# Best Figaro on DVD?



## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

This is important - my son's first encounter with Le Nozze

I know 2 video productions

1973 Glynebourne
1976 Bohm/Freni etc

not quite happy with either of those now though I would go for the Glyndebourne even though the cast is inferior (bar te kanawa) as it is a rec of a real perf. 

opinions please.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Another option from Glyndebourne: 1994 

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K492

Gerald Finley (Figaro), Alison Hagley (Susanna), Andreas Schmidt (Count Almaviva), Renée Fleming (Countess Almaviva), Marie-Ange Todorovitch (Cherubino), Manfred Röhrl (Bartolo), Wendy Hillhouse (Marcellina), Robert Tear (Don Basilio), Donald Adams (Antonio), John Graham-Hall (Don Curzio), Susan Gritton (Barbarina)

Glyndebourne Festival Opera & London Philharmonic Orchestra,, Bernard Haitink (conductor) & Stephen Medcalf (director)


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Thanks - I have heard the Karl Bohm's 1966 perf in black and white is good.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

stomanek said:


> Thanks - I have heard the Karl Bohm's 1966 perf in black and white is good.


Excellent cast, wonderful performance but the black and white put me off for so much money.
( In Europe that is)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I just remembered this one :
Paris 1980 Janowitz, Popp, von Stade, Bacquier, Van Dam, Moll, Senechal, Berbie; Solti. 
I do have a Japan DVD from HMV with Japanese subtitles.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Pugg said:


> I just remembered this one :
> Paris 1980 Janowitz, Popp, von Stade, Bacquier, Van Dam, Moll, Senechal, Berbie; Solti.
> I do have a Japan DVD from HMV with Japanese subtitles.


Popp as Susannah - I would love to see that. Must be as good as it gets


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Solti recorded it on Decca with Popp at about that time.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

stomanek said:


> Solti recorded it on Decca with Popp at about that time.


Alas no longer available, only on bootleg.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Pugg said:


> Excellent cast, wonderful performance but the black and white put me off for so much money.
> ( In Europe that is)


I looked at the opening duets on youtube of this 1966 perf - a real shame about mono picture and it looks a bit out of focus at times - great singing and spirit though.

thanks for your tips

no advice from anyone else? just as I thought - this opera section is a forum for big voice buffs - bel canto, verdi, wagner, Maria Callas ...


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Pugg said:


> Alas no longer available, only on bootleg.


I found the letter duet on youtube






which convinced me this is the supreme version

and I found the whole thing on youtube too






I will keep looking on ebay for a dvd/video- everything turns up there sooner or later.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

stomanek said:


> I found the letter duet on youtube
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's the one only mine has Japanese subtitles.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

It might be time for another look at Peter Sellars' version from the 1980s - set in Trump Tower.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

jegreenwood said:


> It might be time for another look at Peter Sellars' version from the 1980s - set in Trump Tower.


I rather get my private part pierced. :devil:


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

Pugg said:


> That's the one only mine has Japanese subtitles.


how is the picture quality on your dvd? - it looks a bit fuzzy on you tube


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

stomanek said:


> how is the picture quality on your dvd? - it looks a bit fuzzy on you tube


From the back of my head about 25% better, not HD quality that's for sure, the performance makes up for it all though.
( I check it out later today for you)
Look at Janowitz , she perfect in this video :tiphat:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

ROH conducted by Pappano. Very well sung and acted and the singers actually LOOK the parts which is important.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

The one I _really_ like is not even on DVD yet. It's from the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 and has Bryn Terfel as Figaro, Cecilia Bartoli as Susanna, Renee Fleming as the Countess, Dwayne Croft as the Count, and Susanne Mentzer as Cherubino, with James Levine conducting. You can see it only if you join (or sign up for a trial of) Met Opera on Demand.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

stomanek said:


> how is the picture quality on your dvd? - it looks a bit fuzzy on you tube


I did check it out and my memory serves me well, 25 % better view then you tube.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> The one I _really_ like is not even on DVD yet. It's from the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 and has Bryn Terfel as Figaro, Cecilia Bartoli as Susanna, Renee Fleming as the Countess, Dwayne Croft as the Count, and Susanne Mentzer as Cherubino, with James Levine conducting. You can see it only if you join (or sign up for a trial of) Met Opera on Demand.


I've seen parts of it and indeed very good, however; no contest to the one I mentioned above, and _I am a Fleming fan._


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

I must have surveyed the whole lot - inc 1994 glyndebourne. Havent seen bartoli - I can imagine she's a bubbly sussanah but have never really been a fan of hers in Mozart. She overplays a lot and I just dont think she's a mozart soprano in the league of berganza, popp or any of the golden age singers. There seems to be a lot of disagreement over the 1973 glyndebourne - 90% of people saying its heavenly and one or two saying it's dreadful. after popp, freni looks like the next best sussanah but I dont like much the film.
The 1980 solti we've been talking about looks the best so far - the military aria is epic with van damme and von stade.
25% better would do - if only I could get it on dvd with english subtitles.
still - this is for my son to watch and what I'm looking for probably wont matter to him.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

1994 Glyndebourne is great, best of all is Alison Hagley as Susanna, she has it all to stage the perfect Susanna. Also Haitink's view on Mozart is a big plus.

