Customer Reviews

Rossini - La Donna del Lago / Anderson, Blake, Merritt, Dupuy, Surjan, Muti, La Scala Opera

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was quite pleased with this production, though unfamiliar with it, so this was my only exposure. While I can't compare it to other recordings, I was impressed with the music, the wonderful singing, and the outstanding (foreboding) sets, especially June Anderson's arrival by boat--very convincing. My only criticism was that it occasionally had the "stand-and-deliver" approach (though not as much as Muti's William Tell), and thus I think it could have benefited by more attention to acting, but I assume this is the director's fault. Nonetheless, this Rossini gem is is quite theatrical and enjoyable.

This DVD would appeal mainly to a selected group of bel canto enthusiasts who lose sleep at night trying get rare recordings of rare operas from the bel canto repertoire. The audio from this performance circulated for a while (on the Philips label) and was difficult to find; this issue is therefore a treasure from that perspective. It represents one of the peaks of the bel canto revival movement of the past 20 years. The vast expansion of the bel canto repertoire and the revival of Rossini's lesser known works enabled the best singers of the new generation to specialize and develop their vocal talents to the point that some of them surpassed their distinguished predecessors - Callas, Sutherland, Caballé, Sills. June Anderson has been a major force in the bel canto revival. She often shared the stage with Blake, Merritt, and other bel canto tenors. This is the only commercially available document of such a performance. These Rossini coloratura roles are extremely taxing. The tenor roles in particular constitute a professional health hazard with their impossibly cruel high tessitura. Rossini's writing for the male voices is such that the whole performance turns into a dangerous athletic enterprise, where the suspense is not only centered around "is he going to make it to the next note?" but also "will his voice survive this evening?". It is a testament to the singers' training and good health that none of them was carried from the stage on a stretcher.

A less visible hero of this performance is the conductor Riccardo Muti. Albert Innaurato wrote in his article titled "INSIDE LA SCALA: TEMPLE OF MUSIC OR TEMPLE OF DOOM?" in Opera News magazine, July 1999: `Riccardo Muti is the world's most publicly detested conductor. In her book Cinderella and Company, Manuela Hoelterhoff calls him "the famously short maestro of fear".' IMHO he is one of the century's greatest conductors and could have reached Toscanini's fame had he not tied the knot with La Scala's lion's den. It would be a cliché to call him a "Rossini scholar": he conducts this opera with sensitivity, discipline and just the right amount of vigor without distorting Rossini's simple and linear composition style by underlining crescendos or changes in rhythm excessively to achieve a crowd pleasing effect.

Herzog's stage evokes Walter Scott's northern romantic atmosphere to which he adds some Gothic accents. His set designer uses huge fantasia-like sets with immense stalactites coming down from nowhere and the whole scenery changing in concentric circles - best appreciated in fast forward. The fairy-tale element that seems to be Herzog's forte reaches its smashing climax at the finale, in the throne room scene.

So what's the problem? The stage is so dark you can hardly see the details, and that is on top of the usual problems with the La Scala re-issues (because of problems with getting the rights, in large measure because of region coding, the Image releases have rights only to the previous LaserDisc masters with titles, not to the source material without). It was unfortunately in vogue at the time to use dimly lit scenery for "dark" subjects. This trend reverberated in some MET productions including the last "Ring" (despite the wonderful music the darkness beckoned me to sweet sleep at both the Rheingold and Die Walküre earlier this year. This silliness has to stop, you can't sit for hours in semi-darkness past dinnertime without falling asleep to the lullaby coming from the stage). The audio is good (obviously not as good as the new 5.1 Dolby surround DVD's). This DVD is gradually becoming difficult to get.

I agree with the content of the two previous reviews, particularly about the DARK production and the static "stand and deliver" style. However, I don't share the conclusion that the production overcomes these handicaps. The visual/acting dimensions really bring this DVD down.

The music of "La donna del lago" evokes lively, richly colored stage pictures. There are echo effects; the musical illusion of sounds coming from far to near, or bouncing across the hills; double-chorus numbers; antiphonal hunting horns, etc. The shepherds and the hunters should be visually differentiated, as should the groups of warriors. Their costumes should define their social roles. And they're supposed to be moving around in the opening scene - heading out to the fields and forests. Instead Herzog gives us ragged lines of people in shapeless, ragged clothes. They shuffle on, sing for an inexplicably long time, and shuffle off.

The decision to leave the women's chorus onstage during Elena and Uberto's long duet also makes NO sense...why would these two carry on an intimate conversation in front of a squad of listeners?

Elena (June Anderson) and Malcolm (Martine Dupuy) are the only ones with flattering/appropriate costumes (and some might quarrel with Malcolm's "mountain lion" headress... I liked its golden color and the way it disguised Dupuy's feminine head). Uberto (Rockwell Blake) is saddled with a hat made of a whole dead bird. Rodrigo (Chris Merritt) is draped in an enormous dark pink bedsheet, totally unflattering and about as unheroic as you can imagine. His headband and goatee are bad too. Yes, he's huge... all the more reason for the costumer to give his clothes some structure.

