Product Details

• Actors: Eva Marton, Plácido Domingo, Leona Mitchell, Paul Plishka, Hugues Cuenod
• Directors: Kirk Browning
• Writers: Carlo Gozzi, Giuseppe Adami, Renato Simoni
• Producers: Samuel Paul
• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC
• Language: Italian
• Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Umvd Labels
• DVD Release Date: August 12, 2003
• Run Time: 134 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000094HMU
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,357 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #1 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Performer > Marton, Eva
  #1 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Performer > Levine, James
  #1 in	Movies & TV > Musicals & Performing Arts > Classical > By Composer > Puccini, Giacomo

• For more information about "Puccini - Turandot / Franco Zeffirelli - Marton, Domingo, Mitchell, Plishka, Cuenod - James Levine, MET (1988)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect performance and DVD, August 8, 2003

By	Mark (United States) - See all my reviews

This is one of the best opera DVD's I have ever seen. You could not ask for more. It was recorded during one of those MET nights where everything goes perfect.

The title role is held perfectly by Marton. She isn't a great opera actress, but she IS a great soprano, and for Turandot that's enough.

As for Domingo's warm voice, it has rarely been more enchanting. For him, everything went perfect that night. Calaf's role suits him perfectly in both acting and singing. You could see him suffering during high C's, but this is even more thrilling especially since they come out perfectly.

Mitchell's Liu adds the cherry to the perfect Cake, while Levine's traditional conducting is amazing.

Zeffirelli's sets alone would have made a good reason why to buy this DVD. Acts I and II are majestuous.

Finally, the DVD's digital sound and image quality are outstanding. In summary, everything is Perfect!

Highly Recommended.

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinarily Exciting, February 12, 2007

By	David Cady (Jersey City, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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I watch a lot of opera on DVD, and there's usually some element of each performance that doesn't quite match the others. Perhaps it's a singer who isn't on par with his or her cast members, or -- more likely these days -- the design and/or directorial "concept" is anachronistic and distracting. But there's absolutely nothing -- and I mean nothing -- that doesn't work about this Met "Turandot." One can quibble perhaps with the scope of Zeffirelli's production, but for once his obsession with size pays off. This is an Asian fairytale, and the design is appropriately fantastical. (I actually recommend that, if you get the chance, you see this production in the house, as it has to be experienced live to be believed.) And the VOICES!! I was leery about Marton and Mitchell, as I haven't always loved their work in the past; but they're brilliant. As is Mr. Domingo, whom I've always loved. To be honest, "Nessun Dorma" doesn't quite explode the way it should, but I've rarely heard him in better voice. All in all, I cannot imagine a better "Turandot" on DVD.

56 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a very good performance, June 13, 2000

By	Ray Barnes (Surrey, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Puccini - Turandot / Zeffirelli, Levine, The Metropolitan Opera [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I wish to thank the two prior reviewers of this recording for confirming its provenance as the Levine set done at the Met for Deutsche Grammophon. I have not purchased the VHS version but the Laserdisc, and that format is effective too. As I recall, the Liu of this recording (as I recall, Barbara Hendricks) is the same one as in the Karajan studio recording, and she acquits herself very well on both of them. The rest of the cast generally is very fine, and special marks go to the chorus. The ascent of the moon in Act I, when yet another unsuccessful suitor meets his dark fate, is very moving, particularly aided by the stage sets and original costuming.

Domingo as Calaf is self-recommending and he acts the role well too. I have some reservations about Eva Marton's performance in the title role - hence 4 stars instead of 5 - as she has a noticeable beat in her voice, and in spite of the costuming does not look at all like an irresistable Princess that men would literally be willing to risk their heads over. It would be difficult to criticize her acting because the role does not require much of it. Vocally she is no match for Joan Sutherland in this role, nothwithstanding the difference between live and studio conditions. To be fair, she is better here than in the 1983 Turandot done live in Vienna with Jose Carreras and Maazel conducting, also available on VHS. Levine conducts very forcefully and revels in Puccini's exotic percussion and chromaticism. He also handles the Franco Alfano ending as well as possible. It is a great tragedy that Puccini died from throat cancer before completing Act III. The scene of Liu's death is as inspired in its own right as the Liebestod, and then the chords introducing Calaf's "Principessa d'iglessa", where Alfano takes over, hit you like a diatonic jolt.

Overall, this remains a very enjoyable experience and gives a thrilling idea of experiencing a live performance at the Met. Highly recommended.