A much rarer DVD to get but with an even stronger cast, but also with Hagley, is this one:














Terfel shines as Figaro, Gardiner's orchestra plays superbly. It was filmed in one of Paris' many historic theatres, Théâtre du Châtelet.

Both productions keep the opera as it is meant: comic. Many modern productions stage it as a tragedy, which I don't like.


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

DavidA said:


> ROH conducted by Pappano. Very well sung and acted and the singers actually LOOK the parts which is important.












That is easily my favorite also, production by David McVicar. Very well directed for example during overture instead of showing orchestra we see servants preparing for a new day opening windows general cleaning up......while having some fun also, this shows a very skilled director at the top of his game, entire opera a delight (love Miah Persson)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

You know I do respect your opinion and vision D.A, but the one one You-Tube may be old ( technical wise) the sinning is out of this world.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

DarkAngel said:


> That is easily my favorite also, production by David McVicar. Very well directed for example during overture instead of showing orchestra we see servants preparing for a new day opening windows general cleaning up......while having some fun also, this shows a very skilled director at the top of his game, entire opera a delight (love Miah Persson)


I concur with DA. I have this version and it is delightful!


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Pugg said:


> You know I do respect your opinion and vision D.A, but the one one You-Tube may be old ( technical wise) the *sinning *is out of this world.


They don't actually sin in Figaro - some of them just try to.:devil:


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

jegreenwood said:


> They don't actually sin in Figaro - some of them just try to.:devil:


I think it's pretty well implied that the count spends time he isnt out hunting philandering with the pretty servants - Barbarina for example.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

stomanek said:


> I think it's pretty well implied that the count spends time he isnt out hunting philandering with the pretty servants - Barbarina for example.


My jokes are going over like lead balloons on this forum. I was just playing off Pugg's typo. And the central plot is an attempted sin that doesn't come off.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

jegreenwood said:


> They don't actually sin in Figaro - some of them just try to.:devil:


You are good......


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

jegreenwood said:


> My jokes are going over like lead balloons on this forum. I was just playing off Pugg's typo. And the central plot is an attempted sin that doesn't come off.


doh - oh yes didnt see that


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

jegreenwood said:


> It might be time for another look at Peter Sellars' version from the 1980s - set in Trump Tower.


The New York Times agrees.

Interview with Peter Sellars on the Trump Tower Figaro.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

There is a 2006 Salzburg Figaro with Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Vienna Phil. on YouTube
Bo Skovhus - Count
Ildebrando d'Arcangelo - Figaro
Dorothea Roschmann - Countess
Anna Netrebko - Susunna

Personally I would categorize it as a curate's egg.


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## Guest (Dec 28, 2020)

PlaySalieri said:


> 1973 Glynebourne


For many reasons I can't do anything with this production, and even Frederica von Stade, whom I like as a singer, grins a bit too much for my taste, although Cherubino doesn't have much to laugh about.

However, I thought the realization of the aria _"Venite inginocchiatevi"_ was well done, and I have yet to see another production that follows the stage directions so closely. (This is not to say, of course, that following the instructions exactly is important to me; as I've written here before, I'm also interested in productions that have creative new ideas).
The score or libretto only says that Susanna combs his hair and puts a bonnet on him. He is NOT dressed up as a girl! And the director of this production implements these instructions very precisely, obviously taking inspiration from the music in the passages where they are missing.
I also like a detail at the end of the aria. As Cherubino walks toward the two women, the Countess looks him in the eye the whole time.



PlaySalieri said:


> Karl Bohm's 1966 perf


I also find this production poor for many reasons, but a highlight for me is 28 year old Edith Mathis as Cherubino, whom I find both vocally and visually superb. I am aware of 9 Figaro recordings in which she appears. In three of them she sang Cherubino, two of them live in Italian, as well as one studio recording in German, which I find a great pity, because I would have liked to have had a studio recording in Italian with her.

However, I don't like what the director has done with this Cherubino. When Susanna is harassed by the Count, the page grins behind his armchair. After _"Voi che sapete"_ he even bows toward the audience, and there is no romance, no emotional scene between Cherubino and the Countess when the two are briefly alone. It seems as if the director wanted to end this scene quickly, because both singers sing this recitative very fast. Fortunately, this scene is taken more seriously these days.

Greetings,
Natural Horn


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Not crazy about Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (though he's much better here than as Oroveso) or Luigi Alva, but Pobbe and Carteri are a wonderful team. It's a nice version worth watching. You can get it on DVD from Hardy Classic Video (on the VAI website).


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