollow of western Berlin's famous Waldbühne amphitheatre on July 7, 2006, this live concert, featuring Plácido Domingo, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón is a photogenic spectacle to behold and a musically thrilling experience for those who not only enjoy opera, but enjoy the best of opera rolled into nearly two hours of familiar melodies, one after the other. As a technical achievement, this DVD is a high quality offering for those who like the "you are there" feel of a live performance - large crowds, a colorful stage, beautiful scenic vistas and panoramic sweeps of an appreciative audience gathered to witness a true operatic event. This DVD has it all: clear and resonant digital sound, crisp, colorful video, and smart cinematography. The sun sets and the mood changes at just about mid-point, when the orchestra under the direction of Marco Armiliato begins the Intermezzo of Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana" The intimacy of this show that existed from the opening overture of Verdi's "Nabucco" got even more intimate when the stage lights came on and the richness and color of the stage grew even more pronounced when lit against a stygian sky. As for the performances, a gray bearded, mature 65-year old Domingo still has the voice and the star appeal, such that even when the younger Netrebko and Villazon shared the stage, it was Domingo who was the center of attention, and who was most attuned to the tempo of the orchestra and the lead given by Armiliato. Both Villazon and Netrebko were each on at least one occasion following their own lead out in front of the orchestra and its conductor. I've heard that Ms. Netrebko has done this in the past. Well, she did it here, too; bad form, really bad form for a DIVA. Still, this is a spectacular DVD and a good one to show friends who wonder what the lure is all about. This review appeared at OperaOnline.us.

Once in a while, everything works. This is a magnificent success, for all three artists. My thought when it began was that this event would be the passing of the torch from Domingo to Villazon, the best of the the recent tenors to today's best, with today's best soprano thrown in for good measure. In part,it is that. But in the whole, it is much more. Domingo started slowly, but by the end of things, he had shed 3 decades and a little coarseness- everybody on the stage was in their 30's and madly in love with life. These are three colleagues, consumed with music and the need to share it, and brought to new heights by each other's art and spirit. It was thrilling to see the audience brought deeper into the magic of the moment with each new aria, duet, and,finally, with the two encore trios- they were swaying, dreaming, and realizing that they were now part of this magic, and part of a night that they would always remember.
At the end, the two tenors were playfully vying for the beautiful soprano, but it never seemed cliched or sexist, even when Placido went so far as to pinch her chin. The feminist wars of the proceeding generations are over. Anna Netrebko had nothing to prove. There was no question, in her mind or in ours, that she was sharing the stage with her equals, effortlessly and joyfully, displaying a power and confidence the match of any I have seen before, male or female.
However, to me, the revelation of the night was Rolando Villazon. I saw him for the first time live in the Los Angeles production of La Traviata last September, where he stole the show from Rene Fleming, and convinced me that he is the best tenor around. But he is more than that. He has the potential to be, if he isn't already, the best tenor since Edison's invention of the phonograph. Just as Callas melded music and drama last century, the public will be not be able to accept a singer who is careless or incomplete in his art, or lacking in passion, after they have experienced this young tenor.
I could go on, but I will close by commenting on only one number that he sang so successfully that it was brought it to a new level: Rosini's "La Danza". He sang it with the exuberance and abandon of the young Mario Lanza, the intelligence and finesse of the great Jussi Bjoerling, and a musicality and personality so complete- so much his own in style and intensity, that he left all of the dozens of past performances I have heard of this old warhorse trailing in his dust. I feel as if I have never really heard "La Danza" before this incredible performance, done with a naturalness that both enchants and draws you in. From the sound of the audience, I am not the only one who was enchanted.

There is nothing else relevant to say about this DVD. All is said stunning, amazing, wonderful...... The only thing is that I envy with all my heart the 20.000 that were at the Waldbuhne that day. If you have the possibility to listen this DVD in 5.1 surround system you will understand what I mean. You feel as if you were there on the front row. The other importat issue is to see how much enjoyed the three superstars their own show. Maybe they spent much better times than the audience. Add hundred stars to the five allowed to rate and you feel that are still not enough.

Is a perfect gift for newcomers.