Customer Reviews

Bizet - Carmen / Obraztsova, Domingo, Mazurok, Buchanan, Rydl, Zednik, Kleiber, Vienna Opera

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When this production of 'Carmen' was mounted at the Vienna State Opera in 1978 it caused quite a stir. Mostly that was because Carlos Kleiber rarely conducted opera and when he did it was always an occasion. And Zeffirelli, controversial but brilliant as an opera conductor, always created a stir with any new production of his. This film was also directed by Zeffirelli for Austrian television and as far as I know it has not been available in general circulation since its initial airing. It is a fitting tribute to Kleiber whose death this last summer was a blow for the classical music world. He was surely one of the great conductors of recent times.

Plácido Domingo is in his prime here as Don José. In Act II 'La fleur que tu m'avais jetée' ('The Flower Song') is thrilling, even though he doesn't quite manage the pianissimo ending Bizet intended. There is a five-minute-plus ovation at its finish, and it is well-deserved. It is interesting that Zeffirelli left the entire ovation in his edited film because there are many other places in the performance where the applause has been edited out. One wonders if he wasn't playing favorites with his cast. Elena Obraztsova gets silence after several of her arias, but Isobel Buchanan gets a huge ovation after her Act III 'Je dis que rien ne m'epouvante,' again deservedly so. It is true that Obraztsova is not an ideal Carmen, at least in the early going when she is supposed to be the alluring, devil-may-care gypsy woman. Later, though, in the Card Scene where she repeatedly turns up cards that predict 'La mort!' ('Death!) she is riveting. Our Escamillo is, to my mind, rather a cipher. Yuri Mazurok has a solid baritone, but his torero does not have the necessary vocal or physical swagger, and his French is almost unintelligible. The minor characters are well-taken. I was particularly impressed both vocally and histrionically with the Frasquita (Cheryl Kanfoush) and Mercédès (Axelle Gall), singers not previously known to me.

The undoubted star of this production is Carlos Kleiber. From the downbeat of the Prélude to the very end of the opera, his musical direction is as exciting as any I've ever heard in this thrice-familiar opera. Zeffirelli knew this, too. His camera focuses on Kleiber repeatedly throughout the production, sometimes even interrupting action onstage, but generally only when the orchestra is playing alone. I had never seen Kleiber conduct, so I was very pleased to be able to see this. (I was amused to see him give the opening tempo of those fast sixteenths at the beginning of the fourth act by mouthing to orchestra and chorus 'Puh puh Puh puh Puh puh' before giving the downbeat.) I can imagine others, less interested in the conductor, might feel that Zeffirelli's cutting away to show Kleiber is a distraction. The members of the Vienna Philharmonic play like gods. Their rhythmic precision is jaw-droppingly good. I'd particularly single out the concertmaster and the principal flute for praise.

This is one of those over-the-top Zeffirelli productions. There are huge numbers of people onstage much of the time and Zeffirelli's vaunted ability to direct crowds, giving each member some individual bits to perform, is on show here. The camerawork is such that at times one almost believes one is watching an opened-out movie of an opera, not one confined to a stage. I did think all the donkeys and horses in Act III were a bit much, but the crowd outside the bullring arena in Act IV (and featuring exciting flamenco dancers) was a great pleasure to watch.

The edition used here appears to be the one by Fritz Oeser, with spoken dialog and sans the Guiraud recitatives. That was something new in the 1970s and must have been interesting for seasoned operaphiles. I well remember a 1973 production at the Met conducted by Bernstein and starring Marilyn Horne that broke with precedent by using this new edition. I don't know if that one has made it to video.

