Korngold: Die tote Stadt

Excellent German TV production of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's unjustly forgotten opera...
Korngold's once phenomenally successful opera, first performed simultaneously in the German cities of Hamburg and Cologne in 1920 when the composer was only 23 years old, is vividly brought to life in this superior German TV production, which was produced in 1983 by the Deutsche Oper Berlin opera company and was partly responsible for the gradual rehabilitation of this three-act opera in the European repertoire in recent times.

Freely adapted from Georges Rodenbach's 1892 novel "Bruges-la-Morte" by Erich and his father Julius (under the pen name "Paul Schott"), the story of DIE TOTE STADT is simple: Paul (played by the late tenor James King, who resembles 1940s Belgian-born actor Victor Francen with his thin mustache), mourning over the loss of his beautiful blonde wife Marie in the Belgian city of Bruges, is ecstatic to encounter her exact double one day, the flirtatious opera dancer Marietta (played by soprano Karan Armstrong, who resembles a curvaceous and strawberry...

Incorrectly posted reviews
Readers, beware. At the time of my posting, only two of the 29 customer reviews posted here actually applied to this item, which is the Deutsche Oper Berlin 1983 production starring Karan Armstrong and James King, NOT the bizarre Opera National du Rhin 2001 production starring Angele Denoke and Torsten Kerl addressed in the other 27 reviews. Someone needs to be more careful about cross-referencing reviews of similarly titled items.

NOT a TV production and NOT by Brian Large. But a MUST-HAVE!
I agree, it's a great production and a must-have. However, this is NOT a TV production. It was a production created at the Deutsche Oper, it became part of its (at the time) vast repertoire (in those days, the Deutsche Oper presented more than 50 different operas per season), it was performed many times in Berlin before it was rented to the Vienna Staatsoper. So what you see in this DVD is actually a filmed stage performance that was at the time broadcast on German TV. More importantly, the previous reviewer says Brian Large directed this production. Brian Large, however, is not a stage director, but a video director. Claiming he did this production is like saying he did the legendary Bayreuth Chereau-"Ring" (for which he also directed and edited the camera work at the filming). This "Tote Stadt" was directed by Götz Friedrich, Karan Armstrong's husband and at the time the General Manager of the Deutsche Oper. Friedrich was one of the major figures of the early Regietheater...

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Reichorchester [Blu-ray]

Playing for Germany
"Then all of a sudden the portrait of Mendelssohn vanished". Thus begins the Berlin Philharmonic's 12-year period under Nazi control. The Philharmonic had been owned by the musicians, but in early 1934 Josef Goebbels' propaganda ministry took over and the orchestra became part of the effort to promote the superiority of German culture. But as this fine documentary makes clear, it was never a "Nazi orchestra". There were a handful of committed Nazis who intimidated their colleagues, and the 4 Jewish members soon emigrated. As to the rest, some eventually joined the Nazi party, whether out of careerism or self-preservation, while the rest made sure not to rock the boat. And there were good reasons not to, aside from the political threat - they were, after all, the elite Berlin Philharmonic, with Furtwangler as their conductor; who would want to give that up? When war broke out, the musicians were deemed essential in their propaganda role, and none was obliged to enter military service,...

Superb documentary of Berlin Philharmonic in Third Reich
I can only add my words of praise to everyone else. This documentary is a superb telling of the Berlin Philharmonic during the Third Reich. It doesn't gloss over, it doesn't condemn - it simply tells you what it was like and allows you to make your own decisions. I learned a great deal from this documentary that I hadn't realized before.

I do confess, however, to curiosity over why there is NO mention of von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic during the Third Reich. Of course, he wasn't the principal conductor - that was Furtwangler - but Karajan WAS a guest conductor during that period, plus, he was Goring's protege, Hitler had named him State Conductor, etc. It's simply curious that he was totally absent - they mentioned other guest conductors, etc., but never him. Oh, well, no matter. Even without him, this was a superb documentary which I enjoyed immensely and learned a great deal from.

