37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Opera at its best, June 9, 1999
This review is from: Bizet - Carmen / Levine, Baltsa, Carreras, Metropolitan Opera [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This outstanding work is given no better a performance than here from the principles and the fine Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. The role of Carmen is sung with a fiery passion by the very powerful mezzo of Agnes Baltsa. Her interaction with Carreras is emotionally powerful as well as musically satisfying. Special mention must be given to the wonderful interpretation of the role of Don Jose by Carreras- the best interpretation available in audio today( note the brilliant recording with Karajan). He is vocally poweful in the finale of Act three as well as exquisite in the Flower Song with a soaring B-flat sung pianissimo. He totally identifies with the character( as in all his roles really). James Levine and the Orchestra provide impressive accompaniment, providing a pillow for the principles(Levine's interpretation is less rigid than Maazel but not as creative as Karajan). Regardless of this , the performance is indicative of what a night at the opera should be.
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41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Credible Carmen, November 5, 2001
This review is from: Bizet - Carmen / Levine, Baltsa, Carreras, Metropolitan Opera [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I am prompted to write this review to correct what I perceive as a misleading previous review. This is a sumptuous production from the Met. The special strong points of the production, as I see it are the usual excellent Met orchestra, sets and acting, the excellent childrens' chorus, the quality of the secondary characters Micaela (Leona Mitchell) and Escamillo (Samuel Ramey), AND the quality of the singers Carmen (Agnes Baltsa) and Don Jose (Jose Carreras). I found the singing of Don Jose relatively accurate but, more important, the style of singing and the acting seem almost perfect. Carmen is also extremely well played. The singing is quite accurate and the amount of energy and management of the mix of low and upper registers is quite impressive. I have almost no reservations about this excellent production.
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58 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Baltsa & Levine shine, DVD transfer flickers, November 23, 2001
I love to see people obviously relishing what they do, so it was a delight to watch Levine conducting and Baltsa singing this wonderful music. This supreme opera, however, also brings regret that Bizet's life was so brief and his marvelous works were so few. Bizet perhaps envisioned a 20-something Carmen, but I bet that Baltsa, 45-ish at the time of this performance, would have seduced him just as she did me and Carreras's hapless Don Jose'. Of course, Baltsa and Levine have the best parts, but that also means they carry major responsibility. A video production needs more than just their great singing and musicianship, and those extras are not lacking. The costumes do a lot for Baltsa, and Baltsa does a lot for the costumes. It's not just the provocative display of cleavage, either (and Baltsa knows how to use every jiggle to get her way), but the sheer force of a powerful female personality that integrates with voice and sex to dominate the stage, as Carmen must. Carreras is a little TOO overwhelmed, and I would have preferred one of the other two tenors, probably Domingo (Luciano, you're just too fat for this role!). However, Carreras does pretty well, given that he plays a man powerless to escape the femaelstrom that is Carmen. Mitchell and especially Ramey are excellent, given that all roles revolve around Carmen. At least Ramey gets to sing about being a toreador, and he takes every advantage of the opportunity to shine.
All the while, Levine and his fine orchestra make me rejoice that I plugged the DVD player's audio cables into my stereo. It costs NOTHING to do this, folks, and it isn't difficult, either -- why pop for $400 for a "home theatre" kit? No stereo? Forty bucks or so will get you a subwoofer and two good speakers to plug into your TV's (or laptop's!) earphone jack.
I disagree with reviewers who liked the video quality. In many parts of this production, the dark picture areas have lots of light-colored noise about every dozen frames or so, with less pronounced noisy frames in between, producing a flicker about two or three times every second. I find this annoying and distracting. Something similar happens when I am not careful how I scan a dark 35mm slide with my film scanner, but I know how to deal with it. The Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft certainly also knows how to deal with it, so why didn't they? Sehr schlampig, meine Herrn! It's also not all that hard to write a program to help eliminate pixels that misbehave (see, DG, some opera freaks are computer freaks, too). The extras, as on all DG oper(ett)a DVD's are pretty limited. The choices for menu languages are limited to English and . . . (are you ready for this?) . . . (Are you sure?) . . . CHINESE! Wer zum Teufel hat sich denn DAS ausgedacht?!
The artistic aspects, happily, still make this a great DVD. I have not seen the Domingo / Migenes production, and it may be even better, but you'll probably like this one quite a bit.
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