You would never guess that the action is supposed to be taking place in the 16th century... the costumes and architecture are closer to Stone Age. Maybe Herzog wanted to avoid a sentimental "picturesque" approach, but this dark, prehistoric "crags and caves" aesthetic is totally out of sync with the music. The static and uninspired stage pictures make the music seem overlong, repetitious, and boring. In all, a disservice to a lovely opera that deserves a lovely treatment.

Werner Herzog clearly loves dark operatic gestures. This production brings many characteristic Herzog touches to something that might not immediately seem to be his interest--the stylized and elegant music of Rossini. But he and Muti bring it all alive in a way that is totally involving and convincing. Dark, craggy cliffs, caves and a final throne room complete with stalactites predominate--green seems to have been banished from the production but an evocative combination of reds and oranges brings life where needed. It's hard to imagine five better principles--Anderson is light and ethereal, Dupuy agile, the tenors (Blake and Merritt) voraciously compete for top honors, and Surjan is strong as well. The orchestral sound is sharp, well detailed and lively. Altogether a highly effective performance of a romantic drama.

This is a Rossini serious opera and it is subject to the usual problems of long arias accompanied by little action. This makes it hard to make the production visually interesting during these long arias. The scenery and acting seem okay and sort of in style, but the basic plot is of little interest. What this means is that if the opera production is to succeed, the singing must be superb and arresting. Ellen (June Anderson) sings adequately though with some annoying repetitive mannerisms. Her lover Malcolm (Martine Dupuy), a cross dressing mezzosoprano role, is really quite good. But what has kept me from watching the whole opera is the horrible male singing. These three singers (two tenors and a baritone) epitomize all that can be done to discredit opera. They bellow, wobble out of control and ignore the pitches to be sung (I think) so that there is no sense of a vocal line. I simply can't watch the whole opera and will surely donate this DVD to someone who just wants to know how the plot unfolds.

I was tempted to give this one 4 stars but in all honesty, this opera really is lacking in good drama. However, I am very glad I got this dvd. What the opera is lacking in drama, it makes up for in wonderful music. I noticed one reviewer saying they only watched the first half a couple times and all three male singers were awful. I couldn't disagree more. Rockwell Blake sings King James V. He was the first tenor in our times to really make this character his own. He is an elegant-looking man with wonderful fioratura abilities. To stop half-way through the video is the greatist shame, because at the beginning of Act 2, Blake sings the aria, 'O fiamma soave...', and it is absolutely perfect, and the Scala audience shows their appreciation. This is definitely the highlight of the opera in my opinion. Chris Merritt, the other tenor, is also an accomplished Rossini tenor, but I didn't find him quite on his mark here - the most annoying thing I found about his singing is a marked change in voice quality in the upper register. He goes from a somewhat heroic sound in the lower register to an annoying nasality on top, which I did not notice when listening to him on other recordings. Martine Dupuy is very enjoyable as Malcolm. She has a rich mezzo with reasonably smooth fioratura. I found June Anderson just a bit dull, because I prefer a meatier soprano or even another mezzo in this role but her singing is quite smooth here as always. The baritone isn't the best, but luckily he only has one big aria. The sets by the famous movie-maker, Werner Herzog, are very intriguing.

This opera seria by Rossini has, by far, the most beautiful music of any opera I have heard- yes, even more than Mozart and Verdi! I have had a CD of this performance for several years (shipped over from England by my in-laws as it hasn't been vailable in America) and have adored the incredible music that Rossini created. There is one great tune after another, and the orchestration is also superb. Unfortunately, this opera is generally not available in any store (I have scoured many Tower records stores, etc and couldn't find it.) Now I see that Amazon.com is carrying an inexpensive CD set of this opera (different production.) More on that later.

This performance, from La Scala, in Milan in 1992, fully captures the gorgeous music. I emphasize this, because any bel canto opera lover really should hear this music. The singing performances are excellent. June Anderson is terrific as Elena and the rest of the cast is also very strong. And Riccardo Muti does a superb job as conductor. Music-wise this is 5 stars all the way.

But the production- that's a different story.

The first, and probably fundamental problem, is the opera itself. The story is weak (three men love Elena during a war in the Scottish Highlands). The libretto is terrible- there is one extended scene towards the end of Act One that is completely incomprehensible. After several viewings and reading the script, my wife and I till can't figure it out.

And that's probably why this opera is almost never staged. In 5 years of following this closely, I have yet to see a single performance anywhere according to advertisements and listings. This is the only extant production, and it has serious flaws.

Even though the libretto is weak (with virtually no action), the staging in this production was totally static. No one moved or did anything. They just stood and sang (beautifully). The filming was even worse. Just about the entire show was shot at medium or long range- almost no closeups at all. It's like they stuck a couple of cameras at the back of the theater and let them run, with a little closeup here and there. The sound is not 5.1, but is very good, with good stereo separation (especially if you listen in stereo and not Dolby Surround.) When sngers cross from side to side (very rare as they hardly move) the sound moves with them.

