Customer Reviews

Le Nozze Di Figaro (Staatskapelle Berlin)

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This review refers to Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro", DVD edition by ArtHaus Musik((Bel Air Media)..
This production of "The Marriage of Figaro" is simply charming.
I was enchanted by the entire four acts and impressed by the quality of the DVD as well. The singers were strong and emotional. They brought their own take and nuances to these characters and portrayed them beautifully. The orchestra was magnificent and did justice to the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The story is romantic, witty, complex and spellbinding.
Figaro, a servant of Count Almaviva, and Susanna, personal maid to the Countess Rosina, are planning their wedding...but..there are some problems to be worked out first. The Count, lusts after Susanna(as well as others) and makes it clear that he intends to invoke "jus primae noctis"(the right of the first night)before giving his consent to the marriage. Meanwhile Marcellina, another servant in the household is holding Figaro to his once promised marriage to her. The Countess is depressed over the infidelities of her husband and conspires with Susanna to prove his unfaithfulness. And always in the middle of all this scheming between the sexes is the irrepressible Cherubino, the Count's young page, who loves all the women and can hardly contain himself around them. It is a battle of the sexes set to wonderful music.

The performance at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin includes this outstanding cast. Rene Pape as Figaro, Dorothea Roschmann as Susanna, Emily Magee as The Countess, Roman Trekel as The Count and in a performance that will steal your heart, Patricia Risley as Cherubino. The music is conducted to perfection by Daniel Barenboim, with the State Opera Choir Berlin.

The DVD is an excellent quality. It's the next best thing to actually being there.It looks great and the music and voices fill the room in Dolby Digital 5.1. The production is in Italian, and may be viewed with(or without) English or Japanese subtitles.The menu may also be viewed in those langauges as well.There are some production notes as well. It is nicely packaged in a jewel case, and includes a booklet that is more like a program. It has the scenes listed and there are summaries of each act in several languages, including English. There are also some notes on Mozart as well.

Even with the placement of some modern day props(a marker, "Vogue" magazine, a ball point pen), which I personally thought was a touch of whimsy, I was absolutely caught up in the time and place, the music and the story.I felt the same enthusiasm the audience did as they cheered this performance. All that was missing was the very expensive tickets and a little ambiance. Highly recommended for lovers of Mozart and Opera.

Enjoy...Laurie