I Puritani

Rivetting
Although it's set during a period of considerable interest in English history - the Interregnum that takes in the conflict between the Cromwell's Roundheads and Royalists loyal to the Charles I and the Stuarts - the libretto for Bellini's I Puritani makes little use of the historical circumstances but rather, not surprisingly for an Italian bel canto opera, merely uses it as a backdrop for a story of romantic intrigue. If the libretto follows a well-worn generic line in this respect, I Puritani - Bellini's last work before his early death - is however rather more interesting musically, having more in common with Verdi than Rossini or Donizetti and showing the composer at his most imaginative and inspired. It's fortunate then that there is great emphasis and attention paid to this musical aspect in the De Nederlandse production from 2009, but effort is made in other areas of the production in an attempt to make the work a little stronger and more coherent that it might otherwise...

Original Paris edition (1835) - Quite Different
Every once in a while I rummage through my stacks of CDs and pull out a treasured set. It is to remind me what real Bel Canto singing must have been like in the 1830s when Bellini first presented I Puritani. This CD album is the remastered Maria Callas recording of 1953. Then I was in graduate school and remember that I and my friends marveled at everyone in the cast for such beautiful singing: Callas, of course, di Stefano as Arturo, Rossi-Lemeni as Giorgio and Panerai as Riccardo with Tullio Serafin conducting at La Scala. Her notes were not always on pitch but her agility at fioratura, roulades,trills etc was a marvel but it was all in character. I've loved this opera ever since have seen/heard many performances since. Anna Moffo did a creditable job but Sills, Southerland and E. Gruberova were super creditable as coloratura Bel Canto singers. The Met's recent presentation with Anna Netrebko was not "Bel Canto" but was a dramatic and passionate tour de force and a tremendous...



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Ernani

I recant.
I must apologize for my unfairly low evaluation of Ernani. I watched and listened again. Indeed, it was much better by a long shot than it came across to me the first time. I must have been tired or inattentive or angry. Certainly, I want to encourage the Tutto Verdi series. While I'm not wild about this performance, it is very competent and at times rousing. Please, as I did, listen again and reconsider if an initial negative response is questionable for any reason.

Disappointingly Uneven
I like Ernani. As William Berger notes in "Verdi With A Vengeance", it is "...graced with more melody in a few hours than most composers managed in a lifetime". Thus it was that I put this disc in the player, with great anticipation, based on the preceeding C Major Tutto Verdi releases.

Alas ...

Three of the four principal singers were average at best. When I heard Marco Berti begin Ernani's first scene aria, all I could think of was the title to a late 1980's show, "Lend Me A Tenor". It sounded like he had not warmed up, but even later in the opera, he sounded clumsy and unfocused. Susan Neves, who supposedly has Elvira as one of her major roles, doesn't. Her bottom notes were right off the glottus and her upper notes had a forced quality. Bass Giacomo Prestia as Silva had a noticeable wobble. No one tried to act.

Saving the day, so to speak, was Carlo Guelfi as Don Carlo. Although he, too, sounded like he had not warmed up when he made his entrance,...

An Exhilerating Performance of Verdi's First Verdian Opera
Ernani is the fifth of Verdi's canon (1844) and in many ways the beginning of the real Verdian operatic dramas. Ernani is focused on a clear set of issues and as pronounced by Budden (The Operas of Verdi) in this opera Verdi defines the male voice arch types he will use for the rest of his career. The granite like monochromatic bass (Silva) to whom honor and family pride are excessively important, the heroic tenor whose lyrical, ardent, suffering lover and his railing against authority makes him the romantic hero as Victor Hugo had invented him. The third voice type will be the most potent force in Italian opera to come; The Verdi baritone. In the character Carlo, the King of Spain and soon to be Emperor Carlo V he is a mix of conflicting noble and impulsive desires. He looms largest over the events and lives of the others. His is the throne and the power. It is a powerful and exciting story.
At it's premiere this opera was an overwhelming success. It really made Verdi famous and...

