Cheap Richard Strauss - Arabella / Thielemann, Te Kanawa, Brendel, Metropolitan Opera (DVD) (Brian Large) Price
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Arabella follows a woman who cannot make up her mind on a suitor and, like most Strauss operas, ends with a meltingly lovely duet. Taped at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1994 under the baton of conductor Christian Thielemann, this production features Kiri Te Kanawa in the title role; her acting is mediocre, but vocally she never forces anything and at least sounds like the perfect Arabella. Wolfgang Brendel does well with Mandryka, who finally ends up with Arabella, and Marie McLaughlin as Zdenka makes a sympathetic younger sister to the heroine. Otto Schenk's production is sturdily conservative, the video transfer is acceptable if unspectacular, and the sound mix is CD-quality. --Kevin Filipski
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| DIRECTOR: | Brian Large |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 1996 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Uni/Deutsche Grammophon |
| MPAA RATING: | NR (Not Rated) |
| FEATURES: | Color |
| TYPE: | Performing Arts - Opera |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 044007300596 |
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Customer Reviews of Richard Strauss - Arabella / Thielemann, Te Kanawa, Brendel, Metropolitan Opera
I loved it! I thought the production beautiful and the singing excellent. Kiri is a bit aloof as she is always but Wolfgang makes up for it. He is just scrumptous and the perfect leading man with some chemistry between them. All the parts have excellent casting and performances are very good to excellent. The conducting kept the pace very interesting. This is a keeper and I'm not a big Strauss fan! I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good love story!
Very Beautiful
First rate cast, all singing supurbly. Beautiful production. Kiri is spectacular, Brendel is fine as a romantic lead. McIntyre is particularly fine as the father.
An Excellent DVD of an excellent performance
How lucky we are to have this gorgeous Metropolitan Opera production on such a high-quality DVD! If you missed the original 1995 telecast of this opera, you have yet to discover the joys of this production. Arabella is a comedy of manners set in 1860s Vienna. Arabella's parents have a fading fortune, so they can afford to marry off only one of their two daughters; the other, Zdenka, they dress as a boy and refer to as Zdenke. I won't give away the rest of the story; it's really worth it to let this magnificent performance unfold and find out what happens that way. The cast was the best that could possibly be assembled at the time, with Wolfgang Brendel, quite convincing as the young, hot-blooded Mandryka, in his debut of the role. Kiri Te Kanawa is a legendary Strauss singer, and though she is often criticized for poor interpretation, in this opera her subtle acting shines. For example, look at her reaction when she meets Mandryka, the man she had been crushing on witho!ut knowing who he was. Her singing is consistently beautiful and soft, and her stage presence is radiant, in spite of her fifty years at the time of this taping. Arabella is supposed to be about twenty years old, and Kiri truly exudes the youth of the character, yet manages to convey the maturity that colors her almost maternal relationship with her younger sister Zdenka. Helga Dernesch and Donald McIntyre are animated as Arabella's parents. Marie McLaughlin is a passionate Zdenka. We really feel for her throughout the opera, as she longs for femininity and love. A special bonus in this production is the now-stellar Nathalie Dessay as Die Fiakermilli. She flaunts her coloratura in Act II. Christinan Thielemann is a sensitive conductor, and the MET orchestra plays flawlessly. The DVD transfer is superb. Subtitles available in German (original language), French, English, and Chinese. (Special note: Renée Fleming will perform in this same production at the MET in November 2001. G!et your tickets!)