| PRODUCT DETAILS | | Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Te Kanawa, Howells, Haugland, Bonney, Solti, Schlesinger (The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) |  | |
Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Te Kanawa, Howells, Haugland, Bonney, Solti, Schlesinger (The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)
This opulent Royal Opera production by Oscar-winning film director John Schlessinger stars Kiri Te Kanawa in what "deserves to be ranked…among her finest achievements".(Financial Times).Also stars Anne Howells, Aage Haugland, and Barbara Bonney. Conducted by George Solti. Color, 197 minutes. Subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese.
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
Price Range: $15.15 - $29.99
 Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Te Kanawa, Howells, Haugland, Bonney, Solti, Schlesinger (The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)
|
| User Reviews |  | Superb singing-acting
rating: 5
If you're looking for one video ROSENKAVALIER I bet this is the one. (Unless you're a die-hard Eliz. Schwarzkopf groupie.) It's very unusual to get a cast like this with four born-for-their-parts singing actors and zero weaknesses. ALL the minor actors reward close observation. Valzacchi and Anina are as interesting in their way as the principals. (Valzacchi is played by the British celebrity tenor Robert Tear.) Watch the Italian Singer's pantomime argument with his accompanist and his vocal competition with Ochs. The actual singer (Dennis O'Neal) is not Italian but is a Verdi superstar.
The late Aage Haugland is the best actor I have ever seen as Ochs (including Kurt Moll and Otto Edelmann). He really gets his character's special blend of vulgarity and innocence across. He can make his eyes twinkle when he smiles, like a giant baby, and put the smile into his voice. Vocally his sub-woofer is a little pinched but his overall bigness and mastery of relaxed bellowing technique more than make up for it. (He was well-known as Hagen and Ivan Khovansky and also played Klingsor.)
The women are great too. Kiri Te Kanawa's Feldmarschallin is a major MILF and Barbara Bonney is as pert and sexy as a Bond girl. Anne Howells is totally believable as a teenage boy and very earnest. All three have excellent musical intelligence and technique. The differences in voice types enhance the ensembles.
Solti's conducting is brisk and refreshing. The sets and costumes are traditional and gorgeous. The camerawork is great.
Der Rosenkavalier was one of the first operas I learned and I've heard it and seen it a fair number of times and this is definitely the most satisfying total Rosenkavalier experience I've had if you discount the special pleasure of being at a live performance.
|
A superb Der Rosenkavalier
rating: 5
Several times during this Rosenkavalier I was brought to tears by the sheer beatuy of the cast and production. Just gorgeous!
|
Awesome
rating: 5
Fantastic singing from all of the cast; they are first-rate. Te Kanawa OWNS the Marschallin character, and Howells is good as Octavian. Barbara Bonney is a spectacular Sophie, and Haugland is perfect as Ochs. My only caution is that the audio quality is not fabulous--you can hear the prompter when you listen with headphones.
|
superlative
rating: 5
I have a friend -- a knowledgeable opera buff -- who once mildly embarrassed me when, in a discussion, I turned to him for (brief and conversational) support for my claim that Kiri Te Kanawa is one of the best of the recent (i.e., late 20th century) sopranos. He demurred evasively, saying there are so many sopranos. True enough, but Te Kanawa is good. And should you ever have any doubts about this, look no further than this utterly superlative version of Strauss' great opera. Everything on display here is excellent: the singing, the characteristically rich and luxurious music, Solti's pacing, the visuals: the costuming and sets (Covent Garden is positively extravagantly decked out). But Te Kanawa's Marschallin steals the show (even though her fellow performers outdo themselves and are excellent in their own right). She is stunning, in terms of her acting and in terms of her singing. And she's so easy on the eyes. I have several versions of this opera on DVD but this is the one I turn to almost every time. Even when I just want to hear the opera, when I'm working, this is the one I take off the shelf and play, sans visuals.
|
Delightful
rating: 5
I thoroughly enjoyed this performance. Both the singing and the acting were superb. I really cannot imagine that Te Kanawa's Marschallin can be bettered and Anne Howell's Oktavian was an eye-opener for me. If you want a moving and well acted performance you can't do better than this one.
|
|
Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Te Kanawa, Howells, Haugland, Bonney, Solti, Schlesinger (The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)
|
|
|
|
