Product Details

• Actors: Adrianne Pieczonka, Angelika Kirchschlager, Miah Persson, Franz Hawlata, Franz Grundheber
• Directors: Robert Carsen
• Format: AC-3, Classical, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Italian, English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Tdk DVD Video
• DVD Release Date: October 31, 2006
• Run Time: 190 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000I2IV0Q
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,874 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating updated production--very well performed, November 5, 2006

By 

C. Harbison (Montague, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier (DVD)

Although I wouldn't recommend this as a first DVD of this great opera, it would certainly be an important second. Robert Carsen's opera stagings (Tales of Hoffmann, Manon Lescaut, La Traviata, Mefistofele, Rusalka, Capriccio) are often controversial and always thoughtful, shedding new light on old warhorses. This is no exception, with emphasis on pre-WWI Viennese decadence, ending in a destructive final moment that is at first shocking and then seems inevitable (lots of frontal nudity in the last act as well). Bychkov's conducting is novel, aggressive, and moving. The singers are all in good voice and are very effective actors as well. The combination of staging, conducting, singing, and acting makes even the most devoted fan of this opera (like me) see and hear new things in this subtle and multi-faceted score. A provocative and beautifully executed interpretation of this work.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Who Let That Horse In the Dining Room?, May 7, 2007

By 

David Cady (NYC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier (DVD)

Robert Carsen, that's who! What's that you say, you don't remember a horse in "Der Rosenkavalier?" Bet you don't remember a dining room, either. But that's where Act 2 of Strauss's masterpiece inexplicably takes place in this updated, turn-of-the-century take by the Canadian badboy opera director. In fact, after the bedroom in Act 1 and the dining room in Act 2, I was a little concerned that Act 3 would take place in a lavatory. But no, we get a brothel instead. And what a brothel! I know I'm supposed to be shocked -- absolutely shocked!! -- and appalled (as have been some other reviewers) by the full frontal male and female nudity and the downright sordidness of it all, but what's really shocking is that Carsen thinks he's doing something new here. Hasn't he ever seen "Lulu?" Doesn't he know that Hal Prince and Bob Fosse did this kind of thing far better -- and with more style -- in their separate versions of "Cabaret" years ago?

As far as the performances go, this is something of a mixed bag. All the main roles are gorgeously sung, but only a couple of the interpretations actually land. Adrianne Pieczonka is a first class singer and a lovely woman (although here unflatteringly costumed), but her acting lacks the depth and contradictions that would make her a first-class Marschallin. We get no sense of the struggle within, the lust combating her sense of responsibility and religious faith, the insecurity at odds with her resignation and wisdom. Angelika Kirschschlager's sound is as rich and mellow as ever, but she overdoes the butch thing to the point that she ends up looking like Charlize Theron in "Monster." Only Miah Persson's charming, vulnerable Sophie and Franz Hawlata's comically smarmy Ochs are fully rounded characterizations, as solid as those that you'll find on other DVDs.

I wouldn't recommend buying Carsen's "Der Rosenkavalier" when there are so many more faithful, brilliantly performed versions out there; if you can rent it, rent it. You may find it shocking, you may find it boring, you may even find it entertaining. What you won't find is illumination. And if a director's reinterpretation of an opera doesn't in some way illuminate it in new and exciting ways, why bother?

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly Good, but with some Surprises and Shocks, November 11, 2006

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier (DVD)

Salzburg Festival opera productions in the last few years have been infected with some of the worst of the Regietheater mystique and one comes to this DVD of a live performance at the 2004 production with some trepidation. But any concerns about how this opera could be Eurotrashed by the stage director are mostly set aside in the first two acts which, although updated to pre-World War I Vienna, have little to shock or unsettle the traditional opera fan. In the third act, though, we encounter some things that will upset some, amuse others. Instead of being set in the libretto's called-for 'inn', the act occurs in a brothel and there is a fair amount of frontal nudity and lascivious behavior to behold, although in fairness it is played for laughs and that mostly comes off. It certainly doesn't strike one as particularly erotic. However, the final scene is grievously miscalculated. After the Marschallin's noble gesture in which she urges Octavian leave her, follow his heart and go to Sophie, in the scene that includes the justly admired Trio, Octavian and Sophie follow with their Schubertian Duet by making out rather graphically on a huge bed (which, interestingly, recalls the bed in the Marschallin's boudoir in Act I) so that when the Marschallin and Sophie's father return (between the two verses of the duet) they walk past the grappling couple with nary a comment except the libretto's 'young people are like that' (Faninal) and 'ja, ja' (the Marschallin). Give me a break. Even in the decadence of pre-war Vienna it wouldn't have occurred that way. Robert Carsen's stage direction up to that point had generally been effective, but one's reaction to this is astonishment, not gentle bemusement as librettist Hoffmannsthal surely intended. One also hoped that Carsen, unlike earlier stage directors, could have come up with a reasonable explanation for how the Marschallin came to make her entrance at the low-down inn (or, in this case, brothel). But no explanation is indicated. Ah, well.

Musically, this is a good 'Rosenkavalier.' Semyon Bychkov leads an energetic, skillful performance. The Vienna Philharmonic is absolutely world-class in this complex score -- which surely they have played more than any other opera orchestra in the world. Only rarely are the singers' voices covered by the orchestra. Bychkov catches the echt-Viennese waltz rhythms perfectly in that string of waltzes that surely account for much of this opera's popularity.

The three leading female singers are excellent and well-matched. Adrianne Pieczonka is a noble yet intense Feldmarschallin. Her Act I monolog is moving, and beautifully sung. Angelika Kirchschlager's Octavian is suitably impetuous and passionate. She is particularly effective in the Act II presentation of the rose scene. And in her Mariandel impersonation, she gulls the Baron with comic style. Miah Persson, a beautiful woman (who looks a lot like Renée Fleming), manages the treacherous tessitura of the part of Sophie with grace and delicacy, yet she is not a chocolate box figure; she has spunk and fire. In both the Presentation of the Rose and the final Trio and Duet her high notes are pure and ethereally beautiful.

Franz Hawlata's Baron is only moderately good. His bass voice is not sonorous enough for the part, especially in its lower reaches. But he acts the part without resorting to hammy stereotypes and he even imparts some humanity to the role. Franz Grundheber makes the most of his Faninal but the voice sounds a bit worn at times. The minor roles are reasonably well-taken, and one must make special mention of the Police Commissar, sung by Florian Boesch. The cameo appearance of the Italian Singer, in the levee scene, is sung by tenor Piotr Beczala with both good voice and style and more than a touch of humor.

Sets are excellent, stage movement is relatively minimal. Particularly impressive is the huge banquet table in Act II and Carsen's choreography of the hordes of servants who attend the Faninal establishment.

There are numerous Rosenkavaliers on DVD. For me the best of the lot is still the Carlos Kleiber/Vienna/Lott/Bonney/Von Otter DVD from 1994.

Scott Morrison