Customer Reviews

Verdi - Un ballo in maschera / James Levine, The Metropolitan Opera

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The MET opera's previous production of Ballo, set in colonial America was premiered and recorded in 1980. Both Luciano Pavarotti and Katia Ricciarelli were at the height of their vocal powers and it shows. Pavarotti's love for the score translates well to the screen, even though he may not be the most imaginative actor around. Ricciarelli is even more effective as Amelia; as a singing actress of the highest order, her interpretation is both strong voiced and well acted. Louis Quilico as Renato is in good voice and Judith Blegen is a dashing Oscar. Bianca Berini is a bit of a low point as Ulrica, not eclipsing Florence Quivar in the subsequent MET recording. Patane's conducting is often at odds with his lead singers and the camera focus could be better at times, but this is a fantastic opportunity to see and hear both Pavarotti and Ricciarelli in their prime.

The Met's 1980 production of Un Ballo in Maschera is set in colonial Boston on the eve of the Revolutionary War. This is the setting Verdi chose after the censor's refusal to allow the opera to take place in Sweden. It was to have been based on a historical event, the assassination of Sweden's King Gustav III. History or not, having a king assassinated at a masked ball on the operatic stage was simply too controversial in 1859, and Verdi was forced to change the setting to Boston and the king to a governor! Ballo would be an outstanding work no matter where it were placed, as it has an rivetting story filled with growing tension set to some of Verdi's most beautiful music. Pavarotti is at the peak of his illustrious career as the Governor of Boston, and for that reason alone this DVD will be of great interest to opera fans. That is not to say that Pavarotti outshines the rest of the cast, for it made up of a fine constellation of stars. Katia Ricciarelli is inspired and truly gets into her character, Amelia. Louis Quilico has what must be one of the great performances of his career, and Judith Blegen shines in the travesti role as Oscar. Bianca Berini as Ulraca is somewhat lackluster, as her performance lacks fire and menace. That aside, this is a great performance of Ballo, and it would be difficult to top it. It is therefore a great shame that the picture quality is so poor, especially in the numerous night scenes. In the more dimly lit scenes the picture is often grainy and blurred to the point of distraction. This truly great performance deserved much, much better treatment. The sound quality is average, but fortunately it fares much better than the overall picture quality. In short, this is a diamond performance that should have been one of the all-time great opera performances captured on DVD but for serious short-comings on the technical end.

This DVD features a dream cast of singers with Pavarotti at his prime in a role that is coveted by many tenors. This is one of Pavarotti's best recorded renditions of this role and possibly his best performance on DVD so far. He seems relaxed, confident and almost enjoying himself. The rest of the staff is stellar. The conductor Patanè is an old hand in this repertoire. It's pure joy to listen to his experienced and attentive tailoring of his tempi to the singers (and vice versa - very good team work), as well as taking charge with gusto when the soloists aren't in center stage. He achieves this with no idiosyncratic mannerisms or forcing of his style. His approach sounds so natural that it's easy to overlook his contribution to the success of this unforgettable performance.

Despite the memorable performance the picture quality is barely acceptable. Practically all the Pioneer Classics ("PC") DVD's have poor picture quality. Worse examples are: La forza del destino, Lucia di Lammermoor, Hansel and Gretel, Metropolitan Opera - Centennial Gala and Manon Lescaut. The Francesca da Rimini is of equal picture quality. The best is the Idomeneo DVD, also with Pavarotti. But even that falls short of what can be expected on this medium. Inadequate lighting exacerbates the problem in many of the MET productions issued by PC DVD's. All of them are copied from the laser disc masters rather than from the originals. In addition to that, most are from the 80's and show their age.

Giuseppe Verdi originally got this opera past the censors by disguising the liberal Swedish monarch Gustavus III, who really was shot in the back, as the fictional Riccardo, Governor of Boston. This Metropolitan Opera production follows Verdi's political change of scene, and is set in 18th century Boston on the eve of the American Revolution (one of the conspirators is a ringer for a youthful Tom Paine in glasses). This Elijah Moshinsky production is true to history in that the tenor is also shot in the back, so ignore the fact that our hero claps his hands to his massive chest before he tumbles to the ballroom floor.

Viva Verdi! Viva Pavarotti!

Like all great singers, Pavarotti possesses an instantly recognizable voice. His is an unusually large lyric tenor, and in this 1980 recording of Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera," he displays a youthful beauty of tone. His bright timbre and exuberant personality might seem more appropriate to the Duke of Mantua in "Rigoletto," rather than the conscientious Riccardo, governor of Boston. However, it is also a very special experience to hear Pavarotti sing Riccardo and he does much to lighten up this rather dark production. It is easy to understand why Kattia Ricciarelli as Amelia falls in love with him.