The Art of Moral Compromise
This documentary by Enrique Sánchez Lansch focuses on a fascinating and under-examined historical subject--how the Berlin Philharmonic, Germany's preeminent orchestra, adapted itself to the political and cultural realities under the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945. The orchestra, known for its brilliant musicianship under the legendary conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, had to toe the party line under Hitler's rule, purging its Jewish members (four of the musicians were forced to leave) and allowing itself to be used for propaganda purposes in Germany and on foreign tours. Archival footage shows the orchestra playing at Nazi party conferences, before and after speeches by Hitler and Goebbels, and during the opening ceremonies of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin under the grim, watchful eyes of the military and political elite. In return for its cooperation, the Philharmonic was granted a number of special privileges. Its members were exempt from military service and enjoyed a...

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Il Prigionier Superbo & La Serva Padrona

More amazing rare Pergolesi from Jesi
Last year saw the Blu-ray release of Adriano in Siria, the first Pergolesi opera made available through a new initiative by the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini to not only stage new editions of all the existing opera works by the composer - all of them rare, most all-but forgotten - but to have them all released to the public on DVD and, if we're lucky, Blu-ray. The hopes raised by Adriano in Siria at the possibility of recovering some unheard of masterpieces are met with yet another extraordinary work (or should I say pair of works, since the composer's Intermezzos are also being recorded and released alongside the main works) in the 1732 dramma per musica Il Prigionier Superbo (The Proud Captive), which is released here alongside its rather more famous Intermezzo, La Serva Padrona. And, happily, it's another exceptionally well-performed production of a work that truly merits rediscovery and re-evaluation, which...

Pergolesi in Iesi
Read the reviews by Keris Nine and Giordano Bruno first. Everything they say is bang on. (Even their points of disagreement make sense. You won't get unanimity about this DVD.)

First, what's good about this DVD and why should you buy it if you are a serious music lover and opera afficionado?

1.) Pergolesi's music, melodically straightforward, often hard-driving, often rhythmically inventive (in a way that makes it fun to listen to, but tricky to play.) Most music lovers know and love Stravinsky's Pulcinello, which is based on the music of Pergolesi. Stravinsky has beautifully captured the charm of Pergolesi's music, and given it a neo-classical update.

A good many of us know about La Serva Padrona, which changed the course of opera and opened the way for longer and more "serious" applications of commedia dell'arte, such as The Marriage of Figaro (which may not have been possible without Serva.) The evening recreated by these DVDs is one of the most...

Weirder Ain't Always Gooder!
Read Keris Nine's review before continuing with mine. Keris says all the nice things about these two productions that I would prefer to say, and Keris is a consistently fine reviewer. However ...

These two DVDs make a very good case for the value of sound-only CDs. The staging of La Serva Padrona, mis-en-scene in a circus, is not offensive. In fact, it's modestly amusing. But it completely disregards and diminishes both the humor and the earnest social commentary of the libretto, which is all about class consciousness and class resentment. If the drama is so dispensable, why not just stage it as a concert, even though it was the drama more than the rather workaday music that kept this intermezzo popular far longer than any other stage piece by Pergolesi?

"Il Prigionier Superbo" is another matter. Several of the arias and ensemble pieces in it are very fine, fiery/luscious Vivaldi-worthy Baroque, and some of the principal singers are musically magnificent in their...

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Il Prigionier Superbo & La Serva Padrona [Blu-ray]

More amazing rare Pergolesi from Jesi
Last year saw the Blu-ray release of Adriano in Siria, the first Pergolesi opera made available through a new initiative by the Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini to not only stage new editions of all the existing opera works by the composer - all of them rare, most all-but forgotten - but to have them all released to the public on DVD and, if we're lucky, Blu-ray. The hopes raised by Adriano in Siria at the possibility of recovering some unheard of masterpieces are met with yet another extraordinary work (or should I say pair of works, since the composer's Intermezzos are also being recorded and released alongside the main works) in the 1732 dramma per musica Il Prigionier Superbo (The Proud Captive), which is released here alongside its rather more famous Intermezzo, La Serva Padrona. And, happily, it's another exceptionally well-performed production of a work that truly merits rediscovery and re-evaluation, which...