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Carnivale: The Complete Seasons 1-2

"To each generation...born a creature of light and a creature of darkness"..
Easily as eliptic, complex and mysterious as "Twin Peaks" with more magic in its soul "Carnivale" only lasted two seasons on HBO because the witless suits didn't have the imagination to see the value the series added to their schedule. Keep in mind these are the same folks that also cancelled their second most watched series "Deadwood" after having already renewed if for a third.

Set during the 1934 dustbowl we first meet the ragtag members of the Carnivale as they pass through Oklahoma. Ben Hawkins (Nick Stahl) mother has just died. His home is about to be bulldozed and the dust storms that struck the midwest rage incessantly. Jonesy (Tim DeKay)the head roustabout stands up to those about to destroy Hawkins home and helps him bury his mom as do the other members of the carnival. Suddenly their family whether Hawkins likes it or not.

It seems Hawkins has the ability to heal others and perform miracles. He's a lost soul in denial of his abilities and focused on...

Stands in testimony to the stupidity of the folks at HBO.
To me this was the absolute finest production ever made for television/cable and because "only" several million totally devoted viewers could not get HBO to finish the four or five year series, we are left with two and will never know where this journey could have taken us all. It is magnificent but it is painful to watch because you know that it is unfinished "business." I for one have never watched HBO again because to make the time and emotional investment in Carnivale that so many of us made only to hear we didn't count, says to me that they can and most likely will do the same thing again.

HBO seems to thrive on super violent material that is laced with meaningless four letter words. The actors on _The Sopranos_ certainly have a payroll that out does the production costs of Carnivale yet maybe there is no room even on cable for works of complexity that demand that viewers think.

So buy it and yes, HBO owns it and will profit - but just this one last time...

One of THEE best HBO Series!!!!!!
Why HBO didn't renew this series, I'll never know. It's based back in the "dust bowl" era of America with a boy in a traveling circus and a preacher gone evil. It deals with the power to heal, good vs evil, and more. Carnivable was based in a time of nobility. However man created wonder for reason. And the show takes you back to that time of wonder and after each episode you think back to that time of nobility.

A very well made series! But why didn't HBO keep going with it????

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Fafner: Heaven and Earth Movie (Limited Edition Blu-Ray/DVD Combo)

Great Movie for the Fafner Universe
Pretty good, actually really awesome at times wish the series had been in BD as its really gorgeous looking for all the fast paced fafner festum battles. And really emotionally intense too with the plot, poor Kazuki and even Kurusu. Not to dig into the plot too much but pretty well done with exploring things from the Festum perspective via Kurusu, as well as Kazuki and some Soushi there. Friendship moments are strong and the ending was really pleasing to me.

Visually looks fantastic for mecha anime in 1080p HD, really well done and fast action high paced and intense.

I hope theres another movie as one huge plot point is still unresolved or possibly two. Peace with the UN, their still on the run from them and their still attacking festum in the North pole for example.

angela music so good for insert and the credits theme and solid dub as like the tv anime. Good bd from funi.

Must see anime
This is an excellent, gripping and exciting movie, wrapping up the series and setting up for the next one. Highly recommended.

Great follow up to the series
Picks up the story 2(?) years after the end of the series as the Festum find the island once more. The pilots this time don't have such a high mortality rate as compared to the series so it has that going for it. If you've watched the series you know what I mean.

The movie wraps up the series enough that you can stop here and consider it the end or wait until late 2013/early 2014 for a follow up movie and another season of episodes scheduled to be released in Japan. That supposedly will advance the story another 2-4 years after this movies events.

