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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great performance in a great opera house, August 5, 1999
This review is from: Mozart - Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) / Abbado, Vienna State Opera [VHS] (VHS Tape)
What can I say about a video where just about everything goes right? Under Claudio Abbado's wise baton, the Vienna Philharmonic plays Mozart's Marriage to a gleeful Vienna State Opera crowd. The cast is full of star-studded singers, most notably Cheryl Studer and Ruggero Raimondi. The dynamics are well balanced, the articulations crisp, and the chorus is actually in balance with the singers and orchestra for the first time that I can remember in an opera video. This is a great buy as Abbado and company make the vibrant Vienna State Opera House ring with the beautiful sounds that only such a house could possess. I saw this production of the Marriage of Figaro live myself at the opera house, and this video is almost a replica of the performance's quality. What a video!! Thanks Amazon!!!
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Barely at all good., March 24, 2001
This review is from: Mozart - Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) / Abbado, Vienna State Opera [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This video was a big disappointment to me. The singers were good, but the rest is not good at all. I wanted this video mainly to see Ruggero Raimondi as Count Almaviva, but there were problems with his singing. He sounded very weak in this video probably because he is older in this than he is in the others that he is in. Heinz Zednik also wasn't a very good Basilio in this production. He seemed very strange, & not at all like he was as Monostatos in The Magic Flute. Most of the other characters were a little better, but there were lots of other problems in this video. Two really good arias are omitted, there is only one intermission, & to top it all off, there are no subtitles! Instead of subtitles there is a book with translations in English, German, & French that you have to stare at the whole time. I really wouldn't reccomend this video, but if you still want to pick this one, that is perfectly fine.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A joy from beginning to end, March 1, 2009
This review is from: Mozart - Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) / Abbado, Vienna State Opera [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I videotaped this production when it was broadcast on Austrian television, and I hope it will be published on DVD one day. (In my recording the first ten minutes or so are missing so I would really like to buy the whole thing in good quality!) It's the best "Figaro" I've ever seen (and I've seen many performances of that opera). The cast is superb (even the smaller roles are completely convincing)- they are all great actors as well as singers. Jonathan Miller's staging shows a keen understanding of what this multi-dimensional, endlessly fascinating work is about, even the smallest details are created with great intelligence and humour. You can't help sympathizing with all the characters: Lucio Gallo is a very amiable Figaro, Marie McLaughlin a perfect Susanna (you can tell who wears the breeches in their relationship) - an attractive (they also look really sweet together) and witty couple. Vocally, they suit their roles very well, too. (You can hear Lucio Gallo's Figaro on CD, released by "Deutsche Grammophon", also conducted by Claudio Abbado. On that recording, Almaviva is sung by Boje Skovhus - which is a pity because Ruggiero Raimondi's voice is more charismatic and interesting. For a sample of McLaughlin's talent, listen to James Levine's Cosi fan tutte, also published by Deutsche Grammophon. She's the best Despina ever! Her voice sounds a great deal fresher and Mozartian than let's say Netrebko's, and she's the better actress, too.) Ruggiero Raimondi makes a marvellous Count (what a great and sensual voice), and reminds you of his famous "Don Giovanni", even though his Conte Almaviva is a lot funnier. Cheryl Studer is a slightly matronly but very likable Countess. Gabriele Sima is a very charming Cherubino, and Heinz Zednik, Margarita Lilowa and Rudolf Mazzola are brilliant as Basilio, Marcellina and Bartolo. (They also look the part.) Abbado's conducting is sensitive, Brian Large as the video director stands for the highest quality. I fell in love with this performance when I was seventeen - and I think is a showpiece production (that can encourage young people to get interested in opera!), something I would call "Referenzaufnahme" in German. So please, please, please release it on DVD soon!
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