Customer Reviews

Charles Gounod: Romeo et Juliette - Villazon/Machaidze

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Roméo et Juliette has become one of my favorite operas since seeing it at the Met with Polenzani and Netrebko. I also own the dvd with Alagna and Vaduva. I first saw this Salzburg production in a movie theater last month. The first few minutes had me thinking I wasn't going to like it so much. I didn't care much for Machaidze's opening moments, as I thought she was trying too hard to be "girlish." However, that was only in the initial moments, after which she quickly grew into her character and had me completely riveted to the dramatic conclusion. As much as I loved Alagna and Polenzani in the role of Roméo, I preferred Villazón's take on the character. Roméo is a young man, who falls in love with Juliette at first sight. He's supposed to be head-over-heels in love, and Villazón conveys that brilliantly. It's a frenetic performance, very excitingly sung and acted.

Some may find this performance lacking in "French" style in terms of singing and acting. That might be a valid point, for what we get here is a purely "Italian" Roméo and Juliette, bubbling over with passion. The two lead singers hold nothing back, and the chemistry between them is nothing short of remarkable. Machadize has a dark voice that drips with emotion and passion. Villazón sounds much better, though his top notes might not always be perfect, but so what? With his overall high-calibre performance, however, I can easily overlook that. He certainly doesn't sound like he's experiencing any major vocal troubles here, that's for sure, and it's no wonder this was the hottest ticket at the Salzburg Festival. These two singers truly lose themselves in the characters they are singing, and they give us a hot-blooded performance that is gripping.

I loved the sparse set and the 18th-century update didn't bother me in the least. The sword fight was the most convincing I've ever seen in an opera, and all the secondary characters were fine. The concluding scene was stunning, a real tour de force. I've watched this Salzburg production three times now, and every time I tear up at the end--and I don't usually cry so easily! Their performance is that good. For me, this is the Roméo et Juliette to have. Yes, I'm happy to own the Covent Garden one with Alagna and Vaduva, too--though compared to Machaidze, Vaduva seems more matronly than a young girl in a passionate romance.

The sound is outstanding, and I really have nothing but high praise for everything about this production. Highly recommended!

If you liked the 70's recording of ROMEO ET JULIETTE with Mirella Freni and Franco Corelli you're going to love this DVD 2008 production from Salsburg. Rolando Villazon and Nino Machaidze give Freni and Corelli a run for their money. Anything you can sing, I can singer louder! I couldn't help getting caught up in the passonite frenzy of the star crossed lovers. I even shed a couple of tears at the end. The conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin had the orchestra playing like they were performing a symphonic piece and yet managed to support the singers at the same time. The opera is staged by Bartlett Sher and some of his ideas work and a few don't. It's not a very opulent production but none of the staging gets in the way of the singing. The sword fight is especailly well done and believable. I have no regrets about buying this DVD. The sound is spectacular.

It is interesting that Gounod's Romeo and Juliette now has two relatively distinguished DVD's while his once more popular Faust seems to languish. Unfortunately this new performance has to compete with a superior performance from ROH.

This Salzburg performance takes place in the Felsenreitschule. The action takes place on a slightly raised rectangular platform. Props are brought in as needed. Compared to the sets designed for ROH the effects in this production are too spare and fail to evoke a renaissance ambience. I am no historian as regards costumes but Salzburg clearly has different ideas than those connected with the ROH production, Salzburg would appear off the mark by a hundred years.

All of this would be beside the point if the performance took flight and made all else unimiportant. ROH had Alagna in his first major engagement; he deservedly was awarded an Olivier award. His singing was glorious and what a treat to hear the opera sung by a "native" French speaker, and one with reserves of power. Both tenors are equally at home on the stage and move with grace and comfort. Villazon alas omits the high C at the end of the Act III. I am not a high note freak, but given the drama of the moment (Romeo being exiled) the high note makes for the anguish that is expressed in the moment. (Did Villazon return to the stage too soon? His Hoffman and Infanta at ROH did not receive rave reviews.) Villazon is a wonderful artist who has musical instincts that frequently elude "tenors". I hope that he is able to regain his earlier brilliance. The ROH Juliette has a more delicate sound than her counterpart in Salzburg. Unfortunately Vaduva's career has receded since her Boheme and solo recital disc. The Georgian soprano who was a replacement for Netrebko has a larger voice and would appear to be off to a major career. I found the voice somewhat generic, but time will tell. The smaller roles (Stephano, Mercutio and Frere Lawrence) were well cast in both performance. But in the long run this is a two man show and while there are swings and roundabouts in both performances I would hate to recommend one over the other. Blade to the throat I would ultimately have to award ROH the palm.

