Bizet - Carmen

Bizet - Carmen
by Herbert von Karajan

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DVD details

Actor: Grace Bumbry, Jon Vickers, Justino D?az, Mirella Freni, Olivera Miljakovic
Director: Herbert von Karajan
Brand: BIZET,GEORGES
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: French (Original Language), DTS 5.1; English (Original Language); German (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); Mandarin Chinese (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Classical, Color, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 164 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon

DVD Reviews of Bizet - Carmen

DVD Review: Wonderful music but problems abound
Summary: 3 Stars

Like other opera lovers, I had hesitated adding Carmen to my collection and after much thought, decided on this version without reading any reviews, having heard of its fame as the first to be put to DVD.

First, the music is wonderful. Karajan's orchestra is flawless and the sets are nicely done. The singing, by all the leads, is superior and the acting very, very good (except by Diaz). However, all this good stuff was undone by the poor translation from what must have been 8 or 16mm to DVD. Whoever mastered this should be shot. Either the lip-syncing was off from the start or the remastering put the audio track so far out of whack from the video that I was distracted from beginning to end with tracking that didn't sync and constant video popping that was clearly an attempt to bring audio and video back together. One minute the audio track was 10-30ms behind the video, then in sync with a jump of the video, then magically back out of sync. I completely disagree with the reviewer who said the lip-syncing was well-done. It was horrible and made an otherwise incredible production almost unwatchable. I loved the quality of the music and finally closed my eyes through much of the 2 hours just so I could enjoy it. I also finally turned on the English subtitles and read them instead of watching the great acting, marred horribly by words and music not in time with the mouth movements.

I honestly wish I could have gotten past this 'out-of-sync' disaster. The quality of music is well-worth the purchase, but anyone who has ever watched a good movie that seemed like an cheap, English-dubbed Japanese film because the tracking was so far off will find the same unavoidable distraction I did in this otherwise wonderful production. Consider this fair warning.

DVD Review: A GREAT CARMEN
Summary: 5 Stars

I have heard Carmen sung by many mezzos (and sopranos), but I've never heard it sung as well as Grace Bumbry did in this movie. The singing is as close to flawless as I've ever heard. Bumbry surely must have thinned down for this part because her waistline is wasplike. She looks fabulous and struts about in several wonderful outfits.
Jon Vickers is not one of my favorite singers, but he looked and acted the part well and, amazingly, sang it well too. He sang the Flower Song almost entirely mezza voce, with a gorgeous pianissimo ending.
Justino Diaz was the youngest Escamillo I've ever seen, very realistic, and he did a fine job.
Mirella Frena was a beautiful Micaela, and how beautifully she sang!
Except for what is usually the mountain scene, the scenery was all very realistic and more than adequate. The costumes were colorful and delightful. One of the other reviewers complained about the polka dots--they did not bother me at all. And the cinematography was better than you would have expected for 1967.
Von Karajan did his usual magnificent job with the orchestra. He took some of the song tempos quite slowly, milking out the sensuality. I loved it!
I watched this with a friend, and we both agreed that, vocally at least, it surpassed the CARMEN with Placido Domingo and Julia Migenes Johnson. Anyone who is a fan of great singing would be making a serious mistake by passing up this treasure....

DVD Review: A triumph of perfectionism
Summary: 5 Stars

Aside from the lip-synch essential to accomplishing this magnificent cinematic endeavor, these artists' collective work represents a triumph of perfectionism. Inasmuch as the positive reviews here say it all, I can do no more than quote one reviewer: "This is a fine production and we will never again see the likes of it."

DVD Review: Buy a CD and skip this cartoon. . .
Summary: 2 Stars

I am seldom ANGRY over a DVD purchase. The artistic forces here would have seemed
to portend greatness. Instead, we get a cartoon Carmen, with Bumbry et al in
ghastly 60's hair-dos, and Vickers in a wig. Meaningless close ups of chorus members
in THEIR awful wigs, and Mercedes and Frasquita in polka dots. Bumbry shows up
in Act II in some flaminco drag (I guess the cigarette factory pays well enough for
expensive, awful clothing). The editing is awful beyond belief, and what we wind up
with looks something like a 60's TV show. The sets are claustrophobic and the
chorus over acts like meth amphetimine addicts. During the entr'actes we get
close ups of THE GREAT MAN, eyes closed, blah blah blah: If he was in charge of
this whole mess, someone should have yanked artistic control over the video and
production away from him. Now, the SINGING is first rate, but unfortunately
Bumbry's Carmen is all over the place interpretively: she hasn't a concept of
inner motivation and the psychology of the character. She moves and
mugs only because the director told her where to go: the character winds up
completely unformed. Vickers fares some better, as does Diaz, but Freni is
a victim of 'opera acting': meaningless mugging ala silent screen acting.
This DVD is an example of what I HATE in opera video: one never gets the sense of
what these great artists must have been like in the THEATER; Karajan traps them in
a tiny screen, where their gifts, best seen from a great distance in a theater, are
confined to a box.

