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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could be peppier, April 15, 2003
This review is from: Offenbach - Orpheus in the Underworld / Davin, Badea, Vidal, Theatre de la Monnaie Brussels (DVD)
I don't think this is as awful as other reviewers say, but it's not as effective as the amazon.com reviewer claims, either. Musically, I prefer the Michel Plasson-directed Orphee on EMI. It's both more sprightly and more profound, capturing the full range of Offenbach's unique genius. The singing here is generally lovely (with some exceptions), and the set fantastic. There are some wonderful visual moments, but the pace isn't quite exciting or dramatic enough, ditto the comedic moments, and the choreography could be more imaginative. PBS did a brilliant one decades ago that I've rarely seen or heard surpassed; sadly, it's not available.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
SSSSSSLLLLLLOOOOOOOWWWWWW, February 22, 2006
This review is from: Offenbach - Orpheus in the Underworld / Davin, Badea, Vidal, Theatre de la Monnaie Brussels (DVD)
This production looks great! The concepts are clever and fun! The tempi are.....slow......painfully slow.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. This can only be considered "rollicking" if one finds a chess game "rollicking". It's a good game, though, played on a lovely board by very fine players. It's just, with this kind of work, a farcical satire by Offenbach, they should be running around the court playing hand ball, not sitting at the chess board. It needs to have life, it needs to jump, it needs to Can-Can! But instead, musically we get a lullaby....a dirge! I suggest the CD version with Dessay, Naouri, Fouchécourt, Beuron, Podles, Petibon, Smith, Gens, Cole, Minkowski.....which you may purchase here, BTW. This version with no visuals is much more preferable than this sluggish DVD version.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Offenbach's Train of Thought, August 2, 2005
This review is from: Offenbach - Orpheus in the Underworld / Davin, Badea, Vidal, Theatre de la Monnaie Brussels (DVD)
This is a good production of one of Offenbach's more popular operettas with good cast and orchestra. The setting is that of Nineteenth Century Paris, not Classical Greece. The setting, I suppose, makes a statement, but frankly I would have preferred the setting stay true to the story. That being said, if you like Offenbach, you should like this. There is some very familiar music, including the famous "Can-Can." One prominent stage device is the arrival of an old-fashioned locomotive in Hades. Very loud and very cute. I cannot help but note that in Offenbach's "La Belle Helene" (his take on the Judgment of Paris and the abduction of Helen by Paris), Paris solves a riddle which also involves "locomotive." Whatever can all this mean? On the whole, I like both the music and wit of "La Belle Helene" more than that of "Orpheus in the Underworld," but "Orpheus" is very entertaining.
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