Customer Reviews

Cosi Fan Tutte - Mozart: Glyndebourne Festival Opera [VHS]

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This is a re-mastered set of two videos. The original production must have been filmed in the 1970s, judging from the makeup, costumes, etc. It's the Glyndebourne Opera, so the singing is pretty good (but not nearly the best I've heard with respect to this opera), though a little too slow of tempo. Unfortunately, there's very little that's visually stimulating about this video. It also isn't subtitled, characteristically of Opera D'Oro. The singers only seem to do any acting in between singing, and not during the singing -- it's like they're almost frozen while singing and then they come to life as soon as they're finished. This is the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The vocal soloists are Anson Austin, Thomas Allen, Frantz Petri, Helena Dose, Sylvia Lindenstrand, and Daniele Perriers. I'll probably watch this tape very infrequently (if ever). And it's one of my favorite operas!

Cosi is one of the most beautiful ensemble operas ever written, but alas, this video doesn't bring out its best. There are surely worse ways to spend an afternoon, but probably better ways to spend your money. It's palatable, but nothing like the great CD of Bohm's Cosi with Schwarzkopf and Ludwig. Contrary to the other reviewer, my copy did have some English subtitles -- but they were generally out of sync and useless for the ensemble pieces where the individual voices were unfortunately indistinct and mushy anyway. The best video of this opera is the 1994 Vienna production conducted by Harnoncourt with Gruberova and Stratas -- it is the best opera video I've ever, ever (did I say ever?) seen & heard, and I have a collection of 50 or so. Try to find that one, or stick with the Bohm CD, to grasp the true beauty of this Mozart masterpiece.

Cosi fan tutte is a great opera, no doubt. This performance is good, no doubt, but not great. The sound is not the best, as this is an Opera D'oro recording from the 70's. The costumes are good, the sets are even better, and the singing is great for the most part, but I disagree with the two ladies of Sylvia Lindenstrand and Helena Dose. Dose is especially blah as Fiordiligi. She sang with little emotion in recitatives, and no emotion in the arias. Lindenstrand sang with a fair amount in the recitatives, but little in the arias. Franz Petri, however, gives a great performance as Alfonso, and the two men are great as Ferrando and Guglielmo (Anson Austin and Thomas Allen). Allen's aria about the fickleness of women is great. However, the real star here is Daniele Perriers as Despina. She couldn't have been funnier. However, there are no subtitles, and that could be a problem if you don't know the opera well. If you've seen other versions of Cosi, go ahead and buy it, if you haven't find a more recent version with subtitles.