1. Carmen on DVD--Complete Review(EDITED) - Florentine Opera

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mature but warm-voiced Micaela, but since her scenes are mainly with Carreras, she is playing in a dramatic vacuum. Only Samuel Ramey, in ringing voice as Escamillo, manages to bring some dramatic life to the proceedings, perhaps because he plays a character who is totally selfsufficient. Not recommended. Weikert: Krasteva, Nikolov, Rahdjian, Mijailovic (Broca/van Holland)(Companions Opera, 2006)(Companions Opera Alimited edition@)(Dialogue version, minimal dialogue) Companions Opera is an Amsterdam-based organization which creates large-scale opera productions in huge arenas in various European cities. Soloists are drawn mainly from Eastern Europe and the orchestra, chorus, and extras are recruited locally. (The chorus sings from the orchestra enclosure while non-singing extras play the onstage action.) This DVD of <strong>Carmen</strong> was recorded in the 12,000 seat Color Live Arena in Hamburg, a facility used mainly for handball, ice hockey and pop concerts. The production is mainly geared to spectacle, though it is handled relatively tastefully and the musical standards are quite good. As a live experience the production must have been enjoyable, but as a home video it is limited, especially as it lacks subtitles. Dramatic plausibility is often sacrificed to scale. The acting “chorus” makes no attempt to pretend to be singing, which would be less of a problem at the live audience distances involved but is rather ghostly when seen through camera close-ups. Scenes involving two characters (José-Micaela duet, final scene) are played with the singers placed far apart, and the acting style is of necessity broad. Some of the visual effects are compelling, especially the carpet of red blossoms on the arena floor created by the celebrating crowd before the bullfight, which creates a blood-red background for the final, fatal confrontation of <strong>Carmen</strong> and Don José. Nadia Krasteva, who can also be seen in the St. Margarethen production, is an experienced and effective <strong>Carmen</strong> and the other principals are quite competent, but the staging inadequacies revealed by the cameras and the lack of subtitles make the DVD a non-contender. Not recommended. Maschio: Bonfitto, Taruntsov, Dalla Benetta, Altomare (Nocetti)(Teatro Coccia, 2008)(Kicco Classic)(Dialogue version, minimal dialogue) While some operatic issues from the independent label Kicco Classics feature fairly prominent artists and decent productions, it is hard to understand why this provincial (in the worst sense of the word) performance would be released, and it is striking that it is not even listed in Kicco’s own online catalogue! The staging is barely on the level of a poor community theatre, the musical execution is shaky at times, and the scenery and costumes look like the sort of thing that used to be the norm for amateur theatre musicals, garish, ugly and even comical, as in the cigar factory with walls made of giant cigars! Angela Bonfitto looks good (in a spotless snowy white dress!), but her acting is a twitchy series of stock poses, while the rest of the cast is simply at sea in a stand-and-sing staging in a space which is too small even for these reduced forces. A further blemish is the decision by stage and video director Giovanna Nocetti to try to create an illusion of stage action by repeatedly superimposing slow motion versions of the stage action over the real time action, which reduces the real time imagery to the bottom of the screen where it is covered by the subtitles! Strongly not recommended!
Not recommended--Recitative Versions Karajan: Bumbry, Vickers, Diaz, Freni (von Karajan)(Studio filming, based on Salzburg Production, 1967)(DG) (Recit version) This is a studio recording lip-synched to a pre-recorded soundtrack, based on the Salzburg Festival production of previous summer. Despite the starry names associated with it, this production suffers from the artificiality of the lip-synched filming and from von Karajan’s limitations as a stage director. Musically the soundtrack is polished to a glossy shine, but after the exciting orchestral introductions the orchestra recedes to the background and von Karajan goes into his slow-motion impressionistic mode, which robs the opera of much of its vitality. The soloists lip-sync very accurately but seem to be so intent on matching their soundtrack that their acting seems stiff and uninvolved. Jon Vickers, normally a powerhouse on stage, seems neutralized by the restrictions of the filming, and even Mirella Freni lacks her usual spontaneity and passion, though she does manage to inject some life into her aria. Grace Bumbry is in good voice but is physically stiff and uncomfortable as <strong>Carmen</strong>, as is Justino Diaz as Escamillo. Von Karajan’s staging in this early attempt at making an opera film is no help. He seems to see the film as a series of carefully posed static tableaus that are set up mechanically and then shown in a variety of close-ups. The action lacks any sense of continuity of life and of motivation, and, along with his slick, bloodless approach to the music drains any sense of human drama from the story. Teo Otto’s sets are an odd mixture of realistic structures and artificial backdrops, while Georges Wakhevitch costumes are conventional and rather unflattering, especially to Grace Bumbry. Throughout the opera everything looks squeaky clean and polished, including heavily lacquered hairdos (never a hair out of place) and eyeshadow and artificial eyelashes for the women, a very dated and unrealistic 60's look. Not recommended. Montarano: Surguladze, Do, Lungu, Alberghini (Ferretti)(Sferisterio Opera Festival, 2008)(Dynamic)(Recit version) The Arena Sferisterio is a striking open-air performance space holding 3500-4000 spectators in stadium seating and boxes. Its stage is an open platform some 240 feet wide and quite deep. In this production of <strong>Carmen</strong>, staged by film and stage designer Dante Ferretti, the huge space allows some scenes to be staged very effectively, particularly the changing of the guard and the children’s march in Act One. Unfortunately, first-time opera director Ferretti’s inexperience leaves most of the rest of the opera at loose ends. While the use of 20 th century costumes could certainly be effective, the choice here (costume designer was Pierluigi Pizzi) to dress the women, including the factory workers and smugglers, in spotlessly clean and elegant slips and dresses with nicely styled hair makes nonsense of the story. In the tavern scene, a rather posh place with a classy clientele, <strong>Carmen</strong>, Frasquita and Mércèdes are wearing designer evening gowns, and even on the smuggling expedition in Act Three they are in elegant skirts and hosiery, while negotiating dangerous mountain pathways! For the dramatic interaction the principals are pretty much on their own, which is a particular problem for Nina Surguladze in the title role. She is extremely beautiful and has a fine, fresh, focused voice, but seems embarrassed at having to act the temptress and doesn’t know what to do with her hands. In addition, her French is extremely poor. Her Don José, Philippe Do, is a good actor and tries his best in the circumstances, but the role is too heavy for his attractive light lyric tenor. The production overall is efficiently executed, dramatically bland, and simply dull. Surguladze seems young and is certainly very talented, but she is out of her depth as <strong>Carmen</strong>. Not recommended.
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1. Carmen on DVD--Complete Review(EDITED) - Florentine Opera

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