So do I reccomend this DVD? I can't even though I love the music. Instead, get the 2 CD set from Amazon (very cheap) and revel in the music. If you really prefer DVD's, then, you will love this musical production, just with the television off.

I discovered this work by Rossini following the Montseratt Caballe trail. I promise anyone who may have never heard of her, she is a soprano you never tire of-her choice of music to include on CD compilations, is never cliche or over played, and is never 'plodding' but always thrilling and emotive, with magical color in her phrasing, and glutteral bursts which then soar to unimaginable, skin tingling heights.
My first La Donna del Lago is the Opera d'Oro production-sadly deficient in printed matter. The description of the libretto is so sketchy I was rather misled by it, now that I see this one limned out visually. The music is so inventive, lovely, and memorable, it is one of the few operas I found myself playing again and again. so, naturally, I had to know more about the story. The only thing giving me pause
( to actually buy for instance ) about this production are the lukewarm reviews. But it's the only one out there, so we take the plunge, don't we? I have provided photo screen shots for this one so others can see what the fuss is all about, regarding the terms used like "dark", "foreboding", "cave man"...words to that effect. You can certainly see why the other reviewers were so distracted. This may well be a reprint, in any case, there is nothing whatever 'golden' about this set. If someone offered me ( retired from a career in design ) to come up with a gloomier set, I don't think I could have come up with one THIS damn gloomy! Think about it as you look at the images...the stage is not very large. It IS tall, however. So what do we fill that tallness with?...acres of charcoal black stone! 90% of the visual field is black! whole football fields of convoluted stone...even the so called castle back at the King's digs are stoney and gloomy.Sheesh. What were they thinking? That the performers would stand out in sharp contrast? Well how?...virtually every scene has the feel of a heavily overcast night, with perhaps a glimmer of cold, blue moonlight through dense fog. The costumes, as others have pointed out, are the dullest colors known to man ( natural dyes, I suppose ); and all shabbified, like this was 10,000 B.C. instead of medieval Scotland . Maybe the designer has never ventured far from his sun drenched villa, and thinks of northern Britain as some hellish, foggy, permanently dark moonscape of basalt lava formations and caves? These kinds of design failures result when we hire some artist who is "semi famous"...and no one dares to say, "the king is wearing no clothes"? Art and design is not the "exclusive, and hallowed domain of a sanctimonious few, privy to its secrets, and all you other churls are dimwitted fools". Do NOT ever let some haughty , mincing artist ever lead you to believe "you just don't understand art"...yes you do. Even mentally challenged folks can recognize hideous, dark, and ugly when they see it.
It angers me when I see extraordinarily talented people come together to perform THE most difficult operation known to man, opera...and have it plunged in design swill like this. The performers in this opera are nothing less than world class.
Now how about the conducting? I feel , personally, that I was most spoiled by the Caballe CD/audio version. I describe it as 'sensitively executed', for lack of a better term. The wonderful love at first sight duet between the King ( Rockwell Blake) and Elena ( June Anderson ) is one of those stupendous, majestic melodic pieces Rossini is capable of in spades. You do not want to rush through this one...oh but is it ever rushed. You get the image/feeling of "horses out of the gate"..."aaaand...they're OFF!". This causes us to take a look at the conductor and study his demeanor...which we find stern...and humorless. "Ahh", we surmise...he whipped them "like the peasants they are"..."because his darn reputation was on the line". Well...I don't really think he did his reputation much good. Many beautiful arias and duets are so rushed the singers practically trip over the 30 note per measure romps. Groan.
Unfortunately, the reviewers are right to express some measure of distraction and disappointment. The singers and the music, and the orchestra are superb. They deserve better.
Do I recommend this DVD? Yes I do. it's the only one we have, isn't it? Someday...someday...this will be done with the sensitivity and glorious rainment of ambiance and atmosphere it deserves. It is "la donna del lago"...lady of the lake...shimmering, sparkling water, beautiful light, three great tenors in love...this IS a tenor's opera! You designers out there...so when we are talking 'war' everything has to be dark and gloomy? Battles can happen on sunny days! Tragedies can happen on incongruously gorgeous days. Stop it with all this ham fisted design overkill! Do you crack open your pecans with a sledge hammer? Pulease. Ease up on the room temperature I.Q. color choices.
I haven't mentioned the romantic lead, "Malcolm", played by Martine DuPuy. There's a good reason for that. He should be the strongest most handsome tenor on the set...he gets the girl, right? We all know that. Well then why is he/she so androgynous? I could not help but think "pants role"...sheesh again. Look at the images I uploaded...there is no chemistry whatever. Get 'casting' out here. Front and center. Oh well...this was done almost 20 years ago. We've been spoiled by recent productions. So just brace yourselves...look at it...then go play the Montseratt Caballe CD after that....and pray for this one to be done by an opera house with a good reputation. The Madrid Opera House comes to mind.