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La Traviata at La Scala
Availability:
In Stock
Price:
$32.98
$21.32*
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| Part No: | B001DELWZY |
| Manufacturer: | Arthaus Musik |
| MFG Part: | 101343 |
| Customer Rating: | 5.0 / 5.0 |
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This 2007 production of Verdi's La Traviata from Milan's La Scala, with world-class singers and Lorin Maazel on the podium belongs among the best of the many fine DVD versions available. Its prime draw is soprano Angela Gheorghiu, whose 1994 Covent Garden assumption of the role of Violetta catapulted her to stardom. She doesn't quite match the emotional power and vocal beauties of that performance but Gheorghiu does give us an intensely drawn portrait of the role and her voice remains in fine shape. Her acting has always been extraordinary and at La Scala she fully encompasses the doomed heroine; the last Act deeply touching. Her Alfredo Germont is Ramon Vargas, whose beautiful tenor voice and sensitive singing please the ear with sweet tones and individual phrasing that bring Verdi's lines to life. Roberto Frontali as Alfredo's father, the elder Germont, exhibits an imposing baritone voice, shading it beautifully in the scene where he convinces Violetta to give up his son. Frontali also shows commanding stage presence in the scene where he upbraids Alfredo for his ungentlemanly behavior. Supporting roles are well taken and the La Scala orchestra's contributions are positive, with some fine wind solos. Maazel paces the opera well and conjures beautifully shaped Preludes to Acts One and Three, which embody some of Verdi's loveliest string music. The staging is traditional in Liliana Cavani's production, originally mounted in 1990 but still looking fine, albeit with some bits of superfluous stage business for the principles to occupy the eye and distract the ear. Dante Ferretti's lavish set designs are fitting, although one can question the presence of a bed and a billiard table in the drawing room of Violetta's country house. Gabriella Pescucci's costumes are suitable, but some of the military officers in the banquet scenes appear to be clad in doorman's uniforms. Paola Longobardo's video direction is excellent: No extraneous camera movements to draw attention away from the stage and close-ups of the singers are usually head-and-shoulders shots well framed with ample space to keep the singers in context. Cuts within an aria are excellently timed as well, on the beat or at a point of mood change. Despite heavy competition from Gheorghiu's Covent Garden DVD, Renee Fleming's San Francisco Traviata, and the often weirdly modernistic Salzburg production with Netrebko and Villazon, this fine La Scala DVD is a serious contender. -- Dan Davis La Traviata is an all-regions disc in 16:9 ratio. Sound options include PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 Surround. Sung in Italian, subtitles include English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
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| | La Traviatia is a timeless love story , and this production is unforgettable. Gheorghiu and Vargas bring the whole thing to life. La Scala is beautiful, the costumes are exquisite and Loren Mazel does a wonderful job contucting. |
| I for one have always detested 'contempory art.' I just shrivel when I
see a Wagnerian opera with male performers appearing in oversize trousers held up by braces. One often wonders where all this stupidity started. Anybody out there agree.? Let one do a short review on 'La Traviata.' I shall not go into a long drawn out monologue regarding this production at La Scala,suffice to say,sell your wedding rings, or even the family silverware, perhaps the grandfather clock, but for God's sake order this one at once!! Everthing to do with this classic is wonderful, just wonderful.I rest my case.
Greetings from Australia
Thomas Knight.
Film Production Manager
Wintergarden Community Film Studios.(Aust) |
| Definitely recommended! | 2009-05-13 | 5 / 5 |
| I must admit firstly that I was not and am still not an overawed by Angela Gheorghiu. She is not bad at all but I don't put her on a par with the divas of the 1950's and 1960's. Nor do I number La Traviata among my favorites. I'm a fan of the Don Giovanni/Trovatore/Turandot mold. Big operas with big set pieces as opposed to the tragic love story.
Onto the opera which is first and foremost impeccably conducted by Lorin Maazel. This is the one consistency throughout.
As to the principals, Roberto Frontali is as good as any Giorgio Germont I've heard so far and he is the most believable of the three. Ramon Vargas also acts and sings extremely well but he seems to have a voice that is ever so slightly too soft. His eyes at the end were amazing.
Angela Gheorghiu starts off horridly. She has an uncanny resemblance to the late comedienne Gilda Radner and in Act I not only does she act like a clown but sings foolishly also with an absurd amount of breathing injected into the lyrics. It makes her sound like a chain smoker.
