# Well, I finally found an Opera on DVD that I love....



## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Only had time last night to watch the first half of it, but I was completely entranced with:









Plot - absurd
Staging - clever
Costuming - bizarre but charming
Singing - wonderful
Music - spectacular

And, believe it or not, that last one was the key. I'm convinced now that Rossini was a genius. Too bad he took the second half of his life off.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Viaggio a Reims is a weird one. But the music is great!


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

I have never seen it or heard it unfortunately. Have seen the DVD on sale but was quite expensive and i think there is an old Claudio Abbado cd. Anything Rossini has to be good. Have you tried Rossini's 'La pietra del Paragone'? There is a wonderful DVD of this opera with Alberto Zedda conducting Rossini Brilliantly. And it has one of my favourite tenors - Raul Gimenez singing. Superb production and singing.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Vesteralen said:


> Only had time last night to watch the first half of it, but I was completely entranced with:
> 
> View attachment 7334
> 
> ...


I'm so glad you like it! It's one of my favourites & I saw a semi-staged performance last month at ROH.

There is only one CD available & if you like the DVD, I'm sure you'll like the recording.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

sospiro said:


> I'm so glad you like it! It's one of my favourites & I saw a semi-staged performance last month at ROH.
> 
> There is only one CD available & if you like the DVD, I'm sure you'll like the recording.


Thanks, Annie. I had just finished watching the Globe Shakespeare version of As You Like It (also from Opus Arte), and after watching both of these peformances I think I've reached the conclusion that I can get into theatre performances more when the cast is allowed to wander out into the audience a bit. It makes it so much more lively.

(And seeing Gergiev conducting on-stage with that gangster hat was pretty fun, too.)

Another thing I really liked about both of these performances was the expressive faces on the casts. They couldn't always be moving around, but when they had to remain still for a while their faces were still fascinating to watch - not false or stagey, if you know what I mean.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Yashin said:


> I have never seen it or heard it unfortunately. Have seen the DVD on sale but was quite expensive and i think there is an old Claudio Abbado cd. Anything Rossini has to be good. Have you tried Rossini's 'La pietra del Paragone'? There is a wonderful DVD of this opera with Alberto Zedda conducting Rossini Brilliantly. And it has one of my favourite tenors - Raul Gimenez singing. Superb production and singing.


I will look for it. Thanks


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Vesteralen said:


> Thanks, Annie. I had just finished watching the Globe Shakespeare version of As You Like It (also from Opus Arte), and after watching both of these peformances I think I've reached the conclusion that I can get into theatre performances more when the cast is allowed to wander out into the audience a bit. It makes it so much more lively.
> 
> (And seeing Gergiev conducting on-stage with that gangster hat was pretty fun, too.)
> 
> Another thing I really liked about both of these performances was the expressive faces on the casts. They couldn't always be moving around, but when they had to remain still for a while their faces were still fascinating to watch - not false or stagey, if you know what I mean.


Yes! I know what you mean about interacting with the audience, I love that too!

I'm hoping to get tickets for _L'amour des trois oranges_ in Amsterdam & it's this production by Laurent Pelly.










It starts with singers in different parts of the auditorium & there's some argy-bargy in the aisles so I want to get a seat on the end of a row!


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Also, L'amour des trois oranges is very funny. Kind of. And awfully strange. But very good.


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

Aksel said:


> Also, L'amour des trois oranges is very funny. Kind of. And awfully strange. But very good.


This is another one that has dodged me for years! But i love Laurent Pelly's productions so will have a look.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Yashin said:


> This is another one that has dodged me for years! But i love Laurent Pelly's productions so will have a look.


I haven't seen Pelly's production, but the one from the Bastille opera with Charles Workman is rather good.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Aksel said:


> I haven't seen Pelly's production, but the one from the Bastille opera with Charles Workman is rather good.


I've seen both, but I like the Workman one a lot, with all the commedia dell'arte references.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> I've seen both, but I like the Workman one a lot, with all the commedia dell'arte references.


Yes. That's pretty great. Although the oranges scene is kind of awkward. But I feel more could have been done with the theatre-within-theatre business.

NOTE: I have not seen the DVD itself, but I saw the production itself when I was in Paris this summer.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

Can we just rename this thread "Love for Three Oranges?"


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## Bas (Jul 24, 2012)

I, already convinced of Rosinni's genius' (actually by his Petite Messe Sollenelle, try it, it is wonderful), thank you for the tip! Rosinni is a genius indeed, I like many of his opera's!


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

So glad you've found one you like! Most of the same music is found in Comte Ory, and I really think you'd like it - try to find the Glyndebourne production if you can - the link isn't working unfortunately, but it's the one with Annick Massis, Mark Laho, and Jane Shaulis. Wonderful. Ugly DVD case but what's inside is gold.

There is one gorgeous piece of music in the production you have that isn't in Comte Ory, that's the wonderful sextet - I wouldn't buy it just for that but I thought it was just amazing.


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

guythegreg said:


> So glad you've found one you like! Most of the same music is found in Comte Ory, and I really think you'd like it - try to find the Glyndebourne production if you can - the link isn't working unfortunately, but it's the one with Annick Massis, Mark Laho, and Jane Shaulis. Wonderful. Ugly DVD case but what's inside is gold.
> 
> There is one gorgeous piece of music in the production you have that isn't in Comte Ory, that's the wonderful sextet - I wouldn't buy it just for that but I thought it was just amazing.


Yes, that sextet is what really changed this from "I like it" to "I love it"


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

Anyone seen the new DVD of Le Comte Ory with Florez? Some good reviews. Never listened or seen this opera.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Yashin said:


> Anyone seen the new DVD of Le Comte Ory with Florez? Some good reviews. Never listened or seen this opera.


Singing is totally amazeballs (as one would expect, with J-Flo, J-Diddy and Diana Damrau as the three leads), but the staging is stupid, vapid and ultimately very annoying. And the final trio is just about the most bisexual thing in all of opera ever.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Yashin said:


> Anyone seen the new DVD of Le Comte Ory with Florez? Some good reviews. Never listened or seen this opera.


Well, I saw the performance, and I wouldn't get the DVD. To me, the Glyndebourne production was so much better on all levels - singing and otherwise. I'm the biggest Bartlett Sher fan there is but something went wrong.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Yashin said:


> Anyone seen the new DVD of Le Comte Ory with Florez? Some good reviews. Never listened or seen this opera.


I saw it live in HD & was disappointed. Considering the pedigree & standard of the singers, I didn't think it could possibly fail but somehow it did.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Hmm, I didn't think it was that bad, but then I love J-Flo's whirling nun and Joyce's boots. But the Glyndebourne version is certainly a lot more successful and genuinely funny.


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