Is this the definitive 'Carmen.' Well, first of course one would have to ask if there could ever be such a thing. Is it a good 'Carmen'? You bet it is! I do wish the Carmen had perhaps been a bit more alluring, but one cannot argue with that huge organ-toned mezzo of Obraztsova. And it's hard to imagine a better Don José. Isobel Buchanan's Micaëla is a tiny bit generic (as perhaps the part itself is), but lovely and appealing. Mazurok has his admirers, but I'm not particularly one of them. Still, this DVD rates five stars; it definitely is an occasion and an exciting one. Interestingly there is another Zeffirelli production from Verona on DVD that I like almost as much as this one, even though the cast is a whole lot less famous, but its orchestra is nowhere near as good.

Visually this is stunning and in crisp videography. Sound is clear and in plain vanilla stereo, no options. Subtitles in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish.

Recommended with minor reservations.

TT=154mins

Scott Morrison

Having recently reviewed the von Karajan film of Carmen, I was compelled to rewatch this production, which came out about the same time, in order to compare two very different versions of Bizet's masterwork, one of the greatest operas of all time. Having explored them both, it's hard for me to choose a favorite. This one has less of a "name" cast than the von Karajan, but that shouldn't be a deterrent, the cast here, though less well known, is scarcely less wonderful, and it features Placido Domingo, arguably the best Don Jose of modern times. Therefore, an educated decision is probably going to come down to a couple of factors. One, the von Karajan version is a film, this is a live performance of a Zefferelli production, so it depends on the viewer's preference. Two, the conductors have different styles: do you favor the languourous pace of von Karajan, or the speedy, headlong assault of Carlos Kleiber? Of course, if you are like me, you enjoy various approaches to the same work of art, and will want to buy them both!

The main but definitely not only selling point of this DVD is Domingo's Don Jose. We all know the tenor is a beautiful singer, even today, but when this was done in the late '70's he was in his prime, both physically and vocally. His Flower Aria is a literal showstopper. The audience must have been informed that the performance was being taped and instructed to save most of their applause for the curtain calls, because the crowd stays fairly sedate throughout most of the opera; Domingo's aria, however, inspires a nearly three minute ovation, and justifiably so,it is poignant, dramatic, heartbreaking, incomparable. I'm glad the editors didn't cut the applause, seeing it in its entirety adds to the live feel of this DVD. But that isn't Domingo's only moment in the sun, he excels at every level, deteriorating into obsession and madness; by the end of act three, he is positively frightening, telling Carmen that they are destined(some might say doomed) to meet again.

As Carmen, Elena Obraztsova is vocally superb, she has the sort of deep, throaty, occasionally masculine voice necessary to create a convincing gypsy seductress. Her acting is less consistent, she can't seem to decide whether to play Carmen as an insouciant flirt or a strong-willed woman of passion - she is far more effective as the latter. I'm not saying that the two qualities are mutually exclusive, but in her performance they seem to belong to two different characters. Not that her performance isn't highly watchable throughout - she has a nice laugh, even when she's trying to be cruel, and her large eyes are beautifully evocative, even haunting, in the manner of an old-time movie femme fatale(Dietrich in The Blue Angel, Crawford in Rain, Calamai in Ossessione). But when she is at her best, which means at her most passionate, she is truly unforgettable.

Isobel Buchanan is a perfect Micaela, young, lovely, ingenuous, full of pathos, with a sweetly moving voice capable of achieving great power during her big aria. Yuri Mazurok isn't the most strong-voiced Escamillo you will ever hear, his baritone sounds a little rough at times, but overall he has a good sound and is convincing as a cocky matador.

Kleiber's conducting is lightning quick, really the only time it takes a breather is during the prolonged audience ovation for Domingo's aria. This fast pace galvanizes the music while emphasizing that the primary motivation behind the story of Carmen is passion with a capital P. Zeffirelli's production has his usual panache, with great crowd scenes, colorful costumes, authentic-looking locales. My only complaint is with his TV direction, which too often bypasses wide shots in favor of medium shots and closeups - in my opinion, those wide shots, especially during crowd scenes, really give the viewer the feel of being there in the audience. Also, his choice of camera emphasis is occasionally ill-conceived, such as at the end of the Toreador Song, where Carmen sings "L'amour" to Escamillo and she isn't even in the frame. This is an important moment, and it has more of an impact if we actually see Carmen saying(singing) the words.