Pavarotti has a relatively lean stage presence in this production, without his famous handkerchief and tent-like costume, but it would still be too much to expect him to act out a subdued death scene at the masked ball. Lean physique or not, we can't conceive of lean acting from this exuberant tenor.

Katia Ricciarelli, who has also recorded a 'Ballo' with Placido Domingo, is in her prime in this recording, which takes place before the heavier Verdi soprano roles and 'Turandot' supposedly ruined her voice. Here, she possesses a sweet lyric soprano and a lovely stage presence that surely would have melted a heart less hard than her husband's, as she kneels before him and sings "Morrò, ma prima in grazia."

If only Amelia had stayed on stage and listened to Renato's dramatic and sorrowful "Eri tu," I'm convinced this operatic couple would have been tenderly reconciled.

Oh well, this is opera, not life. The late Louis Quilico was 55 in 1980 when this production was recorded. His baritone was not as smooth or beautiful as other baritones that the Met had in its stable at the time, but I think his portrayal as the ageing husband of Ricciarelli's young, beautiful, tempted-to-stray wife was very poignant. He would not have gotten such a tumultuous reception to his big aria, "Eri tu" if he had not convinced the audience of his rage and sorrow.

The American soprano Judith Blegen, who was a frequent duettist with Frederica von Stade, is one of the highlights of this recording. She sings a buoyant, brilliant Oscar, most especially in her teasing aria, "Saper vorreste" in reply to Renato's inquiry about Riccardo's disguise at the masked ball.

This is an excellent production of "Un Ballo in maschera" from the Met. I have sometimes heard this production described as a "controversial setting of Verdi's masterpiece". However, I have to tell you that if you had sat through some of the productions I have watched in London you would agree with me that it is quite brilliant.

Of all the Met DVD tranfers that I have bought so far I would say this is by far the poorest sound and picture, I wonder why? It was only taped in 1980 - so what is the problem? Why couldn't it have been cleaned up and remastered? Still, that is my only quibble with this superb release.

Pavarotti is in magnificent voice as Riccardo (or Gustavuss III, depending on which version you adopt) - and this surely must be his greatest role, and my goodness doesn't he act it well?

Katia Ricciarelli sings and acts a very moving Amelia, but it is the late Lois Quilico, perfectly cast as Renato, who almost steals the show after a brilliant "Non e su lei, nel suo fragile petto che colpir degg'io". In close up, I cannot believe in Judith Blegen as Oscar - she looks too much like a girl dressed a boy and my wife found her portrayal a touch irritating. I have also seen and heard better Ulrica's than Bianca Berini. However, this is nit picking, the three leads are fabulous and the whole piece is intelligently conducted by Giuseppe Pantane.

In conclusion, this is an excellent Ballo which has captured Pavarotti in fabulous voice. I highly recommend it, but the later relay with Aprile Millo with Pavarotti will sit perfectly on my shelf alongside this version when the Met decide to release it.

Since writing this review it has been confirmed that Deutsche Grammophon are releasing Pavarotti's other Met relay of Ballo in the Spring of 2002. I look forward to that very much. The Met emailed me in January to say that they hoped to release their latest excellent production of Die Meistersinger on DVD during 2002. So all who read this review please lobby the Met to ensure they do!!

This is a wonderful performance of Un Ballo, but, I tend not to watch it because the recording techniques were so poor. By that I mean that the lighting was always just a bit too low (making it difficult, at times, to appreciate the wonderful colonial costuming used for this American setting of the opera) and the sound recording levels are far lower than on another DVD of this opera I own (making it difficult, at times, to hear subtle passages). From an audio perspective, this DVD gives you no sense of presence. Everything's just a bit too murky.

Though I prefer the look of the production of this Un Ballo to the Swedish setting and costuming in another Un Ballo DVD I own, I tend to watch the Swedish one just because it's so much easier to see and hear.

Shame on the technicians. This might have been the best Un Ballo otherwise.

This is the best available video production of an opera which is packed with great music. The "Masked Ball" takes place in Boston and deals with politics, love, betrayal and intrigue. Luciano Pavarotti and Katia Ricciarelli are just wonderful on video. (If you are interested in the CD instead of the video, one of the best "Masked Balls" is the one with Pavarotti and Price, under Solti's baton.)

