Customer Reviews

Johann Strauss - Die Fledermaus / Bonynge, Cox, Ashton, Royal Opera

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a very plush production of Fledermaus from 1990 at Covent Garden that also was Dame Joan Sutherland's farewell to a house in which she had been singing for nearly 40 years. The production of Fledermaus is very well done, with very lavish settings from the Vienna of Johann Strauss, including the centerpiece ball of Act II. The cast is excellent throughout and the singing is in English ((with subtitles available). Dame Joan's husband Richard Bonygne leads the orchestra and the chorus under John Brown is excellent.

Although this is in itself a superb Feldermaus, many will want to see this production for its farewell to Miss Sutherland. She and her long-term colleagues Marilyn Horne and Luciano Pavarotti treat us to several solos and duets in the Act II gala sequence, always a great vehicle for bringing out star talent for their turn. The gala is a lot of fun and quite moving too when Dame Joan sings "Home Sweet Home." The gala lasts about 40 minute and also includes two ballets to Strauss tunes. We see Dame Joan at the curtain calls at the end of the opera too when she speaks her farewell to the ecstatic house.

This is a great DVD to have if you either love Fledermaus or Dame Joan Sutherland. A definite buy!

This video of the 1990 Covert Garden New Year's Eve Gala is so important, not for it's cast (With names we never heard of), but, for its guests. Pavarotti is there, so does Marilyn Horne. But, the real star of this gala is of the final performance ever of Dame Joan Sutherland. Of course, as always, her hubsand and mentor, Richard Bonyage, is at the podium.

A great document of a great gala!

For its historic moment, I give it 5 stars. But, for its cast, I still perferred the 1984 Covert Garden Gala (With Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Placido Domingo at the podium) the best!

To be truthful, I never watched the opera Fledermous itself. I bought this mainly for Dame Joan Sutherland, whom I love both as an artist and a person.
The fanfare and the ovations are both exciting and bittersweet. It was a farewell party to end all farewell party. I must have watched this a thousand times, and never tire of it.
I am sadden that someone would hate this great lady so much that he gave three star to this just because Miss Sutherland was the person being honored here. He added that had Dame Joan not be there, he would have given five stars.
My word, this is a 63 year old soprano who has given so much to opera. She's opened doors to so many great singers such as Domingo, Pavarotti, Horne, among others who may not have reach their zenith as quickly had Dame Joan not promoted their talents.
I do not think she sang terribly. She's 63 years old! Her voice is a shadow of what it once was, which was the most magnificent soprano in the world. But a shadow of La Stupenda's voice is still better than almost everyone else in opera today, she is that great. I personally found the Traviata duet with Pavarotti very beautiful and touching. You can clearly see how much the great tenor adores our diva.
I do have to say that the "Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix" sung by Marilyn Horne was gorgeous. What a voice she has.
I'm sorry, I have to change the subject. As I'm crying as I watch this video. The overwhelming ovations are well deserve. She will, and always will be the one and only, Prima Donna Assoluta.

The Fledermous is excellent. But the show belongs to the legendary retirement party for the greatest singer of our century, the incomparable Dame Joan Sutherland.
I see some jealous comments here or there. But this is a fun and wonderful cd that gives us a final look at the Queen of opera.

La Stupenda's farewell to the operatic world...what more can I say...She was, and will remain Prima Donna Assoluta...

All I have to say is that Dame Joan IS opera. Her empty spot in the operatic world is much missed by her legion of devoted fans. As for me, I have been a fan of her's for over 30 years.
This farewell party is tremedous. It's so wonderful and joyous and uplifting. A true stupendous ovation to the greatest singer of our time.
Goodbye Dame Joan. But luckily for us, we still have all your wonderful recordings.
Every fan of Sutherland must have this DVD for it's nostalgia and the last look at our favorite soprano.
The Fledermous performance is first rate also.

Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne and many others are here, And us Brits throws our Dame Joan a great big farewell celebration as only we can.
To see our Joan being showered with so much love and admiration warms my heart. During the 60's and 70's I try to attend as much of Sutherland's performances as I can. It was a part of my life.
This is a Farewell party that no true Sutherland fan can be without. And they've thrown in an excellent La Fledermous as well.
I see some nasty reviews here. Sutherland fans, just ignore them. They'll give up when they realize that they're just bringing traffic to this video. Since there is no such thing as bad publicity, I'm sure this DVD's sales will go up.
I'm buying one right now to give to give to a friend of mine who is sick and can't afford to buy this. Since he is a die hard Sutherland fan, I'm sure getting this will make his day.

