Customer Reviews

Lehar - The Merry Widow / Bonynge, Sutherland, Stevens, Opera Australia

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

 

 

I absolutely love this opera and this video of it. Joan Sutherland and Ronald Stevens are great together. Although Sutherland is a bit older, it is still Sutherland and her voice IS the Countess. Ronald Stevens is gorgeous with a voice to match. It is better than anything that is being put out now and beats the Merry Widow that the Met did. Own it.

The video and sound are scrumptious, Lehar's music is as appealing and lively as ever, and the supporting cast is fine. The costumes, scenery, and choreography are marvelous.

HOWEVER -- Sutherland was almost 62 when she did this, and was no longer physically or musically worthy of this role. Her voice is weak, wavering, off-key. She is too heavy and lacking in energy to be a sprightly merry widow. This might be tolerable in a cameo appearance for old time's sake, but not in the starring role that overshadows all other parts. I want my money back.

Why did Sutherland ever go along with releasing this blemish on her heavenly legacy of masterpieces? Did she long to experience once more the intoxication of the fawning crowds and adulation her name alone might bring? Was it money? Even if Sutherland and hubby Bonynge (the conductor) were contentedly rich from their many deserving efforts of previous decades, others might have pressed for one more big profit. Too bad.

Clearly, it must have been Sutherland's star power and birthplace, not the actual performance, which had the crowd in her hometown (Sydney) cheering and applauding so wildly. I cannot believe that they (or any knowledgeable reviewer with normal hearing) could honestly enjoy Sutherland's embarrassing performance, which someone along the way should have withheld from release.

UPDATE: We no longer have much reason to buy this DVD. Not only is the San Francisco Opera's four-star English performance now on the market, but five-star versions in German (the original language almost always fits the music and rhythm better) are available. My fave is the 2005 centennial performance from the Mörbisch Lake Festival with Margarita de Arellano, Mathias Hausmann, Elisabeth Starzinger, Harald Serafin, and Marwan Shamiyeh, produced by ORF, the Austrian Radio & TV network. It comes with subtitles and a good printed synopsis, although the wonderful music and singing matched with the visual treats are quite sufficient without precise understanding of all the words. Translations of this work must be highly approximate anyway, struggling with rhyme, meter, and Austrian German multilingual wordplay (with at least three other languages). The cast performs with the chemistry and sexy energy that the mess from Sydney lacks. Without some special reason, purchase of Bonynge & Sutherland's DVD from Opera Australia (not to be confused with Austria) would misuse funds better spent elsewhere.

Sorry, The Merry Widow is a delightsome Operetta, but Joan Sutherland is past her prime for such a part. Her singing starts out wavering and slightly off key. She is too old and too big to carry off the dances. Ronald Stevens did a good job, but could not carry Joan Sutherland. (no pun intended) We will just have to wait for a newer singer, better suited for this Operetta. Help, will someone produce a bubbly good Merry Widow.

Although it is true that Joan Sutherland seemed too old for this part as Madame Glawari, however her acting and voice is still superb. Ignoring this condition, the operette itself was shown marvelously in colors, scenery and costumes. Also the ballet and dancing give us much enjoyment too watch this video. It was a real amusement to see the funny situation and words, as it is sung in English and quite understandable. All in short, we need only enjoy the music, scenery (which is superb), costumes and other singers who participate their own credit to this operette.

There certainly are a lot of warts on this Australian production, and to blame them all on Joan Southerland is, I think misguided..... I mean even the editorial review is less than flattering to the aging diva ... meeoww meowww ... little plate of milk for, on the floor though, the ed reviewers .....

This is one of the very very few DVD's of this opera and that is what makes it enjoyable, to be able to at least see in in your home. The dance numbers are exquisite and as a whole the lighting and video are excellent....

If there is a down on this DVD well I am disgusted that it was only cut in two channel Dolby ... what ... 2 channels ... I didn't even know there was a dvd available in 2 channel stereo ... WOW what a bummer ...

As a die hard audiophile I couldn't take it and left the room ... but my wife and all her friends who are card carrying, season ticket opera NUTS ... all enjoyed the DVD ... go figure ....