Pergolesi in Iesi
Read the reviews by Keris Nine and Giordano Bruno first. Everything they say is bang on. (Even their points of disagreement make sense. You won't get unanimity about this DVD.)

First, what's good about this DVD and why should you buy it if you are a serious music lover and opera afficionado?

1.) Pergolesi's music, melodically straightforward, often hard-driving, often rhythmically inventive (in a way that makes it fun to listen to, but tricky to play.) Most music lovers know and love Stravinsky's Pulcinello, which is based on the music of Pergolesi. Stravinsky has beautifully captured the charm of Pergolesi's music, and given it a neo-classical update.

A good many of us know about La Serva Padrona, which changed the course of opera and opened the way for longer and more "serious" applications of commedia dell'arte, such as The Marriage of Figaro (which may not have been possible without Serva.) The evening recreated by these DVDs is one of the most...

Weirder Ain't Always Gooder!
Read Keris Nine's review before continuing with mine. Keris says all the nice things about these two productions that I would prefer to say, and Keris is a consistently fine reviewer. However ...

These two DVDs make a very good case for the value of sound-only CDs. The staging of La Serva Padrona, mis-en-scene in a circus, is not offensive. In fact, it's modestly amusing. But it completely disregards and diminishes both the humor and the earnest social commentary of the libretto, which is all about class consciousness and class resentment. If the drama is so dispensable, why not just stage it as a concert, even though it was the drama more than the rather workaday music that kept this intermezzo popular far longer than any other stage piece by Pergolesi?

"Il Prigionier Superbo" is another matter. Several of the arias and ensemble pieces in it are very fine, fiery/luscious Vivaldi-worthy Baroque, and some of the principal singers are musically magnificent in their...

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Pelleas Et Melisande [Blu-ray]

Debussy for Dummies
The 2004 Zurich production of Pelléas et Mélisande is a curious one, but then Debussy's only complete opera is a strange and enigmatic work. It's a work that is founded on ambience and ambiguity, as much in the libretto - Maurice Maeterlinck's symbolist drama brought over almost intact - as in the haunting qualities of Debussy's music, which do not underscore or emphasise specific emotions in the traditional manner as much as suggest otherworldly mood and mystery in the hidden depths that lie within it. The production design consequently also goes for a non-specific, otherworldly location within a snow-bound world that seems to work well with Debussy's floating lines, the coldness and detachment of the expressions, as well as the enclosed intimacy and oppressiveness of the subconscious passions that underlie them.

By far the strangest element of Sven-Eric Bechtolf's production however is the use of life-size dummies, looking uncannily like the characters...





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Beauty Queens

Excellent
Well done and informative. I expected it to be boring but to my surprise I found myself sad that it ended.





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Handel: Rinaldo

Avant Garde Handel
Rinaldo is a warrior on a "crusade" to "liberate" Jerusalem. En route, Armida, the Saracen Queen of Damascus falls in love with him, and being a sorceress, she uses magic to capture him. Earlier, she had ensnared Rinaldo's beloved, Almerina, daughter of the General of the crusade. Eventually both are freed by some counter-magic and Rinaldo conquers Jerusalem, and, as a result, Armida is converted to Christianity. If you think it might be a story hard to stage, you are right. But, in Handel's time, the story didn't matter much, it was for the arias that the audience came-especially those sung by famous "castrati.". The opera abounds in this last commodity, with four castrati parts (usually sung by counter-tenors today), two soprano parts and a bass part. Its saving grace is some of the most ravishing music Handel ever wrote.

This performance is a throughly "camp" production-in modern dress, mostly. I am generally not a fan of updating operas (especially when the...

"There's a burlesque theatre where the gang likes to go..."
On this DVD, during the scene in "Rinaldo" where Argante, the King of Jerusalem is singing of his love for Almirena, daughter of the general of the besieging Christian army, a gigantic plastic bobble-headed doll rolls onto stage and drops its pants. Then it turns its back to the audience.

My feelings about this production, exactly.

