Customer Reviews

Verdi - Un Ballo in Maschera / Abbado, Domingo, Ricciarelli, Royal Opera

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This production from Covent Garden is set in Stockholm, and not Boston. With Reri Grist (Oscar), Placido Domingo (Gustavus), Katia Ricciarelli (Amelia), Piero Cappucili (Renato), Patricia Payne (? - the booklet or DVD fails to credit the singer) (Ulrica) and Claudio Abbado in the pit: all at their peak, you just simply cannot go wrong when purchasing this DVD. This performance made me realise why I had fallen in love with opera: beautiful (today one should be thankful) and convincing sets and costumes, and fiery conducting and singing from all the above soloists which leaves you breathless. Domingo as the King (not the Governor of Boston) is simply ravishing! He is so convincing and dashing as Gustavus - I think very few tenors nowadays can even attempt such a convincing vocal and dramatic performance. But then just perfect for her role is the creamy-voiced Ricciarelli! The Ulrica is very convincing as the soothsayer and she looks downright terrible! Piero Cappucili gets a bit wobbly now and then, but what a fantastic performer he was then. Reri Grist sparkles her way through the very demanding role of Oscar, and such joy is imbued into her singing that she makes you forget just how difficult that role is. But the most important thing is that everyone LOOKS and SOUNDS their part. And the conducting by Abbado is just perfect: well-thought out and balanced! It is clear that in making a choice between the Met "Un ballo" and this one from Covent Garden, there is simply no competition! Even though Aprile Millo is a very impassioned Amelia, Pavarotti's acting and level of commitment is no match for Domingo's.

The DVD itself is very basic, and gives as little information as possible. It is difficult to navigate - there are only tracks for the Acts and not for the separate musical numbers. Unfortunately there is also no choice of subtitle language. There are English subtitles throughout, which you can not turn off. Pioneer seem to have little regard for their DVD transfers - the same criticisms apply for their issue of "Mitridate" from the same series (Covent Garden on Pioneer).

This Ballo is just excellent and I am sorry that as a teenager I didn't go and see it.

The Covent Garden production is excellent, although why the other characters retain their Boston status, and King Gustaf his Swedish one, is more of a mystery. Also, Ulrika and Sam and Tom are uncredited and don't take curtain calls - why?

Forget that though, Domingo is perfect and puts into the shade Pavarotti's perfomance in two DVD's from the Met. He seems to have studied the role to every fine detail and executes the role to perfection - as does Katia Ricciarelli ( in much better voice I think that in the Met DVD of the same opera). Piero Cappuccilli gives a good perfomance, but my wife always reckons it "was nice of him to turn up". That is a bit harsh, but I wonder if he deserves to get the huge ovation during Act III from the very reticent 1975 Convent Garden audience. Better perfomances go unapplauded.

This though, is the best Ballo on DVD, and wont be over shaddowed by the second Met Ballo with Pavarotti which is due for release this autum. As a Ballo addict though, I will have all three.

After spend some time in researches , I founded a complete list of the cast on this '75 ROH production:

Amelia - Katia Ricciarelli
Gustavo III - Placido Domingo
Anckarstroem - Piero Cappuccilli
Oscar - Reri Grist
Mlle. Arvidson - Elizabeth Bainbridge
Silvano - William Elwin
Samuel - Gwynne Howell
Tom - Paul Hudson
Un giudice - Francis Egerton
Amelia's servant - John Carr
ROH Chorus and Orchestra, Claudio Abbado

This is a dream cast (as the other reviewers have indicated). All the voices are up to their roles, no mean feat...and this is a delicious opera. Katia Ricciarelli is an ideal Amelia with her warm creamy tones and excellent acting ability. Domingo revels in the role of Gustavo in his juicy young voice (he's about 34 here.
Ulrica is just perfect with a voice wholly up to the demands.. an exceptional Ulrica in my mind. Renato is fine...not show-stopping, but more than up to it nonetheless. Reri Grist is fine too...again, not beyond the beyond (every Oscar I have seen live or recorded has been good to very good..this must be a vocally felicitous role in general or I have been very lucky).