I didn't like it, but the audience in Australia certainly did. Sutherland sang only one thing (in my opinion) poorly, and that was I think the last number in the show, what is commonly called The Merry Widow Waltz. She sang it in her "low voice" (to take an expression from Kiri Te Kanawa) and I didn't like it. The rest of it (what there WAS of it!) was wonderful. Too much dialogue. Too much farce (it was stupid). I've heard several different versions of this score, and except a few tunes, they all seem to have different songs in them. Which reminds me, my preference (even over Sutherland) is Studer's CD of this show. Glorious! I may be mistaken, but I think, in fact am almost positive, that some of the songs were cut (to make room for that boring, idiotic dialogue? And what was the point of all the dancing, the choreography of which was NOT particularly enthralling?). Finally, it was a pleasure, a treasure to hear Sutherland talk in English at great length, she is one of my favorite people, and now at last I know what her speaking voice sounded like. The English lyrics were pedestrian, and they might as well have left it all in German it was so hard to understand what anyone was saying. I liked the 3rd act the best. And I knew I was in trouble (like a dish of cold water in the face) when Danilo spoke instead of singing his first number. Bleah!

I thought the entire cast was superlative. I enjoyed every minute of it. Dame Joan Sutherland is magnificient. Her rendition of Vilja was the best I have ever heard. This song was one of my Mother's favorites and I have heard it many times, but never as beautifully done as this. I enjoyed Ronald Stevens, Anne-Maree McDonald, Anson Austin, Gordon Wilcock and Graeme Ewer. They were so very good. There were others in the cast, as well as the dancers that were marvelous. My final rating of this on a scale of 1 to 10, at least a 20.

This performance was not made just for, or even with DVD in mind, it is simply a transfer from a standard TV production, and as such is flawed, the michrophones are of poor quality, making Joan Southerland sound rather off, they can't properly record her extreme dynamic range (a real shame, because people are mistaking what was recorded with the way she really sounds)the video is poor, and looks really bad on a large screen, although not that bad on a regular tv, the performances are as good as any you are likely to find on record, although different from the San Francisco Opera production,, which is every bit as good in the performances, but superior in Video, Audio, Stageing, Costumes, and lighting, for Southerland fans this will be the one, for everyone else the San Francisco Opera DVD is the one to get, unless or until a new Widow is released

Filmed during a live performance 3 February, 1988, within Sydney's justly esteemed opera house, Franz Lehar's Merry Widow is sung here by soon to be retired Joan Sutherland, in addition to a splendid supporting cast, with Richard Bonynge leading his established pick-up orchestra, here dubbed The Elizabethan Philharmonic, in an outstanding rendition of Lehar's scoring for an evergreen operetta that depicts in spirit and particulars Belle Époque Paris. From the original, a stage play of intrigue within high society that debuted in 1861, WIDOW (Lustige Witwe) is adapted wonderfully well under the direction of Lotfi Mansouri for this production made for Australian television that includes enormously agreeable "business" and choreography in support of the vocal soloists who act their parts in pleasing fashion for the familiar Christopher Hassall English language translation, from which one finds that only Act III differs substantially from the standard libretto, although the entire work's origins do frequently seem to be grounded at D'Oyly Carte rather than in Vienna. Several critical observers have stated that, at 61 years, Sutherland is too old to play this part of Anna Glawari, "The Merry Widow", additionally commenting upon her prognathousness and girth, and it is manifest that the diva does not readily rise to her feet from a sitting position. Nonetheless, she is palpably comfortable in the role, and it is clear that her musicality is as estimable as ever. Indeed, the only obvious clinker here comes from below the boards, within the orchestra's string section. Although never sylphlike, Sutherland's musical career has been aptly advanced by husband/coach/manager Bonynge (who certainly knew a good thing when he heard one) and opera lovers the world over have gladly sanctioned Coleridge's "willing suspension of disbelief" to place the soprano firmly into her most successful characterizations, each of which her followers have greeted with idolization. A house filled to capacity and ripe with esteem for Sutherland as a national treasure, evinces its satisfaction during balloon popping curtain calls, after previously halting the action often with its applause, notably following Sutherland's ardent show-stopping rendering of "Vilja", sung amid opulently created period ornamentation. Despite Sutherland's accomplished turn as Anna, the evening belongs to tenor Ronald Stevens who, as male lead Danilo Danilovitch, captures each of his scenes through his gusto. The striking soprano Anne-Maree McDonald sings well and acts gracefully as Valencienne, while other supporting cast members are, for the most part, at least proficient. The WIDOW's narrative has been in a continuing condition of flux since its inception and this film's alternate English translation has been particularly favoured in Australia for many years. Directed with exhilaration and designed with a refined eye for detail, this whimsical musical play is certain to be welcomed into an operetta lover's cinema library. Both VHS and DVD versions offer first-class visual and sound quality and each includes a leaflet of synopsis that also lists all involved with the production.

This should never have been released. First, the sound quality is uniformly poor. Second, Sutherland is way past her prime and this would not have been a suitable role for her at any time. Third, the dialogue is slapstick and excessive. This is one of the few DVDs in my collection that I would toss in the wastebasket except for the danger of my forgetting and buying it again. Too bad.