Product Details

• Actors: Rosemary Joshua, Luca Pisaroni, Pietro Spagnoli, Annette Dasch, Angelika Kirchschlager
• Directors: Jean-Louis Martinoty
• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, Import, NTSC
• Language: Italian
• Subtitles: French, English, German, Spanish, Italian
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Bel Air Classiques
• DVD Release Date: January 16, 2007
• Run Time: 188 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000K2UHY2
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,329 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not THAT great...., September 30, 2007

By	John Gray Hunter Jr. "smartalex" (Wilmington, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

OK, let me begin by saying the music here is fantastic and everyone sounds great. But for me opera is not just music. It's theatre. In fact, it's theatre first. This production has a bunch of flaws in staging and look. The set, IMHO is ugly and doesn't work. When are you inside, when outside? When in servant quarters, when in the masters' rooms? They're all the "same" really on this stage. The costumes are just plain weird for some characters, especially the Contessa who apparently runs around the palace with her chemise pulled off her shoulders and a sleeveless gown. Not much better than her [superiorly costumed] servants. Marcellina is young and beautiful [and very French looking for some reason]. The big act where look is the thing is Act IV where mistaken identity and hiding in the shadows are very important. It's brilliantly lit....by which I mean bright not good... for some unknown reason in this production. Many of the complicated stage bits... hiding in chairs, slipping in the room unseen by others, smacking someone and missing and hitting someone else.... throughout the opera are lame and unconvincing. The acting is wooden [especially Figaro]. So even though the music is top notch, the theatre is below average, so I give it only 3 stars. Makes a great album, but only an average DVD.

For a nearly perfect production all round, I vote Ponnelle's version that was televised in the 80's from the Met with Kathleen Battle, Ruggero Raimondi, Thomas Allen and Carol Vaness...as good a cast [musically] as this and in perfect form....and excellent actors all. The staging is flawless [especially the bits], the sets and costumes fantastic. Its only flaw: cutting Marcellina's and Don Basilio's arias in Act IV. Alas, I've never seen this one offered on DVD [and my tape recorded off the TV is wearing out!]

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful production, March 20, 2007

By	TATSUHOKO (JAPAN) - See all my reviews

I remember how exciting this performance was in June 2004. My wife and I went there four times a week. We bought very cheap seats with a half view. The singers were good lookings, especially Susanna (Rosemary Joshua !), Rosina, Contess. If you saw this performance there, I bet you would like to have this DVD. If you are crazy about Figaro, you may want to add this in your collection. Personally I appreciate Bel Air classics greatly. But sometimes in this performance on your television, you may miss Cotrubas, Popp, Kiri Te Kanawa, Janowitz, von Stade... If you want to have one single DVD for Figaro, I would like you to consider about the other choices.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling Figaro, January 17, 2007

By	rhun10 (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

At long last, Bel Air Classiques has released a DVD of the Jun 2004, Theatre des Champs-Elysees (Paris), Rene Jacobs/Concerto Koln performances of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Those productions along with the ones in Oct 2001 were a treat to attend and having a DVD of the 2004 event is a dream come true.

Figaro is mostly an orchestra opera, and with Concerto Koln, Mozart and Jacobs have the instrument parfait. Concerto Koln's wind section is sublime. The oboe soli during Dove sono are bewitching. The bassoons are a gift all on their own. The horn section resonant their basso continuo parts and nail their highlighting, for even more musical passion. Meanwhile, the basses and cellos underscore and lift Mozart's work to new heights. Nicolau de Figueiredo's pickup riffs on the pianoforte make delightful appetizers. Jacobs brings this all together with a musicality rarely achieved.

Mora, mora! The man of the match is Il Conte, Pietro Spagnoli. From his entrance just before Cosa sento!, Spagnoli proves there is a singer who can easily hang with the full gusto Concerto Koln. His Act III solo Hai gia vinta (I don't even like that aria) is emotionally charged and sung devastatingly good. Spagnoli's long, alluring climbs near the end of that aria are ooo-la-la! What makes this Il Conte special is his ensemble work. He is there for his mates and leads by example with lovely riffs.