Customer Reviews

Gioachino Rossini - William Tell / Luca Ronconi · Riccardo Muti · G. Zancanaro · C. Merritt · Teatro alla Scala

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

 

 

Finally, to be able to see a full-length production of Rossini's final opera is a must for any full-fledged operaphile. The principals are equally wonderful and sing with a true dedication to the work. The production is modern and traditional at the same time using, as it does, motion pictures of the Swiss countryside rather than painted scenery. Even the ballets are included and they are charming, especially the one in the First Act. As with all La Scala DVDs, we get the quality of the original videotape with its somewhat fuzzy focus, yet the sound is much improved.

This video is a wonderful document of a beautifully conceived production of this monumental opera. The use of enormous screens to project scenes from the mountains of Switzerland is superbly handled, frequently breathtaking, and the visuals always complement the mood of what is taking place on stage. (I am contrasting this to a dreadfully silly production at the San Francisco Opera that put the performers on a spinning turntable for no discernible reason at the end of the opera.) Musically the performance is very exciting, and competes well with the variously available studio recordings for overall quality, especially due to Muti's sensational conducting. All the singing is good, but the complex choral passages are particularly thrilling, and obviously thoroughly rehearsed. You'll finish this one hoping you can get a chance to see the same production on stage someday.

If you are a serious Rossini fan, then this UNcut Gugliemo Tell broadcast is a must have. Although this DVD has been out of print for at least a year... and very hard to find... (and yet not worth the $239 or such price tag I saw here on amazon) well simply go to amazon.co.uk and see that Opus Arte is releasing old LaScala broadcasts. I bought it and to my suprise.. they had gone back to the original source from RAI so its actually a nicer quality then the old Image DVDs. It is NTSC not the PAL as listed so it will play in the US. Hope that you enjoy its a great performance.

This DVD is widely available at a very cheap price, and I thoroughly recommend it to fans of Rossini. The production, however, is virtually a costumed concert performance, with the chorus on stands at the back and the soloists standing at the front. Singers move around as needed, but there is pretty much no attempt at acting the roles. They all just stand and deliver. Certainly, what they deliver is pretty good. The multi-screen idea is often effective, but all those images of running water must have been problematic for some audience members stuck in their seats for a whole long act at a time! But by all means buy this for some wonderful music beautifully performed.

This classic opera is now available in a DVD that costs about $20--an excellent buy for a complete and exciting performance of this important work. It is listed under Guglielmo Tell

The picture quality is very poor. At times the scenes are so dark you can hardly see anything. The singing and music are very good, but this is a waste of the DVD format.

Rossini's Masterpiece Opera, William Tell is four hours of incredible music sung extremely well by the entire cast. However the picture is dark, fuzzy and grainy, not whaat I expect from a DVD. The movie screens behind the singers are a distraction. I give the music a 5, the singing a 5, the orchestra and Muti a 5. The picture a 1 and I am very disappointed that this is only in 2 channel stereo. But this is the only DVD of this opera available at this time and it is well worth buying just to listen to the singers and the glorious music.
I wish the Met and Mr. Gelb would be willing to take the opportunity to put this opera on their schedule with a top cast. That I would pay to go to.

The star of the show is Riccardo Muti. In the end he looked as prim, proper and unfazed as he had four plus hours earlier as he rose the baton to start the proceedings. Bravo! This is a grand and monumental work. It is more a staged oratorio than a dramatic opera. The action moves slowly on stage and the music is slow-paced and descriptive rather than action packed. Here we also see and hear all the ballet music that had been cut in my previous opera house productions. The ballet music is most familiar, especialy from Act 1, which is often done as a separate ballet in many ballet programs. At last I see where it comes from. Carla Fracci and the corps were great. Again I want to emphasize that this is not a fast action dramtic opera that Rossini is certainly capable of composing. This is a reverent historical apothiosis of the search by the people for "liberty". You need only to view the very end of the opera that finishes with an almost religious mass-like crescendo.
For this so carefully composed opera, the two major players soprano Cheryl Studer (Matilda) and Chris Merritt (Arnold) are excellent bel canto singers who are masters of their art. Ms. Studer did her roulades, trills and scales with careful beauty of voice. Mr. Merritt was equally precise. Yes they did just stand and sing but at some 300 pounds each I and the stage crew were just as happy for that. Mr. Zancanaro was a heroic William Tell giving just enough as the determined author of the fight for freedom.
One last note; as a Professor of Biological Sciences, I assure you there are no Crocodiles in Lake Lucern.