Product Details

• Actors: Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazon, Thomas Hampson, Helene Schneidermann, Salvatore Cordella
• Directors: Carlo Rizzi, Willy Decker
• Format: Color, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: Italian (DTS 5.1), Italian (PCM Stereo)
• Subtitles: German, English, Italian, Spanish, French
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
• DVD Release Date: June 13, 2006
• Run Time: 132 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000F3TAOE
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,179 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #81 in Movies & TV > DVD > Performing Arts
  • #82 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > General
• For more information about "Verdi - La Traviata" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Verdi's opera tells the tragic tale of Violetta, who is dying of consumption and leaves her beloved Alfredo at the request of his father, only to be reunited shortly before her death.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: VERDI,G.
Title: LA TRAVIATA
Street Release Date: 07/18/2006
Domestic
Genre: CLASSICAL COMPOSERS

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, come to it with an open mind and enjoy, April 12, 2007

By 

Lostgirl - See all my reviews

This review is from: Verdi - La Traviata (DVD)

I'd read about the stir that this production caused at the 2005 Salzberg Music Festival and I was anxious to see it for myself on DVD. La Traviata has always been one of my favorite operas and while I won't say that any one version is definitive for me, this one is among my favorites.

Even if your not a fan of Anna Netrebko, I'd say watch it. I'm not entirely unbiased because I do like Netrebko. I think she's a gifted vocalist and I think when she plays this particular role she really owns it. Anna Netrebko's strengths are her acting ability, her lusterous dark tones, and her ability to make her notes resonant and powerful. She's gorgeous obviously, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine men falling over themselves for her. And she and Rolando Villazon have a wonderful chemisry. His tenor blends beautifully with her soprano. Each one seems to feed off of the other's performance.

But to me the best part was actually the design. It opens on the party scene but the stage is naked except for a sofa the color of Violetta's dress. There's a giant clock in the corner that reminds Violetta of her mortality even at her most festive moments (and if that weren't enough Death himself is always hanging around-though at the end of the first act Violetta gulps down some champagne and then throws her glass at him!) Violetta and Alfredo's love nest also has spare scenery except tha furnature is draped in a floral cloth that matches their robes. When Violetta promises Germont that she'll sacrifice her love for Alfredo she pulls the cloths from the furniture as she sings. The furniture is left a sterile white. Then she changes back to her dress from the first act amidst these blank surroundings. Combined with the music the effect is haunting.

I think the test of a performance is if it makes me feel. The greatest singing in the world is meaningless if it doesn't produce and kind of emotion in the listener. In this production all of the elements really came together and made me cry. I don't know how much of that was Anna Netrebko's "star" power because I felt it in scenes that she wasn't even in. I think it was just all of the elements of a production working and coming together in the right way.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, sexy, updated, widescreen., July 23, 2007

By 

OperaOnline.us "OperaOnline.us" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Verdi - La Traviata (DVD)

Recorded live at the Salzburg Festival in 2005 this 2-DVD Premium Edition of Verdi's "La Traviata", featuring Carlo Rizzi, directing the Wiener Philharmoniker, is a treasure in every way a great opera and great production (staged by Willy Decker and Directed by Brian Large) can be. Filmed in widescreen and recorded for digital sound, every visual and audio advantage that could be given to the cast was offered, including an interesting use of a single set (picture a cinemascope screen and walls lit in soft white or blue) with an occasional tapestry covered couch or two to contrast color against the black and white unisex suits worn by the chorus, and red dresses and robe of Ms. Netrebko. It's not necessary to dwell on the voices of the stars, suffice so say that the performances were lively and vibrant, filled with easy passion and an obvious affection and chemistry that clearly exists between Villazón and Netrebko. This is a sensuous, minimalist production of "Traviata" that obviously exploits the sex appeal of Ms. Netrebko and exuberant vitality of Mr. Villazón who does justice to those scenes that require he cavort around in little more than a pair of shorts. For this Premium Edition, the full opera is contained on a single disk; the second disc is reserved for some extras, one of which stands on its own for its sheer enjoyment: "The Making of . . . video." This alone is worth the cost of the set because it captured the stars and supporting cast in rehearsal, joking, interacting - and in one particularly funny scene, having Ms. Netrebko lecture Villazon that he uses his hands too much when he sings as she stands behind him pressing his hands behind his back, and using her own arms, under his, to gesture the way she thinks he looks. This was a laugh out loud moment because her feminine gestures are so clearly at odds with his male persona. To warm up to this production you might even want to view the "making of" first to understand what it is you will see and why it is staged as it is. This 2-DVD set is a clear "must own" because it gives us an updated and far sexier "La Traviata" than we are accustomed to seeing, and because the music, both vocally and orchestral, comes across so beautifully. A revjeiw from OperaOnline.us.

31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Singers are Good but the rest is disappointing..., May 28, 2008

By 

ReturneeAnna (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Verdi - La Traviata (DVD)

(by a Japanese girl, 15 y.o.)
This DVD was my first opera DVD and the reason I chose this was I became a fan of Anna whom I found on YouTube lately and this DVD has such good reputations here and there.

As a beginner, I expected a Gorgeous stage set and beautiful costume.
But the stage set is very simple and poor. I was disappointed.
The costume, Anna is wearing simple red dress or white slip and the men are wearing business suits! I was severely disappointed.
I admit I should ask somebody about these things before.

But I was also bewildered by its presentation.
Who is that snowy-haired gentleman always standing at the side of the stage? As long as I read all review here, people don't care or express different understandings. I am not sure what he was meant to be.
There is a man wearing Violetta's red dress at act 3. What does that mean? I don't understand it either. For me, it was only dirty.

At the scene Alfredo was suppose to throw money to Violetta, Alfredo was putting money into Violetta's mouth! I was shocked and frozen. What was the director thinking? Somehow I suspect he did that because it was Netrebko. He wanted to show his power to this new idol singer. He didn't do this if she was Maria Callas, or could he? Man who does such rendition must be hating women somewhere deep in his psyche.

At act 3 there is a scene people wearing same mask and same costume thong into the room. It was so similar to Kate Bush's legendary video "Running up that hill"(1985). It is not fresh at all to repeat the idea existed 20 years ago. More to the point, one studies choreography must have seen her videos. I suspect he copied her idea. Even I noticed, there would be hundreds of people who noticed it either. For people who don't know what I am talking about, you can see on the net. Key word is "Kate bush Running up that hill" or watch this.
[....]
I didn't appreciate this presentation. The stage set was poor. The costume was poor. (It is not innovative. It looked they just did not have budget.) Singers are great. Orchestra is great. Then, CD could be better as I could concentrate music. I can't believe people admire this production. It is my two cents. Thank you for reading<3