Customer Reviews

Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk [Blu-ray]

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

 

 

The first performance of this opera took place in 1934, Leningrad(St Petersburg). It was considered a work of genius in the Soviet Union. The work was also played overseas. Early in 1936 Stalin saw a performance and considered it perverse sexually. Then an editoral in Pravda,the Soviet paper, condemned the opera as "Muddle instead of music". It is believed that the editorial was written by Stalin, or he was behind the attack. Shostakovich was now in fear of his life. At the time, thousands of people including his relatives were disappearing, killed by Stalins minions. The composer withdrew the opera and his forth symphony, which was not seen again in the Soviet union for another thirty years. His 4th to 9th Symphonies the composer considered his tombstones. How he survived Stalin, I suggest you get hold of the DVD, a documentary called Shostakovich against Stalin, the war symphonies.Music conducted by Valery Gergiev.

The staging and dress is traditional . Set in a barn like structure, which eventually becomes a bridge and camping area. Set in late 19th century Czarist Russia, about a rich Merchant who often leaves his wife,who finds a lover because of being bored. She kills the father in law, and both the lover and she murder the husband. His body is found and they are caught. On the way to Siberia,the lover falls for another woman. Katerina the wife, pushes the other women into the water and she jumps in, and they both drown. Rather depressing you might think. The opera has sardonic humour. The conductor James Conlon, an American,brings out the tensions,the raw sexual under currents, emotion and lyrical side of the score. His tempo are brisk and with his Italian Orchestra,bring out the true Russian flavour. Katerina, the merchants wife, Jeanne-Michele Chabonnet, is a dramatic soprano. She could be considered a near mezzo, because of her low notes.She makes you feel sorry for her plight. I wonder why I have never heard of her. She is brilliant in this part. All the singers are good, including Vladimir Vaneev as Boris, the father in law, Vsevolod Grivnov as the husband and Sergej Kunaev as Sergei,the lover. There are no weaknesses in this performance. Also, traditionalists should have no fears about the performance. The sexuality is there, but the director Lev Dodin takes the view that less is more.He does not take any liberties with the stage directions.The reviewer who criticized this performance obviously was watching another opera.

I was simply overwhelmed by this performance. Blown away. Emotionally drained. Wow!

I used a Denon DX1000DB Bluray mini system, which had two speakers,but because of a new invention gives you surround sound. You can use earphones. New to Australia, cost here 1,500 Aus dollars. Region Worldwide. PCM stereo. DTS-HD Master Audio 7.I. 1O80 full HD. Format 16.9.

I have purchased every generally available CD, DVD and Blu ray release of this opera and have seen it on TV and in the opera house many times. The combination of violence, sex and tough drama even out on the banks of the Volga are not easy to pack into a commercial production in the theatre and it is not easy to cast. On balance I feel this is the best of modern productions despite some reservations here and there. The Rostropovich version on DVD, dubbed with Czech actors, is wonderfully sung but is heavily cut and today it looks its age. The old Soviet film released a few years ago by Decca is also special but again looks old. I have always had a soft spot for the ENO production with Willard White and Josephine Barstow which was of the original version but this is not officially available. I prefer this new Blu ray to the other Blu ray release from Holland. It is better staged, mostly better cast and with more suitable costumes and sets. The explicit violence and sex is implied rather than spread out all over the stage and I think it is the better for it. There is still room for the ultimate version and perhaps Gergiev will do this in Russia with a full Russian cast, but until then this is the one to go for. Frankly I did not expect it coming from romantic Italy with an American conductor but there you go! Recommended.

This is an opera of high drama and this recording simply doesn't even come close to meeting its dramatic requirements time after time. I'm sure someone will write a more length review so this is my short take. The singers are adequate or maybe a little better at best and there is something in the quality of Jeanne Michèle Charbonnet's voice that I find unpleasant to listen to. The orchestra plays well but doesn't have the sarcastic bite (most of the time) that Shostakovich's music often requires. The same set for all four acts severely limits what the director can do, i.e. keeping the singers at a distance from one another at moments when they should be close. However, the director fails even when this restriction could be overcome. Neither the killing of Boris or his son have any tension, characters are offstage when they should be seen, the sex scenes are nothing more than music, and the drunken party scene of act 3 was rather tame. Act 4 fared somewhat better but not by much. One odd thing -- the orchestra pit was raised and lowered during the interludes on at least 2 occasions that I could see on the video.

Of the two available commercial DVDs, I would definitely choose the one from Amsterdam but the Barcelona (Liceu) performance is good also. However, the best performance possible was done at London's Royal Opera House in 2006. The cast, conducting and setting (Stalinist era) are riveting. It was televised on the BBC. If you know anyone (as I do) that may have recorded it, try and get a copy. It is opera at it's absolute best. Hopefully, it may be released on DVD some day. You can find a few clips on YouTube by using these three search terms -- mtsensk royal opera.

I get a real kick out of seeing Western releases of Russian music in which the so-called artist responsible for the packaging makes a complete fool of him/her self! Here we have, with English and Russian mixed: "Lddy Mdcbbth" I know it's a leap of faith to assume some Western readers guess correctly at the use of a Russian "B" (buki) for a Western "b" the other letter is small and difficult to see, it could be Cyrillic "yat'" in place of an "e." The question becomes which letters are really Western and which are really Cyrillic. Is the "C" a Western "C" or a Cyrillic "s"? Is the Western "Y" really a Cyrillic "ch"?