Customer Reviews

Gluck - Orfeo ed Euridice / Haenchen, Kowalski, Webster, Royal Opera Covent Garden

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

 

 

There are so many reasons, why we should NOT buy or not even watch this
DVD wasting our valuable time. For one, this version of opera is missing
many pieces. For example, you will find in many places a piece called,
"Melodie from Orfeo and Euridice", which is performed by various
instruments including violin and piano, solo piano, or flute.
This is a very beautiful piece, which is why it is so popular.
Just search on the web or YouTube. This piece is from the Ballet
in the 2nd act. This version of DVD has a very very short version
of the Ballet (and they don't even do the ballet, but so stupid act
of Orfeo Urggg!) and does not have this beautiful melodie performed
by a solo flute.
Also, some lyrics are different, for example, the beautiful
"Laissez-vous toucher".

I like modern/avant garde interpretation - when it is done right. Then there is an obvious
question of what do you mean by "done right". In this DVD, Orfeo is wearing
leather jacket and blue jean. Pretending to play rock'n roll electric guitar, singing
Baroque song, actually accompanied by Baroque orchestra (and Baroque harp).
At finale (L'Amour triomphe), three singers sit on the chair in front stage in a row.
When it's time for one singer, one stands up, one step front, sings,
finishes one's part, steps back, sit. Next one does the same sequence for one's part.
Ironically, the staff who handed over flowers to Euridice's role after the performance,
was in a complete outfit of Baroque period.
The muscial performance itself is not bad. But Orphee could have sung more beautifully.
Specifically, the beautiful tenor aria, "Laissez vous toucher" does not
sound beautiful at all. The tenor in this production covers high notes very well,
but he sounded more like a ghost throughout the performance. On the other hand,
in Marc Minkowsky' Archiv CD, that aria was sung so beatifully that it makes me
cry all the time (you can try it for 30 seconds with iTunes).
Overall, something is very very wrong with this production. I'd better stick to Minkowsky's CD.

Having seen this production live in (then East) Berlin and in London, as well as on video, I disagree with the dismissive attitude of the preceding reviewer. This is a masterful video--arguably a candidate for "top 10" desert island lists.

It is a splendid example of the power of "contemporary" resettings of great operas--and great myths. Orfeo, generally surrounded by abstract or elegantly classical sets, becomes a young man in a leather jacket whose girlfriend is killed in a car crash, and whose life becomes a confusing tangle as a result. In the end he turns inward to music--traversing a fragmented urban landscape with an electric guitar. There is nothing cloying or cheap about it; one feels the immediacy and concreteness of death, and of alienation, as we experience it today. The overall ethos is that of late East German productions, which had some critical bite with respect to modernity.

As for the music, this opera is all about Orfeo, and Kowolski sings with not a hint of pandering (he is, after all, a countertenor) and with searing intensity. Every moment of the performance is gripping. Despite the mythic theme and the modernist staging, this is, in my opinion, one of the most compelling muscial and dramatic performances of an operatic role ever recorded. For that alone, this DVD is worth the modest price. Five stars--no doubt.

Very good singing and a terrific countertenor but the staging is poor. It makes such beautiful music unpleasant to watch. I own it and just watched it again.

The music is beautiful, the singing is very good but the staging is an arrogant mess. Close your eyes and enjoy it but why not get a cd?

Everything about the staging seems totally irrelevant to the subject of the opera, and there is no way to acquire any insight into what message, if any, the staging is attempting to convey. I would not have bought it if I had known it would be like it is. I endorse Joe McLellan's review.

The singing is quite good. But the costumes, in my opinion, are outdated to the point that they become distracted. I was not aware that it was a modern version until I watched it. (Modern meaning the early nineties--think acid watched jeans and leather jacket for Orfeo).

I neither was thrilled by nor disliked most of the staging. I did like the use of the small television Orfeo carries as he tries to lead Eurydice up from the underworld. I also enjoyed the voices and most of the performances. I thought Webster was excellent, and I was impressed with Kowalski until he wrecked "Che faro senza Eurydice?" with excessive ornamentation. This is the crucial aria of the opera and, when sung well, one of the most beautiful arias in all of opera. Kowalski's flourishes ruin the line of the melody and detract from its intensity and grace. Because the opera hinges on this aria, the poor performance of it severely weakens the whole production.

Having seen this production live in (then East) Berlin and in London, as well as on video, I disagree with the dismissive attitude of the preceding reviewer. This is a masterful video--arguably a candidate for "top 10" desert island lists.

It is a splendid example of the power of "contemporary" resettings of great operas--and great myths. Orfeo, generally surrounded by abstract or elegantly classical sets, becomes a young man in a leather jacket whose girlfriend is killed in a car crash, and whose life becomes a confusing tangle as a result. In the end he turns inward to music--traversing a fragmented urban landscape with an electric guitar. There is nothing cloying or cheap about it; one feels the immediacy and concreteness of death, and of alienation, as we experience it today. The overall ethos is that of late East German productions, which had some critical bite with respect to modernity.

As for the music, this opera is all about Orfeo, and Kowolski sings with not a hint of pandering (he is, after all, a countertenor) and with searing intensity. Every moment of the performance is gripping. Despite the mythic theme and the modernist staging, this is, in my opinion, one of the most compelling muscial and dramatic performances of an operatic role ever recorded. For that alone, this DVD is worth the modest price. Five stars--no doubt.