BUT, the lighting for much of this is non-existent. The darkness is appropriate to the libretto, but is not compatible with viewing as well as listening. Maddening. The entire 2nd act is mainly flashes of white handkerchief or collar ruff with the occasional glimpse of a face.

Let's presume that you don't have this in your collection and are ruminating over which production to buy. Here are the reasons not to buy this one: A) You don't like it when composers like Verdi try to "up the ante" over the likes of Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini; B) You don't like it when every square inch of the set is designed by consummate masters in the arts, C) you hate it when costumes are so richly damasked, emroidered, and adorned with jewel colors, from the soldier's uniforms to the pastel confections worn by the ladies straight from a Francois Bouchard, or Fragonard - Baroque painting, D) It irritates you when the chorus is so precisely on tempo that you actually identify the words being sung ; or you find it irksome to hear a soprano who can sing notes usually reserved for baritones, all the way up to glass shattering high D's, with apparent ease, nor do you particularly like to see and hear the first exquisitely perfected "Pants Role" you have ever experienced, actually steal the show with her own vocal pyrotechnics; E) that you are bored by one of the finest batons in this century, Abbado, over an orchestra bristling with talent, joy and sense of purpose; or F) You just don't get what all the fuss is about with this Placido Domingo singing with youthful exuberance and happy confidence and melifluous majesty, tossing of nuances of tonality, timbre, vibrato, emotion,and beauty with every single note,every single gesture, stride, posture and facial expression- who draws you into the story , allows you to suspend disbelief, and thoroughly enjoy every scene. Or G) You don't understand the candlelight painters of the Utrecht School, like Terbruggen, or Honthorst, where faces and figures "emerge" from darkness into light; and , thus, A) Seeing paintings executed by old masters come to life before your eyes, for some inexplicable reason leaves you yawning ...Well then, this production is not for you.
I do agree with the other reviewers that the subtitles are a bit paltry...very sketchy indeed. However it does cause one to focus on the music which more than limns the story line - one of Verdi's strengths. That beign said, however, many of us liek to have a libretto in our hands. A lovely little booklet with historical notes about the opera and composer, alogn with information about the performers should not add that much to production costs. I suppose some bean counter cut corners here, thinking..."oh shoot; opera isn't all that well prized and adored...is it?" Rule number one when producing an opera as gloriously perfected as this one is....keep the bean counters off the premesis with drawn swords.

Oscar, Reri Grist, was amazing. Her performance of Oscar was simply outstanding and a gem to watch. She is physically able to endure the jumping and singing simultaneously which is difficult and was exceptionally successful at it. Great actress with great voice as well. I wish I had a recording of her singing "Voices of Spring". Acting and singing extremely good for the entire cast and Placido Domingo? What can I say except just great. I've never seen or heard him in anything that was not exceptional. I enjoyed the other beautiful voices especially the "bad guys" plotting to kill the king.

Great production and highly recommend purchasing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From 1975 comes this gloriously old-fashioned night at the opera, inviting us to revel in a display of great singing and music-making. Sets are simple and unobtrusive, directing one's attention to the singers where it will be abundantly rewarded.

Grist is vibrant and perky as Oscar. We have an authoritative Ulrica with a big, deep voice in Bainbridge. Ricciarelli and Cappuccilli are excellent, singing with much power and beauty. Domingo is a tower of strength, vocally and dramatically. Possessed of seemingly endless resources it feels as though he has only to open the flood-gates to release a torrent of golden sound, frequently joining phrases to spin out wonderfully long lines. And his sensitivity for character development is as tremendous as ever. In Act III, his awesome singing seems only the natural outpouring of internal emotion. Through the whole course of "Ma se m'e forza perderti" he is so inwardly focused he hardly so much as glances up but such is his communicative power that there is no need of eye contact - indeed, it might seem an intrusion into his soul. He is no less touching in Gustavo's final moments. There he is soft in approach, quiet and gentle of voice and, along with the conductor, he lingers caressingly over the lines, creating a sense of breathless suspension.