... and an order of magnitude better, in its music and especially in its dramaturgy, than Gounod's "Faust". I offer that opinionated comparison because I've heard/seen Faust live and on film numerous times without ever hearing, let alone seeing, "Romeo and Juliette". To my mind, Gounod's Faust is musically incoherent and dramatically repellant, particularly with its sanctimonious climax. The librettist and composer had every right, of course, to dismiss the "meaning" of their source -- Goethe's epic drama -- but what they dismissed was better than what they imposed on the story.

Librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carré chose to stay much closer to their dramatic model, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Obviously they needed to trim a lot of scenes from the play in order to let the music breathe. In fact, most modern productions of Shakespeare's play are also abridged, and the affect and effect of the staging can be radically different, depending on the cuts. Shakespeare's R&J is a complex tragicomedy. There are some knee-slappingly funny scenes, especially in the Capulet home, which are altogether too often cut in stagings. There's also tremendous bawdy wit in Shakespeare's text; Mercutio is as quick-tongued as he is quick-sworded. Surely he was the prototype for Rostand's Cyrano. This opera libretto, for better or worse, eliminates ALL the humor from the drama and all the wit from the dialogue. Shakespeare's play depicts, inter alia, the absurdity capriciousness of adolescent Love, and the fatal folly of trying to exploit private passions for public goals. Gounod's opera is only the passionate physical love tragedy of the play, with none of the 'clutter' of Shakespeare's late-Renaissance social philosophy.

So that's what's missing, and I can imagine being annoyed by the reduction of Shakespeare's multi-faceted tragicomedy to a mere melodramtic love story. But I'm not annoyed or dissatisfied, because the music amply compensates, in its emotional fervor, for the shallowness of the drama.

Now I need to confess that this is the only production of this opera that I've heard or seen. Hey, I can say without shame that it's THE BEST! And I wouldn't be surprised if it is indeed the best, at least among the DVD choices. It was mounted on the modest stage of the Salzburg Mozarteum, and it doesn't make 'a big deal' of scenery. The costumes are reasonably colorful and grand, though one's brain gets scrambled at seeing a 19th C opera costumed in 18th C style, representing a play from 1600 depicting events in 15th C Verona. The Mozarteum Orchestra, under Yannick Nezet-Seguin, delivers Gounod's fairly cogent score quite convincingly. But the principal thing here is the singing and acting of the Principals, Nino Machaidze as Juliette and Rolando Villazón as Romeo. [There's also the technical question of sound recording. In too many opera DVDs, the imbalance between the orchestra and the singers -- the acoustic sense that the singers are a soccer field behind the violins -- negates any expressiveness in the voices. I'm glad to say that isn't the case on this DVD.]

Machaidze is attractive enough to act the role of Juliette. Yes, in our era of filmed operas, "looks" do matter. She plays the first half of the opera, coyly and artfully, as a spoiled silly 14-year-old. But there's an odd contrast in store, as she seems to 'age' in personality in time for the tragedy, to become a fully adult woman. Is that a weakness in her acting, or in the operatic drama itself? I lean toward the second, but I don't have another production with which to compare. Machiadze's singing is uniformly controlled, well-tuned, well phrased. Some devotees of the divas of the past generation will undoubtedly fault her for lack of forceful emotive projection, but me, I'm happy when a soprano or alto can make "music" of her arias within the context of the total score, and Machaidze does that.

Villazón is another matter. His singing is both superbly emotive and technically polished, but his acting presence is so potent that one almost forgets to notice his vocal prowess. He was born to star in the era of filmed operas with camera close-ups. How he can contort his masculine face into such masks of emotion and yet sing in tune is a physical wonder! And he has variety in his command of roles, unlike the superb Juan Diego Flores who is always the same smirky guy on stage. There could be a classic rivalry, if the world cared to notice, between Flores and Villazón, parallel to the furious rivalry of the 1980s and 1990s between Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. Flores, born in Peru in 1973, has the more lovely timbres, while Villazón, born in Mexico in 1972, has the more potent dramatic musical presence.