Yes, this is one of my favorite dvds. Dame Joan Sutherland, the quintessential diva. Girl, I've been around a long time, and this is the most fabulous gala. It tears me up to see my favorite diva being honored by her adoring fans. If I had a thousand dollars I would have been there myself. And yell brava until I lose my voice.

The retirement party to end all retirement parties. The applause and bravas just wouldn't stop for La Stupenda, the reigning diva of her time. I find myself teary eyed as I write this review. All the superlatives I can think of have been lavished on Dame Joan, but she remain not only Prima Donna Assoluta (only one in the world at a time), a very nice person, very humble. She sings with Pavorotti, the Traviata duet in the first act. And she sounded surprisingly lovely for well over 60, and looks fabulous too.

You can tell by the video just how much Pavorotti adores her. For him and Horne to come to this gathering and not be paid for, alone, is remarkable. We all know how much Pavorotti an Horne charges LOL. But they wanted to pay tribute to their Joan, and I can see why. Many great artist get rave reviews from critics, but Dame Joan Sutherland gets rave reviews from other great singers. This is what Pavorotti said about Joan in the video "La Stupenda".."Joan Sutherland is certainly the greatest singer of this century, she is a great artist, Australian, and artistic." The great director Franco Zefferelli said of Joan..." "She was the phenomenal singer of our time...she was stunning, sensational". Te Kanewa said of Joan.."No one did it as well as Joan...glorious voice". And Marilyn Horne said that Joan's 1961 Lucia was " great, great singing", something you tell your grand children about.."that "of all of her colleagues, no one has meant as much to her as Joan". Know why she is so beloved by other singers who could have been her rivals, but they're not. We're talking about Pavorotti, Horne, Te Kanewa, and Zefferelli, all of them legends.

Other legendary singers are also said to think the world of our diva. Tebaldi wrote in her book about the amazing coloratura ability of Joan. Plus Tebaldi is also a good friend of her's. Domingo was quoted as being in awe of the diva's dazzling coloratura, and his singing Edgardo to her Lucia early in his career was one of the best learning experience of his life. Caballe is another great admirer, such so that she sang Adagisa to her Norma, a humbling feat that I still couldn't believe. then there's Anna Moffo, great Lucia herself who after hearing the diva in a Met rehearsel, lavish her with phrases, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, ask her director husband to hire Sutherland for the legendary Don Giovanni with Giulini...also Schwarzkopf, a friend of Maria Callas, was quoted as saying that in the rehearsal for Sutherland's 1959 Lucia for Covent garden, that Callas jaws dropped in disbelieve when she heard Sutherland, then there's Birgit Nilsson, George London who got her her met audition which she amazingly failed in 1958, singing Caro Nome in english, Simionato, Alfredo Kraus, Robert Merrill, who raves about her by the way. I can go on and on, but you get the point. The greatest singers in the world all bow to her because of her fantastic voice. And the great Bruno Walters came out of retirement to conduct Don Giovanni with Sutherland as Donna Anna because he thought she was the best Donna Anna he's ever heard.

Of course she had critics too. Callas said Sutherland turned her standards for bel canto that she had so painfully set at least a hundred years, and Callas is a formitable force indeed. Others find La Stupenda's voice beyond criticism and choose to attack her diction and theatrical attributes instead. All jealousy, in my opionion.

But the years took a lot of toll on the Sutherland voice. By the time of this recording only half a voice is left. But still not bad. But from the late fifties to the late seventies she had a gorgeous voice that was incomparable, with high notes that got bigger and bigger as the notes get higher and higher..the high notes actually blossoms. And she had that precise trill, that staccato, perhaps the fastest one I know, the fioratura that resemble pearls in a pearl necklace, so precise and defined it was. Even Callas was second to her in the coloratura area. And La Stupenda's ability to sing beautifully night after night turning in bravura performances without a single flaw is unique.

Sorry that I go on and on. But to have heard her in person, it was my priviledge. She remains a diva who knows who she is, and her place in the history of opera, she knows she is a glorious singer, but she doesn't show it. Her farewell operatic role was the Queen in La Huguenots. NOT because it's a showpiece for her, all her great scenes are in act 1, then she disappears for almost 2 hours, but because it'll show off the talents of other singers from her Australian Opera house. That's how humble she is.

Again, a stupendous farewell for Dame Joan Sutherland...she already has a unique place in the history of opera as the Queen of Bel Canto, and within our lifetime we will likely not hear anything like her again. Bravissima, diva.

It's as simple as that. The most beloved Prima donna of our last Century. She will ,and will always be the first lady of song...
Prima Donna Assoluta.