Two nearly perfect productions of Carmen on DVD. Bizet didn't live long enough to see or enjoy the success of his masterpiece, but the rest of us can bask in what the composer was unfortunately denied.

Afficianados the world over must surely be grateful for the release of this historic 1978 new production for Vienna. The superb cast is headed by a vocally strong Obraztsova and clarion Domingo, with special merit to the Micaela of Isobel Bchanan.
Kleiber (in one his rare forays into the opera pit) leads a brilliant reading, at times very fast, but thrilling always. Zefirelli's production is over-the-top, and he's adept at pulling both nuanced performances from his principles and expertly managing the large crowd scenes.
It's a minor pity, therefore, that the technical aspects of this DVD fall somewhat short. Yes, it's a soon-to-be 30 year-old recording, but audio remastering hasn't altogether corrected a somewhat dull and shrill (at times) soundtrack. It's not enough to get in the way, but does take away a star in my opinion.

Nonetheless, highly recommended.

This is Carlos Kleiber's Carmen. He is the star of the production, how sensational his interpretation is! Together with the brilliant orchestra and singers, he creates the definite Carmen for me. He just knows how to make the music come to life. How lucky we are that this performance has been documented and available to us all now.

Placido Domingo is at his prime, I guess he has never been better as Don Jose and Isobel Buchanan as Micaela is just stunning.

The second act - from 'Les tringles des sistres tintaient' to the flower aria , it just takes your breath away. Not only for opera lovers, anyone who doesn't know the opera, should start with this one. This version will show us what an opera is all about.

A lot of years have being waiting most of the opera lovers for this release of Bizet's Carmen conducted by the legendary Carlos Kleiber, with one of the top class orchestras and with a great vocal group. We knew this recording because it was released on CD some years ago, but I always wanted to watch it and much more better in a good classical scene like this.

What we can watch and listen here is a stage production of the wiener opera from the year 1978, a decade in which the Austrian orchestra was really in a very good moment, as many of the just released DVDs by DG show. It's a Wiener Philharmoniker full of energy and colour, electrifying and technically perfect, according to the person who is conducting them; the very enthusiastic and perfectionist Carlos Kleiber.

The vocal part have very inspiring singers. Of course not all give them best in every moment, something very difficult in a complex work like this. Anyway, between all of them I would like to mention Plácido Domingo, in a performance really wonderful and a little more passionate than his recording conducted by Claudio Abbado, which is a little cold sometimes, specially in the dialogues.

Zeffirelli makes a great work in a classical production, very interesting for those who listen and watch the opera for the first time, because they will understand much more better what is happening Some other reviewers have written about this, very, very good. Of course I would like a more modern stage design, but this is good enough.

The sound is not really good and it's the only weak point of this DVD. Even so, it's better than the CD released with the same version, apart from having the visual part.

I know some other Carmen versions, like Bernstein (DG), Abbado (DG) or Karajan (RCA), but this could be, nowadays, my favourite one, finally available for all the world on DVD. It will be hard to make a Carmen more passionate and electrifying than this.

..3 out of 4 ain't bad. Placido Domingo, Isobel Buchanan and Yuri Mazurok are all ideal in this unnecessarily bloated Zeffirelli production from 1979. Elena Obraztsova's Carmen, unfortunately, is not. Or is she playing Carmen's mother? OK, it's not that she's too old for the role -- Buchanan certainly isn't 16 -- but she's dumpy, matronly, and devoid of sex-appeal. This is a huge problem for "Carmen." To see Domingo and Mazurok single out Obraztsova as the most desirable woman on stage when they're surrounded by svelte, sexy young supernumeraries strains credulity, to say the least. Imagine your mother putting a flower in her hair and sashaying around for your high school friends and you'll have an idea of how silly and uncomfortable the performance looks. (And somebody please take away those castanets!)

