Product Details

• Actors: Zandonai, Dessi, Armiliato, Nicotra, Barbacini
• Directors: Rossi
• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1), Italian (DTS 5.1), Italian (PCM Stereo), Norwegian (PCM)
• Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Arthaus Musik
• DVD Release Date: March 31, 2009
• Run Time: 137 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001QUL6UQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,243 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Zandonai's most popular creation Francesca da Rimini was
commemorated in Macerata, the provincial capital of the
northern Italian region of Marche, in 2004. Massimo Gasparon
(former assistant to the celebrated scenographer Pier Luigi
Pizzi) was responsible for the direction, set and costumes of this
production for the Sferisterio Opera Festival. With its all-star cast including Daniela Dessì and Fabio Armiliato as
the passionate lovers (the singers are regarded as two of the leading interpreters of Italian soprano and tenor roles
respectively, both hail from Genoa and are in fact also real-life partners) and the baritone Alberto Mastromarino
as the ideal villain, the production follows in a long line of significant post-war performances of Francesca
da Rimini. The Sferisterio a 4,500-seat arena originally used as a venue for the traditional ballgame gioco del bracciale (a game played with spiked arm protectors and a heavy wooden ball) was built between 1819 and
1829; since 1921 it has been home to the annual opera festival held in late July/early August. As has come to be
associated with staged events in Verona, the representative open-air nature of the performance turns this lavishly
costumed production in a historic setting into something out of the ordinary.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but not quite as good as Domingo-Scotto, May 13, 2009

By 

B. Cathey "ParsifalCSA" (Wendell, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Zandonai: Francesca Da Rimini (DVD)

What a luxury--to have two videos of FRANCESCA DA RIMINI! This one is quite good, both Dessi and Armiliato are in good voice, the sets are striking and well done. If this were the only Francesca available, I'd be very pleased. But the competition is the classic Domingo-Scotto-MacNeill, which is hard to beat. Still, I'm delighted to have this one, as well.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Easy on the ears, not for viewing, May 27, 2010

By 

Shimon Schieber (Rishon le Zion, Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Zandonai: Francesca Da Rimini (DVD)

Good sound, nice picture and very very pleasant voices. Dessi and Armiliato are just excellent - voicewise.
Ditto for Mastromarino, who sings the role of Gianciotto Malatesta.
But here the good impression stops.
Fabio Armiliato, an excellent, anorexic looking tenor, can act only himself. No smile, only perennial sour face, as if he's having a slice of lemon in his mouth. Moreover, and I must say it hesitantly, he is anything but handsome- and that's an understatement!! In the opera, Gianciotto, the bridegroom who is ugly and deformed, knowing that Francesca might refuse to marry him, sends his brother Paolo the handsome as his proxy. If they could not "beautify" the poor Armiliato, they should have dropped him. Francesca , and most women I know, would have opted for Mastromarino!
Daniella Dessi is a very good soprano, who could not act her way out a handbag.
Should have been issued as a CD , not a DVD.
The old DVD from 1984 with Scotto, Domingo, McNeil and Levine is still the best DVD.