Cheap Donizetti - Lucrezia Borgia / Bonynge, Sutherland, Kraus, Royal Opera (DVD) (Brian Large) Price

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Customer Reviews of Donizetti - Lucrezia Borgia / Bonynge, Sutherland, Kraus, Royal Opera

Unforgetabble performance
This is review of the Kultur Film DVD copy, catalogue #D2070 of 1980 Covent Garden Opera performance. What we can say about old generation operatic stars, like Dame Joan Sutherland (born in 1926) and Alfredo Kraus (born in 1927). Both are in excellent shape. Kraus is so fine that in Gennaro's aria in the beginning of II act usually omitted from performance of the opera (even do not presented in his RCA 1965 studio recording with Montserrat Caballe!) he received loud applause from usually reserved British audience. His sound is still very clear and intensive in higher register and fantastic in top Cs. The other principal singers are well too. Please, listen how effective is Anne Howells in Orsini's II act aria 'Il segreto per esser felici". The profound deep bass of Stafford Dean (Alfonso) is very attractive. Beautiful design and costumes, excellent orchestra playing under the conduction of maestro Richard Bonynge. Fine staged and recorded, sound is clear with enough higher frequency. Only one complaint: there is unexpected persistent noise in the sound. Otherwise irremovable English subtitles do not bother you. By the way it is full version of the opera, as it is in 1974 DECCA studio recording. I suggest that this DVD-performance should be presented in all opera lovers library.

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A Great Performance: Sutherland On Fire
Dame Joan Sutherland's name is one of the best known in opera history. She was married to conductor Richard Bonynge who launched her career and made her a star. She sang mostly in the 60's and 70's, at a time when Maria Callas's voice was declining as well as her career (Maria Callas had only reigned in the 40's and 50's). Joan Sutherland's voice is miraculously huge. This makes her an essentially dramatic soprano. Even as such, she can sing soft pianissimo and lyric lines (legato) typical of the Italian bel canto repertory. She sang much of the heavy Italian diva roles of the bel canto - Bellini's Norma, Donizetti's Lucia, as well as other challenging roles as Queen Marguerite in Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots". She had beautiful coloratura as well, evident in her Queen of the Night, Zerbinetta, "Hoffman" heroines and Ophelia from Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet. On this DVD, we have the exceptionally powerful performance of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia. No other soprano has truly made the role hers as Joan Sutherland did. The only other "rivals" which are debated about are Montserrat Caballe and Beverly Sills, who coincidentally all sang the same stuff in the same period of time. But rivalry exists only among fans and followers and the venom of the press. Joan Sutherland stood on her own ground and was a remarkable star that shone bright. This is not to say that Montserrat Caballe or Beverly Sills were lesser lights. All these glorious songbirds of the 60's and 70's were equal in success and beautiful to hear in their own light.

Joan Sutherland sings an Oscar worthy Lucrezia on this DVD live performance, eventhough she had sung the role at a time earlier in her career when her voice was in superior shape. There is also a fine recording of Lucrezia Borgia with Joan Sutherland singing the title role in a 1960's recording available at Amazon.com. The reason Joan is older here is that it's either late 70's or early 80' when she was in her fifties and about to retire and when the Met televised broadcasts first went out. Unfortunately, that's the price these singers had to pay to be seen on a performance captured on film. Both Joan Sutherland and Beverly Sills had to deal with aging and declining voices when the opportunity to be televised first appeared. By then, they had a long career of singing sensationally at all the world's leading opera houses far behind them. Alfredo Kraus performs the tenor role of Lucrezia's son. The story is quite dramatic. The Renaissance matriarch, Lucrezia Borgia, who was demonized by many historic accounts of her cruelty and by her ambitious genes (she was the sister of Cesare Borgia after all, Cesare Borgia being the inspiration for Machiavelli's "The Prince"). That she was ruthless and power-hungry is probably true, for after all its power that corrupts any man or woman. Lucrezia's fiery and dark nature is vividly portrayed by Joan Sutherland here, while at the same time showcasing her lyric-coloratura assets (check out the Brindisi and the finale aria). However, Lucrezia's softer side is her maternal nature. She wants to re-establish a relationship with her estranged son but through tragic misfortune ends up poisoning him instead. Her great remorse and feeling of loss is indicated in her final aria as she takes her dead son in her arms.

There is ultimately no superior Lucrezia. So many singers still want to take on this incredible role and kudos to those who try. But we have so many choices to hear from the past- Joan Sutherland with whom you can never go wrong, Montserrat Caballe who provides much fire and passion and Beverly Sills who is transformed in the role of Lucrezia- from light soprano to dramatically masterful (to hear Beverly Sills sing Lucrezia you have to listen to the rare recording "Sillsiana" available on Gala series- a pastiche of many arias and an entire Lucrezia compilation at the end of the album. But we have to applaude Joan Sutherland's unearthly performance as the one and only Lucrezia Borgia. All fans of Sutherland and of opera alike must get this fantastic DVD.

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Sutherland is the best Borgia, better than even Caballe
I have the Caballe, which is fine. But Sutherland's is great. It is the greatest.
I can't help but be sad at all these terrible remarks from bashers that are uncalled for. Please, I beg you, stop. No one deserve a one star review unless the reviewer wants blood. That is just unfair. I understand the anger, but please take it out by writing positive reviews of your favorite diva rather than taking it out and writing negative reviews of your favorite singer's rival.
Is it one basher, two, three,four bashers, or more? That, I don't know, but they are doing Dame Joan a lot of harm. I wonder if these people know that they're actually causing pain for a lot of Sutherland's fans as well as for the Dame herself, that is just unfair.
Sutherland, Callas and Sills are three of the most respected singers of our time. We should be happy that so many recordings preserved for our enjoyment and for future generations of enjoyments. Let's compromise, hear me out please.
I can see both side. But the Callas and Sills fans bashed Sutherland's roles for over a month before any really bad reviews of one star started to go the Callas domains. I see this by reading the reviews and the dates.
I ask for a compromise at least. I don't think that Callas, Sutherland or Sills ever deserve one star reviews. That's for really terrible singers. If you really want to criticize or demean another singer. Three stars should be enough. To continue this is to hurt others. And that's just not right.