She rebounds wonderfully though, fully transforming herself in acts II and III into the true star she has become.As the opera goes on her singing, acting, and her stage presence just to continue to improve and get better. Verdi bears alot of responsibility for that too, but I can honestly say I've never seen a bad performance turned to a stellar one in front of my eyes and ears. Listen to the applause at the end of each aria. La Scala goes from near silent in Act I to explosively loud by the end. This is a testament to the whole cast and crew but especially to Gheorghiu who turned it around so dramatically. My respect for her has increased tenfold! |
| Prima Donna Assoluta? | 2008-11-30 | 4 / 5 |
| Four and 1/2 stars actually, if provided that option. The sets, costumes, conducting, and singing of Vargas and Frontali are as fine as the other commentators here have claimed them to be. I draw the line, though, at the raving over Gheorghiu. It's unusual ever to hear the role of Violetta sung anywhere near close to perfection, and one doesn't experience it, sorry to say, in Gheorghiu's performance. The role calls for a prima donna assoluta, and what may have been intended by this designation was that great rarity, a singer who combined the coloratura skills demanded in Act I with the large, warm body of tone called for in Acts II and III. The role calls, that is, for a Galli-Curci coupled with a Tebaldi. It is in the demands of Act I that Gheorghiu falls way short of ideal. Nobody, I believe, would seriously argue that her "Sempre Libera" in this performance is one of extraordinary brilliance. Though the emotional scene preceding it is convincing, the aria itself is marred by coloratura passages more gulped or yelped than beautifully or memorably sung. One can argue that the aria's concluding top note is only an option, but it doesn't follow that its absence is therefore not a disappointment, since it provides a perfect climax to the escalating, feverish energy coming just before it. It's been mentioned that Gheorghiu looks immodestly self-satisfied in the curtain calls after Act I. Unfortunately, I think there was at this point much for her to be modest about.
Happily, Gheorghiu does come into her own in Acts II and III, but her total performance, I'd argue, is not one for the history books. If hers is the best Violetta currently on DVD, so much the worse for the other recorded contemporary portrayers of the role. |
| All three principals shine but it's Angela Gheorghiu's show | 2008-10-25 | 5 / 5 |
| In Gheorghiu's 1994 performance of La Traviata from Covent Garden (also on DVD), her singing of Violetta is fresh and captivating but you're aware that she's concentrating on the music (which is not a criticism). In this 2007 La Scala production, thirteen years more mature as a performer, she just lets loose while at the same time achieving extraordinary precision in her phrasing and in her interpretation of the role. Her performance can only be described as a "tour de force." She performs the role as if she owns it. I've never seen "E strano" and "Sempre libera" sung with such unbridled confidence. The expression on her face during the curtain call to Act I tells us she knows she nailed it. Immodest, she is not (as another reviewer pointed out).
But don't let that put you off because onstage, where it matters, Gheorghiu gives one of the most dominating opera performances I've seen. Every note is sung with clear intention. Her one minute "aria," the cry "Amami, Alfredo," accompanied by fiery orchestration, dominated by the timpani (which reappears with heartrending effect in the final bars of the opera), is worth the price of the DVD alone. It's a powerful and heartbreaking moment.
As if Gheorghiu's performance were not enough to recommend this production, I think it offers the best threesome available in Traviata on DVD. As Alfredo, Ramon Vargas may not be as expressive an actor as, for example, Rolando Villazon, but Vargas creates a touching and vulnerable Alfredo and possesses a wonderfully rich and full voice. The word "burnished" is more often used to describe a baritone, but it applies to Vargas' tenor voice. Just listen to his Act III duet with Gheorghiu, "Parigi, o cara," and you'll hear that exceptional quality to which I refer. He is far superior to Frank Lopardo who is on Gheorghiu's 1994 Traviata. Lopardo is so wooden onstage that he's not believable as her lover.
Roberto Frontali is the best Germont I've seen on DVD. Germont is often played by baritones who are too young to be Alfredo's father. These otherwise fine performers appear stiff and uncomfortable in a role that requires them to play a much older man (Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Thomas Hampson come to mind, the former in the La Fenice Traviata featuring Patrizia Ciofi and the latter in the Salzburg production featuring Anna Netrebko). But Frontali is perfect for the role. His rich bass-baritone voice just rings out in "Di Provenza." It contrasts beautifully with Gheorghiu's soprano; their duet in Act II is one of the highlights of the production.
As always, the La Scala chorus is precise in its execution and beautiful in sound. It excels on all the La Scala DVD's I own. The concertato finale to Act II, with Gheorghiu's voice soaring above the chorus, is riveting.
I guess the thrust of this review is clear: if you're an Angela Gheorghiu fan, this production is not to be missed. Add to that the stellar performances by Vargas, Frontali, the chorus, the orchestra under the baton of Lorin Maazel, and this is the best La Traviata currently available on DVD. |
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