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WWE: Brock Lesnar - Here Comes the Pain! (Collector's Edition)

Official Listing
Growing Up

Debut: Destruction

King Brock

Brock vs. Rock

Battling the Dead Man

Surviving the Big Show

Wrestling Machines

Backlash

Stretcher Match

Brock Lesnar makes his WWE Debut
18th March, 2002

"The Next Big Thing" takes on the Hardy Boyz
8th April, 2002

Brock Lesnar returns to WWE
2nd April, 2012

Coming Back

Brock Lesnar vs. Leviathan
Ohio Valley Wrestling 28th September, 2001

The Journey

OVW Southern Tag Team Championship Match
Rico Constantino & Prototype vs. The Minnesota Stretching Crew
Ohio Valley Wrestling 10th November, 2001

Superstar?

Jeff Hardy vs. Brock Lesnar
Backlash 21st April, 2002

Wrecking Machine

King of the Ring Finals
Rob Van Dam vs. Brock Lesnar
King of the Ring 23rd June, 2002

Who I Am

Rob...

The First (And Second) Look At "The Next Big Thing"
Back in 2003, WWE released a one disc DVD set of Brock Lesnar since he was definitely the biggest new superstar to come from WWE since the Attitude Era at that time. However nobody knew that he would eventually leave the company a short time afterwords & returned almost a decade later as a bigger name than when he left due to his accomplishments in the Ultimate Fighting Championship MMA promotion causing WWE to release a "Collector's Edition" of this set. Since I've actually seen both sets (and Amazon doesn't separate the original from the Collector's Edition), I'll review both of them here.

THE 2003 ORIGINAL EDITION:
The documentary covers his childhood to his first year in the WWE however you don't hear from Brock past the opening chapter of him growing up (which was taken from the "Before They Were Superstars" DVD series) but the rest of the DVD contains comments from various in-ring & backstage talents including Pat Patterson, Michael Hayes, Steve Lombardi, Paul...

WWE - Brock Lesnar
I thought I would make a review after the DVD was released and give actual facts of the DVD and it's features. Unlike the first four yahoos that just wanted to put in their two cents in before they knew anything. It turned out that they had no clue after all, big shock there. The first chapter of the DVD is the Brock Lesnar segment from Before They Were WWE Superstars 2, and is the only chapter that you actually hear from Brock. The rest of the DVD is Superstars, Officials, Agents, and other WWE personnel speaking very candidly and as them self's and NOT as their "turned up" ring personas. What Paul Hymen contributes is great cause you get to see him as a man and not the little worm he plays on SMACKDOWN! Other contributors include Big Show, Dreamer, Rey, Cena, Angle, and many many more. You learn of the extent of Lesnar's WM19 injury and other great stuff. Unlike what one of the other "review writers" wrote these events are not highlighted, (WWE SMACKDOWN! Ring collapsing, (it is...

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Sir George Solti: Journey of a Lifetime

Solti: Journey of a Lifetime
One has to be a fan of Sir Georg to enjoy this DVD. I am, so I did. There is not much new information on the great
conductor, but I enjoyed Lady Solti's comments as well as some of his former players and friends. The obvious
enthusiasm and PASSION Solti had for music is the first thing I notice about, not only interviews, but in the actual playing of the various orchestras....especially the CSO. I have just about ALL of the recordings and now the DVDs
about Solti. This one is a prize possession.





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Nirvana: The Final Chapter

Excellent Album Profile
I just received and watched the "Nirvana: The Final Chapter" DVD and was unexpectedly surprised at how good the DVD is. It begins with an abbreviated synopsis of the progress of Nirvana's career. Not a lot of unnecessary time was spent on this area, instead devoting more time to the actual review of the In Utero album as the DVD claimed. The interviews were not the typical one and two liners we've heard over and over again by so-called experts. The people here are able to provide intelligent, thoughtful reviews of each of the tracks on the album without resorting to the typical "yeah, this one is all about suicide and so is this one". Thankfully not a lot of time was spent pouring over the whys of his death.
It was nice to see how others outside America would see the songs. A lot of the interviews are people from Britain (as that is also where the company compiling this DVD is from). One of the extras on the disc is a listing of short descriptions of who each of the people...





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