The DVD's added feature is a movie called "Handel the Entertainer." In it Sir Peter Jonas, the General Director of the Bayerischen Staatsoper and Harry Bicket, the conductor discuss Handel and their treatment of "Rinaldo." Sir Peter considers "Rinaldo," one of Handel's early works, a comic farce and treats it as a burlesque. This production features several partial strip teases, including that of the previously-mentioned bobble-headed doll, and a fair amount of genital groping, so 'burlesque' is really an operative term here, not 'erotic undercurrent' as was Sir Peter's intent. The wicked but loving...

Watch with a blindfold for best enjoyment
Oh dear...

Is there some sort of rule in Director School that states "Do not stage in period. Wherever possible, be tasteless, be vulgar, ensure that your staging has nothing to do with the music, and above all, make the singers do very stupid things"?

I suspect many modern directors live in deadly fear of not being avant-garde. They must wake in terrible fear in the middle of the night, having suffered a nightmare of having produced a "traditional" opera. Oh shame, shame, shame... What a horror to avoid, because after all, it would prove nothing but that the director's mind is unoriginal and that he cannot be piquant and daring, brave and contemporary... right?

Hmm. Is it not time for directors to realise that they are NOT being original in creating a visual mess like the one presented in this DVD? Every second director is doing it - so where is the originality? The audiences must be seeing through the lack of scholarly thought involved in a "just...

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Nobody

Paranoid, street crime freakout indeed!
UPDATE ADDED DEC. 7 2012: It's been brought to my attention that this review, and several others for this excellent Japanese thriller have been ported over to the product listing for an import DVD of a "postmodern ballet" (see comment attached here) called Nobody, which very much is NOT a Japanese thriller. For those coming to this review via Amazon's bad habit of posting reviews across multiple products that simply happen to share the same name, THIS is the product I'm referring to: Nobody

NOBODY is a fantastic piece of Japanese noir. It's about three salarymen who get in way over their heads when their innocent, drunken cheapshots p*** off three OTHER guys one night in a bar. When these three mysterious strangers, who are up to much more deviant no-goodness than even the film allows us to know, beat the living daylights out of one of our "heroes", the trio decides to return the favour in kind - only...

The Avengers visit Tokyo
Four stars for movie concept, two for DVD presentation. An excellent plot summary is given in the other reviews and I'll weave my comments around their remarks.

If you accept the premise that a barroom tiff over a Rolex and a Zippo can result in an extended hunt-and-be-hunted romp through the land of the rising sun, then you can probably get a kick (no pun intended) out of Shundo Ohkawa's thriller. I must confess that this premise kept me out of this movie's groove for the first half hour, but I settled into things once these western eyes of mine realized that I'm basically watching an Averngers-like plotline, complete with mysterious motives, hunt-and-kill creatively done, and a wink at the audience at the end. I'm not sure of director Shundo Ohkawa's direct influences, but the film is analogous to the Avengers' "Superlative Seven" episode, or the old film classic "The Most Dangerous Game", this time in an urban jungle.

Certain things are missing, mostly in the character...

Fine idea, muddled by a lousy script and bad direction.
In this modern Japanese, urban thriller, a minor set of words between two groups of business men leads to one of them getting beat up. They try find the other group to get revenge, but come up empty handed until late one night when they come across one of the rival men in a subway. The three friends beat him severely, so much that they run away, and begin checking the papers to see if they killed him. Soon they begin to get phone calls from the men saying that they have killed the man (though there is no evidence), panic sets in, and slowly they begin to get picked off.

Were these men just crazy business men? Bloodthirsty Yakuza? Crooked Cops? Unfortunately these questions and the I Know What You Did Last Summer-like plotline, dont hold up very well, and are executed in clumsy fashion. The deaths, the suspicion, and the finale, fall too far into b-movie territory. The script, direction, and cinematography, likewise, are poor. Its the kind of movie you watch and end up being...

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Paco De Lucia & Group

Paco is the greatest!!!!
ANything performed by PACO DE LUCIA IS complete awesomeness !!! Period He plays perfection defined!!! The greatest Flamenco guitarist ever lived!!!!!!!!





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