Product Details

• Actors: Gabriel Bacquier, Jean-Luc Viala, Georges Gautier, Catheirne Dubosc, Jules Bastin
• Directors: Louis Erlo
• Format: Classical, Color, NTSC
• Language: French
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Kultur Video
• VHS Release Date: November 30, 1999
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00003M5GT
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,710 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
The ostensible subject of Prokofiev's surrealistic comedy The Love for Three Oranges is a fairy tale similar to Mozart's The Magic Flute: a prince on a quest for a beautiful princess with whom he has fallen in love from a distance; villains of horrifying (though comic) nastiness; magic charms and enchantments (for example, the princess is turned into a rat); and a titanic struggle between the forces of good and evil. But in its subtext, it is an opera about opera, beginning with a near-riot. The chorus is divided into two groups--opera patrons in tuxedos demanding a serious drama and stage hands in working clothes who insist on a comedy.

In one dimension, this work is a discussion of operatic styles and conventions, and this is the level on which the Opera de Lyon production triumphs most decisively. Its style is self-consciously brilliant, as it should be. The performers' acting style is as important as their voices, and they have refined every verbal nuance, every gesture, to perfection, including a lot of pure slapstick. This opera, in this production, will appeal particularly to two types of audience: sophisticates who will relish its subtexts, parodies, insider jokes, and chic staging, and children who will be attracted by the story of a prince (son of the King of Clubs) who angers a witch and suffers a terrible curse: he will fall hopelessly in love with three oranges. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, September 28, 2000

By	David Gottner (Bellevue, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prokofiev - The Love for Three Oranges / Nagano, Opera National de Lyon (DVD)

Everything about this video is just wonderful! It is humorous & delightful, the acting is great, the choreography is wonderful, the singing and orchestra is great, the tempo is brisk, the sound mixing is good, the sets are fabulous (they are a bit avant garde, but it works ok here.) This is the 3RD time I've watched this video (1st time on DVD.)

I upgraded from the laser disk version, and it was a good thing too. The laser disk had problems with the sound mixing which was fixed on the DVD version.

There are no extras, just the performance and a chapter menu. The menu does not even break up the contents between Act I & Act II, so it is very rudimentary. That's the only downside to this otherwise great DVD!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and great fun, January 20, 2002

By	"charles-stuart" (Lubbock, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prokofiev - The Love for Three Oranges / Nagano, Opera National de Lyon (DVD)

This Opera National de Lyon production is simply delightful. The singing is excellent and the audio quality of the DVD is as good. The video is of an equal quality.

The staging is unusual but comes off brilliantly. The use of the minimalist sets works very well and I wouldn't have expected it to do so. It is slightly surreal but this is a slightly (?) surreal opera. The sets work with the opera and never detract from the opera or become intrusive.

The singers seem to be enjoying themselves and inviting you to enjoy it with them. In fact, joy might be a good one-word description of the entire opera.

There is some slapstick in it but never at the cost of the opera. Instead, it seems to enhance it. The scene with the cook and her "deadly" ladle is delightful but only slightly better than the other scenes.

This is my first experience with an Opera National de Lyon production and I throughly enjoyed it. I got the opera several months ago and find I watch it about once a month.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slapstick opera, March 12, 2000

By	Robert Jordan (Lilburn, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews

If the Marx Brothers were to write an opera it might come out like this one. Prokofiev's wacky, quirky Love of Three Oranges is a strange trip into something between a fairy tale, satire and farce. The L'Opera de Lyon's production gives this tale of the hypochodriac Prince and his triple-citrus curse a sort of "twenties chic" look. Despite its silliness there is at least one truly chilling moment when Fata Morgana, the witch fresh from Hell, gives the Prince the curse of the three oranges. Biting, acid music, a bizzare story and the most slapstick you've ever seen in an opera make this a totally unique and entertaining experience.