And astoundingly, Zeffirelli has directed Obraztsova to play Carmen as a hooker with a heart of gold, a good-time gal with barely an ounce of guile or menace. Given her lack of charisma, the approach may be right for the singer, but it makes no sense whatsoever for the role.

To be fair, Obraztsova's singing is wonderful (despite some severe sharpness at the top of Act Two), and the card scene in Act Three, is masterfully played...but it's Eboli we see reading her own fortune, not Carmen.

The rest of the cast goes a long way toward making up for the hole in the middle of this production. A blond (!) Domingo, looking young and robust, is in superb voice. I think the 2 minute + ovation for the Flower Aria is a little much (particularly as there's no applause whatsoever for Mazurok's fine rendition of the Toreador song a few minutes earlier), but the performance is thrilling proof that Domingo is, in my opinion, the greatest male vocalist that opera's had in the past 50 years. Buchanan is a lovely Michaela. The sound is clean and clear, and her transformation from an innocent kid in Act One to a troubled young adult in Act Three is beautifully calibrated. Mazurok's Escamillo is exactly right for the role: a mixture of ego, slyness, raw courage -- and a strong, rich, nuanced baritone. The supporting cast is terrific all around, particularly Kurt Rydl's Zuniga and Cheryl Kanfoush and Axelle Gall as Carmen's female cronies.

The production, alas, is another Zeffirelli mishmash. This has bothered me less in the past (notably in his Met Puccini productions), but here there's just too much going on in too many scenes. A director's job is to help focus the audience on what's important on stage, not distract them with extraneous people and business. And to set Act Two out of doors when Zuniga has to sing about breaking down a door to get to Carmen and Jose is a gross disregard for the libretto.

A huge nod must go to the amazing Carlos Kleiber, who breathes new, magnificent life into this most familiar of operas. To watch him conduct is fascinating; sometimes he looks almost bored, at others as if his arms are going to fly off. And how wonderful the sounds those arms bring forth from the Vienna State Opera orchestra! Here's a conductor whose passion for music is palpable and infectious. Check out his "Der Rosenkavalier" with von Otter and Lott if you want to experience another example of his brilliance at conducting opera.

The first time I saw Carmen was on this DVD and I was amazed. The end almost brought me to tears. I think the cast as a whole did a great job in this performance. Pl?cido Domingo sounds great as usual, if not better; he really sings his heart out especially in the Flower Aria and at the very end. And even though Elena Obraztsova may not be the best looking Carmen, though she's not bad, her singing is amazing and she has a very deep voice, and in an opera the singing's the most important in my opinion. Besides, some of the cigarette/factory girls look pretty decent, and I thought Obraztsova's acting was good for the part too. I think Yuri Mazurok was perfect for Escamillo, the Toreador and I think deserved applause after he sung the Toreador song (Votre Toast). Isobel Buchanan (as Michaela) is also a great singer, she can really hit the high notes well and is flawless throughout the whole performance. There is a lot going on in this performance and it's kind of busy with large amounts of people but I think it adds to the excitement of the opera.
I also have to say Carlos Kleiber and The Vienna State Opera orchestra go perfect together. When Kleiber conducts, it seems to come so natural to him, he looks so relaxed and laidback during the quiet parts, and so energetic, conducting extremely fast during some other parts, and the outcome is great. I will say, this opera and performance is one of those things where words can't describe it enough, you have to see for yourself. So if you're looking for a Carmen to buy, buy this one and you won't be sorry.

December 9, 1978- some great talents of opera assembled at the Wiener Staatsoper and delivered a magical performance of "Carmen". Fortunately cameras were present for television broadcast and now it has been released to us on DVD. And what a night it was! This is "Carmen" conducted with startling brilliance, passion and bite, capturing all the fire and tragedy one could imagine possible. Kleiber is amazing. Listening to just the overture I feel as though I've never really heard it till now, now as it blazes forth in glorious vitality, now lingers in fateful suspense. And beware if you let his relaxed attitude at times to put you off guard- he bites! He knows how to find that indefinable and precise moment to hit a climax, making it somehow unexpected and devastating.