It is a performance I treasure alongside that he would give 15 years later in Salzburg, also on DVD. Not often do we get to see Domingo do the same role so many years apart. Both are excellent though different. Salzburg yields something to earlier days in terms of sheer vocal glory, and yet... there is something so direct and magnificent about his later voice, too, as he uses it to convey his deeper conception of the role with ever-greater clarity. You feel the raw intensity of guilty passion in Act II in a way that was barely touched in '75. The vulnerability and greatness of years he manifests at Salzburg make it every bit as essential as this at Covent.

I shouldn't like to have to choose between Salzburg and Covent but if you must... Salzburg puts on quite the visual show: big, dazzling, rich and elegant. Covent is simple but effective, boasting the great talent of its singers. I enjoy the entire cast of each. I find the antics of Sumi Jo very entertaining: a sparkling twit of an Oscar. I prefer the Salzburg couple, Barstow and Nucci, for creating characters that I was moved by. Domingo or Domingo? Must have both! At this moment I might lean towards the early Covent for the terrific singing combined with impressive dramatic commitment. But I would sorely miss the grandeur and keen edge of insight at Salzburg, not to mention one of the best death scenes ever! I think I prefer the conducting of Abbado. I recall one point where he gathers all the forces up into a pressurized storm and then nails the climax like a bolt of lightning. No matter if I know it's coming, I still jump and cringe. When all is said and done I can't put one production over the other.

Embedded English subtitles, fortunately scanty since we are stuck with them!
See my review on the '90 Salzburg

This is indeed a sterling performance at the Royal Opera House. The cast is very good, if not outright the best.
I would like to point out that not all the lead singers are hundred percent Verdian singers, with perhaps the exception of Piero Cappuccilli.
Placido Domingo is good in the role of King Gustavo, but pales by comparison with Luciano Pavarotti. Despite being perhaps the best vocal actor, Domingo, especially in his earlier days, did not possess the open and exuberant vocal and acting demeanour that he has come to acquire in his later years. Here he is a shade of a king, more a lovesick youngster than a head of courtiers. His vocalism did not quite possess the Verdian squillo of del Monaco, Corelli, or even Pavarotti. Surprisingly, therefore, he is considered the 'weak link' in this cast.
As the heroine Amelia, Katia Rcciarelli also is not a total Verdian soprano. However, she does make the most out of the role, and her acting and stage presence more than compensate the minor vocal deficiencies.
Piero Cappucilli, though no longer in his absolute prime in this performance, nonetheless succeeded in persuading the audience what a Verdian baritone should be, and his acting is very fine indeed, perhaps even a cut above the 'King' in terms of his noble demeanour.
The package of the DVD is totally deficient. There is no full cast in the inlaid, and nearly nothing mentioned of the conductor Claudio Abbado.
Even so, the performance is a very even one, and Reri Grist's Oscar more than stole the show. If only her appearance could be a trifle less womanly (which would be difficult, any way), her portrayal would just be perfect.

There are several things that make this "Ballo" a very special item. Domingo is in so many productions that I feel that many people take him for granted. The voice can get a bit tight but he is, of course, a pushed up baritone. What distinguished him is that he is a superlative musician. Watch his performance. Does he ever watch the conductor? No. He knows the music so well that he can give himself over totally to acting the drama. In addition, we have Reri Grist as Oscar. She is also totally in the drama. I think the slenderness of her soprano kept her from getting some meatier rolls but she is without question one of the great stars to come from America. As Amelia we have Ricciarelli before her vocal decline. A lovely lyric sound which got pushed into roles bigger than advisable. I'm sure she is better than Barstow on the Solti set for having a sound suitable for the role. In a minor role (one of the conspiritors) we have the incredible sounding Gwynne Howell, one of the great English bass voices. Add all of this to the conducting of Abaddo and very attractive sets and you have a real winner in my estimation. Watching these productions again and again, the good ones get better and the bad ones get worse. This is one of the real treasures.

it's a tremendous performance of a very great opera. I can't find any fault in any of the performers-all were excellent.

Seeing and hearing a true Verdian conduct also adds another dimension that the Met performance just cannot equal. Not to take anything from Levine, but Abbado is in a class by himself when it comes to Verdi. The orchestra becomes another voice with him conducting.