Product Details

• Actors: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Otto Edelmann, Sena Jurinac, Erich Kunz, Anneliese Rothenberger
• Format: Classical, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: Kultur Video
• VHS Release Date: August 15, 1991
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301816072
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #179,426 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not the film in the reviews below, October 14, 2010

By 

Progressive (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Der Rosenkavalier: The Film [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

I don't know why Amazon has started to attach to new releases reviews that were written for ancient VHS versions and early, different DVD versions. The info Amazon provides on the reviews that actually says "review of the VHS edition" is easily overlooked. I don't think this is really a service to the customer, who might be put off buying a newly remastered Blu-ray edition with many bonus features when he sees an attached review that pertains to a Betamax of the same title, or something equally irrelevant.

89 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better late than never, January 11, 2000

By 

Noam Eitan (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Karajan, Schwarzkopf, Edelmann, Salzburg Festival Orchestra [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I have never been a Schwarzkopf fan and for the past 18 years preferred Régine Crespin's Marschallin (on Decca), even in the complete Solti recording, where her voice allegedly was in decline (critics are always happy to point out these imperfections). I also never warmed up to Otto Edelmann's Baron Ochs, and felt his timbre gives the role a cunning/evil twist rather than a comic one (I prefer Manfred Jungwirth). My first reaction to this tape was that the production is conservative and unimaginative, compared for example with the newer Covent Garden production with Solti and Te Kanawa. However, on repeat viewing I finally gave in - I feel the critics were right all these years and Schwarzkopf IS the greatest Marschallin ever. I still am not a fan of hers as a voice - Crespin's voluptuous voice and seductive yet motherly characterization are a rare gem. Yet Schwarzkopf's interpretation is highly intelligent and very subtle (it took me 18 years to appreciate it). It is a very unusual role of a lover who displays rare wisdom and maturity in her love and understands when to let her lover go as an act of love. Schwarzkopf displays a deep understanding of the Marschallin's dilemma and choice with very fine nuances of singing and acting. I felt that watching her acting added depth to just listening to her on discs. In that sense the very restrained production serves to highlight Schwarzkopf's nuances. Even Otto Edelmann's Baron Ochs is more complete when viewed on stage. His baron Ochs is a stupid, crude and conniving character, rather than funny, and as a result it is more difficult to forgive him (he's never really silly). He represents the complete antithesis to the Marschallin's truly noble handling of her love object - he wants to grab, hold on to, use and thereby demean his chosen one. Their conception of these roles is highly idiomatic and no singer who wasn't raised on the German language can quite match that. They project a degree of self confidence in these roles that comes with the experience of many live performances together - they rarely look in the direction of the conductor to get their cues. This film is a classic.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Rosenkavalier, May 8, 2009

By 

MRM (Sussex, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: R. Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier (DVD)

This is the best Rosenkavalier of all. Sena Jurinac is a magnificent Octavian - a wonderful voice, and subtle and noble, as well as characterful, acting. Otto Edelman is a great Ochs - terrific vocally, and with a certain amount of charm is able to seem some kind of aristocrat, despite being such a boor. Anneliese Rothenberger is a beautiful Sophie - in voice and acting, and she looks the part too. Erich Kunz is a splendid Faninal - wonderful fussy movements combined with a really beautiful voice. And, for all that people say about her, Schwarzkopf is really just the best Marschallin. It's altogether wrong to think of her as cold: there are layers and layers of characterization here, and each layer is deeply felt. What is mistaken for coldness is instead an acted restraint, which is in itself an expression of depth of feeling. It makes a difference to be able to see her act, of course - a lot goes on in very slight gestures and facial movements. And she is so strong vocally: absolutely never under strain. The whole thing is capped by terrific playing by Karajan and the Vienna Phil, who know how to do Viennese in a way that nobody else can. My immediate comparisons are the two Carlos Kleiber DVDs - the cast is better vocally than on either of those, and the acting is better too, I think - and the old Erich Kleiber and Karajan audio recordings. I think this film is better than the Karajan audio because Sena Jurinac is better than Christa Ludwig, and the Vienna Phil is better at this than the Philharmonia, wonderful orchestra though the Philharmonia is. And I think Schwarzkopf is better than Erich Kleiber's Maria Reining as the Marschallin.

This film has been available on DVD, though it doesn't seem to be readily found now. I have just managed to get the DVD (new) through a marketplace seller on Amazon.de. OK the picture quality is not always great, but that's nothing to complain about in the context of a performance as wonderful as this. Get it if you possibly can!