One further note, and it's about the 'notes' given in one gorgeous aria to the otherwise background character Stephano, the Montagu hothead who starts the quarrel in which Mercutio and Tybalt are killed. That aria is sung by Cora Burggraaf, costumed boyishly of course, with a pencil-thin moustache and red lipstick. It's possibly the best music per se in the show, and Burggraaf sings it beautifully. Hey, Charles Gounod? Rise from the tomb, please, and expand the role of Stephano by at least one more aria!

I wish to thank the independent seller I purchased my DVD recording of this great opera from. I will definitely do
business with you again. This is as good as it will ever get! This is the definitive staging of this opera. This is
a very exciting Romeo et Juliette! Wow,after the simulated rape scene in the Prologue,I knew I had to hold on to my seat. It was going to be a bumpy night. The swordplay was very convincing. Although,Villazon didn't seem as apt as
his compatriots.Villazon seemed to ham it up a little too much at times. Machaidze's Juliette was a bit too coquettish at times. Negatives out of the way, now to the good stuff.
Nino Machaidze is a supernova. Her voice possesses a quality to transport us into the stratosphere. She should
be spoken of in the company of Fleming,Gheorghiu,and dare I say Leontyne Price.While I respect Miss Netrebko's art,
Machaidze's voice has more warmth to it.I hope to hear her in the great roles in the years to come. A Traviata,Tosca
or a Butterfly maybe. The world should be her oyster. I hope she has a good manager working in her best interest.
Rolando Villazon was particularly wonderful in the duets with Machaidze. I've heard better versions of his solos by
other tenors. Jose Carreras to name one.I find his facial affectations a bit disconcerting at times. His is a very
powerful tenor voice. He truly goes all out. I hope he doesn't run out of steam too early in the game. Caruso & Tucker were both "hard" singers in my opinion which may have contributed to their early deaths. He has a beautiful
and moving voice.
The supporting singers were all phenomenal. The effective use of staging and colorful costumes was quite
refreshing. It allowed me to truly focus on the magnificent singing. I,and others, can relive this experience
thanks to the convenience of the DVD or Blu-Ray player. Please buy this fabulous opera recording asap!

"Romeo et Juliette" has to be one of the best loved of all the tragedies, and this Salzburg live performance of Gounod's opera is close to unbeatable.

The Prologue captures immediate attention, set against a pantomime which proposes a reason for the long-standing Montague-Capulet feud. The updating to the 18th century works well, as this was still an era when marriages of the nobility were arranged, and conflict settled by the sword. The sets are minimal but very effective, and the orchestra really lights up the score.

As Nino Machaidze replaced Anna Netrebko who was on maternity leave, it is inevitable that comparisons will be drawn. However I believe that each artist should be assessed on his or her own performance, not someone else's. Each vocal instrument is unique, and each artist has something different to contribute to a role, both vocally and dramatically. I think Nino Machaidze is a beautiful Juliette. She reminds me of an unfolding flower, as the carefree girl unlocks her inner strength - and blossoms, petal by petal, into a nurturing woman. Her singing is excellent, fresh and youthful - and her on-stage chemistry with Rolando Villazón just sparkles.

Rolando Villazón's Romeo captures all the joyous ardour of first love. As always, his magnificent singing and character portrayal unleashes every emotion with heart-wrenching realism. Who could resist his superlative "Ah! Leve Toi Soleil"? The balcony and wedding night scenes are absolute highlights, filled with a passion that is tempered with tenderness and wonder. And he really does drink the whole bottle of poison (What was that horrible-looking green stuff ?!?)

I have to mention Cora Burggraaf who is vocally and dramatically brilliant in the cameo role of Stephano, both in the street scene and its disastrous aftermath.

When staging this opera, there are so many directorial options for the final scene - should Romeo and Juliette die in each others' arms - should they achieve their final kiss - or should death overtake them as they reach for each other in vain? You will have to judge for yourself - but this particular ending seemed to me the most fitting of any I have seen.

I think this is Gounod's most beautiful operatic work, and this recorded performance deserves a special place in the collection of every opera lover.