Finding an appropriate locale for the setting of Verdi's UN BALLO DE MASCHERA has been as replete with melodrama as is any of the composer's operas. The original site was to be Sweden, after Eugène Scribe's libretto that narrates of the assassination in 1792 of King Gustavus III at a court ball. Planned to be held at Naples in 1848, the première of UN BALLO was cancelled after an attempt upon the life of Napoleon III was made in Paris, a reactive Neapolitan government then banning any representation of regicide upon its stages. Verdi withdrew the work rather than accede to offered censorship, thereby becoming a nationalistic symbol of independence to all of those Italians who were striving for a unified Italy. Verdi produced the opera in Rome after agreeing to shift dramatic action outside of Europe, in this instance to Boston, where Gustavus was metamorphosed into a colonial Massachusetts Governor, but since an eighteenth century northern European court does not blend very well into Calvinist New England, no matter how skilled the writing, most subsequent productions have reverted to Stockholm. However, for this version, filmed during a performance of the Metropolitan Opera Company on 16 February,1980, Boston with its environs is the setting once again, and although decor from Peter Wexler does seem to be a trifle grandiose, costumes by Peter J. Hall are designed beautifully, a viewer nonetheless realising that the cast might be clad as representations of provender for a salad bar for all of the actual effect that could have upon the melodious masterpiece of Verdi. This is the first Metropolitan appearance for Luciano Pavarotti as Ricardo, "Count of Warwick" and, for that matter, also the initial Met performance by Katia Ricciarelli as Amelia, while sprightly lyric colouratura Judith Blegen as the page Oscar (after Thomas Gainsborough's Blue Boy), is only in her second season with the Company, having debuted as Papagena in THE MAGIC FLUTE during the year prior, and each of these singers benefits from this pan and scan taping, not often a hospitable form of cinematographic method for opera. Pavarotti, who had not performed at the Met since its 1978 Tosca, is at the peak of his career, completely free of vibrato, and acts with enthusiasm. Ricciarelli's voice is a trifle lacking in the thrust that is beneficial for singing Amelia, but she as ever displays a musicologist's care for her part, while people's choice basso Louis Quilico's limited acting ability is less significant than his note perfect singing as Renato. Contralto Bianca Berini has a bit of trouble with the bottom range in her turn as Ulrica, the fortune-teller, but this results from a natural insufficiency rather than a poor performance, and dramatically she is sound. As Silvano, a sailor, sturdy John Darrenkamp is able to imbue his brief appearance with his vivid personality. Perhaps the brightest star of this production is maestro Giuseppe Patane, who leads his charges in the pit with intensity while giving perfect support to the singers during their most harrowing moments. The five act work has been altered into an opera for three acts for this version and many arias receive graceful treatment. There are very few negative aspects to this film: the customary applause after vocal solos that halts the action, freezing the singers; tiresome taking of multiple bows by principals following each act, even when they haven't performed much at all; sporadic lighting and camera placement flaws. Briefly released as part of a DVD set, now out-of-print, a Bel Canto VHS version is also no longer in print but yet can be found. It offers accurate subtitles and a valuable booklet that features notes by Andrew Porter.

This performance is not by Jammy Lvine but a famous Itallian conductor GIUSEPPE PATANE,who supported the Krajan's Vienner State Opera Era with Mitropoulos in Itallian Operas. Patane was the greatest conductr of Itallian Opera in the last half of 20 th century.Unfortunately, the orchetra and the tenor was not excellent in this DVD.If you want to know how bright this opera is , you must choice the CD of an original hilights issued from DG conducted by PATANE. You must find this opera and this conductor.

I won't really comment on the singing, because I am in agreement with most of the other reviewers, but in my opinion if you want to hear amazing voices sing Ballo, get the CD version with Pavarotti, Battle, Bruson, etc. Or you can get the other Met Ballo with Pavarotti (which I haven't seen, but I can't imagine it being worse than this one.)

Something nobody has talked about yet is the production. By and large, this is one of the more pathetic productions that has ever graced the stage of the Met. The sets are simply dull, lifeless, and ugly. Perhaps if there was a halfway decent lighting designer, something could be made of it, but no. Oh, and the stage directing is pretty weak as well. I mean, one of the best moments in the whole show is in the third act when there is a giant crescendo that connects the scene with Richard by himself to the ball itself. You're going from a very intimate scene to a scene with many opportunities for brilliance, but instead we just have the chorusters march out on stage like it's night of the living dead. Just plain weak. AS a result this whole production is BORING. This is an opera that is tough to make boring, but alas, we have a winner.

On top of all that, the picture and sound quality is horrendous. I am amazed at all the 5-star reviews for this DVD. Just because Pavarotti is in it, doesn't mean that it's worth getting.