Cheap Mozart - Così fan tutte / John Eliot Gardiner (1992) (Video) (Peter Mumford) Price

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Customer Reviews of Mozart - Così fan tutte / John Eliot Gardiner (1992)

John Eliot Gardiner's production for Théâtre du Châtelet is brilliant in establishing a realistic, sunny Neapolitan atmosphere to match Mozart's heavenly music, which was brought out with such fineness by Gardiner. Whether a lush visual attraction is indispensable in fully embodying the music is perhaps a matter of taste. I've seen production that also worked out very well - Göran Jarvefelt's production for The Australian Opera in 1990, for example - with much simpler sets and austere designs, where the focus on music was distinctive and the drama was revealed by wonderful singing and acting.

It's a great ensemble piece with each of the six characters sharing their big moments on stage, so a cast of six singers equally strong in singing and acting becomes essential, and for the lovers, their youthful appearance would be as important. The English Baroque Soloists mounted a good cast; everyone did an excellent job in singing and acting. Amanda Roocroft showed great range and agility in her singing as Fiordiligi. Rainer Trost's Ferrando was exquisitely and beautifully sung, demonstrating his graceful Mozartian style, although you'd expect more tension created in scenes like "Fra gli amplessi in pochi istanti", the fervent duet of Fiordiligi/Ferrando. Eirian James' Despina is simply wonderful. Her mezzo voice-type suited the character very well, and her singing was full of life, sometimes surprise - as she changed her voice for Despina-the-notary to a smooth baritone. In this production more emphases were made to the identical side of Fiordiligi and Dorabella, from the details like the exact same garments in Act I to the singers' timbre, the subtleties in their personalities were gradually differentiated by the nuances in their acting. As for their lovers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, I wish their Albanian disguise were given more Albanian touch in the style and more dramatically different from them as soldiers - something that would intensify the drama and the comedy as well.

The quality of the DVD, with clear sound and sharp image, has done full justice to this wonderful production. No doubt, it's a worthy collection for Mozart lovers or Così fans.

De visión obligada.
Nos encontramos ante una gran version de la gran ópera mozartiana. Jonh Eliot Gardiner dirige con pulso vivaz a unos English Barroque Solist maravillosos como siempre. En el reparto nos encontranmos voces frescas de cantantes jóvenes, que además de cantar bien se lo pasan bien en escena. Amanda Roocroft y Rosa Mannion realizan unas notables creaciones de Fiordiligi y Dorabella respectivamente, mientras que Rodney Gilfry está tambien notable como Guigliermo y Rainer Trost (lo mejor del reparto) sobresaliente como Ferrando. Claudio Niccolai (único veterano del reparto) hace un gran Don Alfonso, y Erian James una Despina más que correcta.
La producción escénica es bellísima, tanto en escenografía como vestuario e iluminación, y muy entretenida visualmente.
Francamente me parece que estamos ante la mejor opción visual disponible para "Cosí fan tutte", que además ofrece un nivel musical altamente notable.

Gosh this is beautiful
So many opera performances on dvd end up being big disappointments -- singers can't act or sing or don't look the part, sound-picture quality is bad, out-of-synch, lousy sets, etc but this gem has it all.

I just can't get over how well the cast members fit their roles and yet are very good singers. Apparently, there is a god.

I was so touched by Roocroft in Act II that i melted into the ground.

I'm taking this one to the grave.