To my Primadona Nino.Most wonerfull,most beautyfull,most kindness.You are now one of the five best sopranos in the world.And so yung.We want more,and more,and more,endless.Tosca and Violetta and Aida and Leonora and all others,are weiting for you with out patience.And Rolando Villazon also.Alwais together.The most wonderfull cuple.The opera world is trembling.Alwais Yours Eduard.

My satisfaction with an opera on DVD derives from the totality of the performance, which includes performers, staging, disc quality, etc. In this rendition, all the aspects combined to produce a memorable evening here, replete with a glass or three of a very good red wine.

My first experience with Romeo was in the mid/late 1960s, as I recall, when the Met still toured and Detroit had not begun its sad descent to being the Beirut of the midwest. Corelli and Freni were the lead singers, and were obviously not fluent in French. But the opera was a solidly excellent performance I do not recall seeing it onstage again But there have been several renditions, first on LP, and later on CD. To me, it is a hugely melodic score, challenging to the performers, but a delight to the ear.

This is my second DVD of the opera, the first being the wonderful performance at Covent Garden with Alagna and Vaduva. I regard both versions as essential components of an opera collection (at least in mine), with relative strengths (and few weaknesses) that do not permit me, at least, to prefer one to tne other; both will have multiple plays here, no doubt.

I read an interview with Ms. Machaidze in which she noted that she had one month to learn an operatic role with which she was totally unfamiliar, and in a language with which she was similarly unfamiliar. Ma foi! That seems daunting, at least to me. Yet, even with her French being imperfect, she does a stunning rendition of Juliet, even capturing the persona of a 15 year old girl at her coming out party (at least as much as this old geezer can remember what THAT was all about!). She has a remarkable lyric voice, supple and agile, lacking the extended range of a true coloratura, but still an excellent and credible Juliet. I look forward to hearing more of her work.

I cannot add much to the many rave reviews of Ramon Villazon; to me he is a near "force of nature". His performance in L'Elisr d'Amore with Netrebko may be the best operatic experience in my life, and that is saying a lot. I did get the sense from his upper register on this disc that he may have been experiencing some of the vocal difficulties that led to his recent surgery, but that did not diminish in any way from a stellar performance.

Another plus is that ALL of the supporting cast sang and performed with a very high level of excellence.

As for the staging, at first I was a bit put off by the minimalistic approach, but it didn't take long for me to realize that it worked. The orchestra and conductor also were a big positive in this excellent performance.

Disc quality was what I have come to expect from DGG. The picture was crisp and clear and the surround sound added that ambiance that makes the DVD the next best thing to live performances. Pity (or envy) my neighbors now that the weather permits open windows.

I live in a rural area where live opera ain't. But high quality DVD performances permit me to indulge my operaphilia to a much greater degree than would be permiited of my wallet if the real thing was available.

This Romeo is an exceptionally good performance.

Wonderful story, fabulous opera, great orchestra, superb Romeo and Juliette, and wonderful supporting cast and costumes fine. But all action takes place on a Dias with probably a couple hundred dollars in props. Minimally we need a balcony and a crypt. What a shame --- this is Romeo and Juliette. We are not transported to the Renaissance....we are stuck on a dingy stage in Salzburg. Time to try the ROH production.

Charles Gounod: Romeo et Juliette - Villazon/Machaidze
It took a while to decide to buy "Romeo and Juliet, not that I didn't like it, but I had another priorities before getting this opera. However, after reading the reviewers I decided to get this version and I am glad I did it.
This is an excellent production. I was captivated by the spectacle since the beginning of the opera which started with the overture when a woman's rape happens causing the hate between the two families that brings us to the future tragedy of the story and the impossibility happiness between Romeo and Juliet, this moment is very well captured as well as the feelings between the two main characters very well performed by Rolando Villazon and Nino Machaidze with great chemistry in their acting from the moment they met and fall in love to the end when they prefer to die instead of been separated .
The character of the Franciscan friar played by Mikhail Petrenko was very convincing when he performed the marriage of Romeo and Juliet and also when he tried to convince Juliet to take a poison that would simulate her death and avoid her marrying with her fiancé, el Conte Paris .
The rest of the cast was very good as well as the scenery which was plane but very successful with the use of light effects as well as costumes shown through out of the opera.
The orquestra director was great and the sound outstanding.
I also enjoyed the features shown in the DVD.