So, with that underpinning and guiding force in mind- what of the cast? Oh, my! I think they take Kleiber's inspiration and run with it! Obraztsova (with that marvelous dark, powerful, husky voice!) is a fine Carmen, flirtatious and carefree. No cunning huntress she. When she stumbles upon Jose she teases him but is herself quite smitten. I think a part of her genuinely cares about him, for all the turbulence of their relationship. Even at the end, I think I see a certain eagerness to meet him, a touch of remorse perhaps, mingled with the challenge of confrontation and her defiant assertion of her own liberty. I very much enjoy her in the role.

And if Obraztsova shows a supportive concern for her Jose of the evening, Placido Domingo, it is a sympathy I share. There is something unique here. In all my viewing experience I've not seen him quite like this. Every time I watch I get the feeling I'm witnessing something very personal, very costly. He just pours himself into the role with a total commitment rivaling that he displays in our 21st century. And he's in great voice. This is one of those nights when his feeling for character and freedom of singing unite in an overwhelming flood of passionate artistry. He puts his entire being into the music so that he essentially becomes one with it in a transcendent "Flower Song". Later on we get treated to some particularly bitter, glowering looks and sounds in the angry departure from Carmen in Act 3. The Finale- is all one could ask for. The appeal is heartfelt, the desperation comes from down deep. He surrenders himself as a living vehicle for the music: opera as great theater. Somehow this particular evening leaves me feeling infinitely sad that he should spend so much of himself emotionally, yet grateful that he loves to give so freely. Yes, I'm a big fan, but this is one of those special performances.

Mazurok as Escamillo is okay. Everybody else is fun! Zeffirelli and his crowded crowd scenes- I personally want a little more space to breath in, but I guess those streets would have been close-packed at times. I'm fine with the production. I want to make special mention of Isobel Buchanan as Micaela, a joy to hear and see. She creates a lovely, heartwarming girl; pure in her love; strong in her innocence; yet not naïve. Her acting is effective and beautiful throughout but I especially appreciate her in the Act 3 showdown. Here she naturally conveys Micaela's many emotions; for example, some trepidation, sacrificial courage, a deep sense of Jose's betrayal and her shattered dreams, and an uncomprehending scorn for Carmen. Above all, her unassuming dignity is notable as she moves among these wild crooks. She makes a very significant contribution to an already incredible evening.

There are some performances that I may like primarily for certain parts or this or that singer. Then there are those nights where everything comes together into one mass of greatness. This "Carmen", for me, is one of the latter. I have my own likes and dislikes but when it gets to the end, I turn it off and can just sit there and feel moved by the greatness, the sincerity, of the whole- this I consider the essence of a great night of opera.


Subtitles in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish.
Some excellent notes inside, largely on the circumstances of the taping, along with a few pictures.

Well, if it was possible to give 10 stars i would obviously give it.
The world-known, outstanding russian mezzo Elena Obraztsova is uncompareable in the role of Carmen. Sexy, seductive, mad, charming! Her voice is deep, dark and expressive. Franco Zeffirelli said the in the interview that there were only 3 women that impressed him in his life - Maria Callas, Anna Maniani and Elena Obraztsova. So here we have it. Just look at and listen to Habanera, Seguidilla, Gupsys song, card scene and final scene.
Placido Domingo is wonderful in the role of Don Jose. So passionate. And you really believe that he is mad on Carmen.
Yuri Mazurok, uncomparable russian bariton, gives Escamillio that makes you tremble.
And Karlos Kleiber gives the real Bizet.
Don't hesitate. This DVd is really worth.

Of course many different great artists made this production a great one but I decided to buy this DVD only because of Carlos Kleiber and I couldn't be happier.