Skip this one, or listen to it with the TV turned off.

DVD Review: Dream cast
Summary: 5 Stars

Herbert von Karajan was certainly an ambitious devil. Not content with being a great conductor, he insisted on "dabbling" in film, making a series of opera movies. This Carmen is one of them, and it proves the conductor to be quite talented as a visual artist. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a cast this good, which is as close to perfect as you are likely to get.

The film itself is lovely to look at. The costumes are beautiful, the sets spacious and realistic, and quite gritty(appropriate, considering the setting and earthy subject matter), and the use of camera angles is revealing of character, glorious during some of the crowd scenes, frequently imaginative. The scene in the first act where the gypsy girls sit on the steps of the cigarette factory and languidly sing is colorful, artistically staged, worthy of a painting. The way Escamillo connects with his female admirers during the Toreador Song is well staged. The flamenco and ballet scenes(inserting music from L'Arlesienne) are choreographed superbly. And of course the closeups of Carmen at her most seductive or Don Jose at his most angst-ridden are priceless. One caveat, the film is dubbed, but the quality of the dubbing is very professional, most of the time it's hardly noticeable, rarely is it distracting.

On to the singing actors. John Vickers has his detractors, but I am not one of them. Critics suggest that his voice is not beautiful enough, but I find no evidence of this, particularly in this performance. His Flower Song is heart-rending, enough to melt the heart of any Carmen. His Don Jose has a soul, a wounded soul in fact, loyal(in love at least) to a murderous fault while aware of its own weaknesses. It's a mesmerizing performance.

Mirella Freni has the correct ingenuous beauty, as well as the vocal chops to pull off a ravishing performance as Micaela. It's not a large role for such a big name, but Freni makes it large through the sheer force of her lung power. Her act three aria is among the opera's, and this film's, highlights.

Justino Diaz is a suave, handsome Escamillo with a powerful baritone voice. The Toreador song is sometimes difficult to pull off, with singer and orchestra competing for center stage, but Diaz olds his own against the forces of the Weiner Philharmoniker.

As for Grace Bumbry, what can you say? Her Carmen is absolutely smoking HOT!!!! Not only is her Carmen among the best I've ever heard, it is probably THE best I have ever seen. Instead of playing Carmen as an oversexed mankiller, she brings layers of intelligence and sophistication to the role, which not only makes her character more logical, it makes the unfolding of events more logical as well, and, as a result, this is probably the most thoroughly satisfying Carmen from my experience. Simply astonishing!

Von Karajan and his orchestral forces give a vital interpretation of the score, slow at times but always involving. I noticed only one cut, in the final duet between Carmen and Don Jose. Overall, the sound quality is very good. From an aural standpoint, you aren't likely to find a better Carmen anywhere.

Nor from a visual standpoint. The filmmaking is surprisingly good, and the video transfer is superb, bringing a brightness and purity to the colorful images.

Highly recommended.

Description of Bizet - Carmen

The story of Carmen, who seduces and then spurns a young army corporal.
Genre: Music Videos - Classical
Rating: NR
Release Date: 14-JUN-2005
Media Type: DVD

Bizet's tale of the fiery gypsy and her naive, ultimately murderous lover, is an operatic staple but few versions boast such well-acted, brilliantly sung leading roles. Grace Bumbry's Carmen is a beautiful, witty temptress, amused at the deliriums she induces. Bumbry's facial expressions and body movements help create a nuanced character, and her singing is compelling, especially effective in the big moments; the Habanera done with languorous flirtatiousness, the Seguedilla entrancing.

One of opera's greatest singing actors, Vickers portrays the unworldly soldier of Act One before morphing into the tortured hero torn between love and duty of Act Two and finally, the insane outlaw of the finale. He and Bumbry strike sparks in the tavern scene and his "Flower" aria is the vocal and emotional highlight, begun in a throaty half-voice and building into an overwhelmingly intense cri de coeur. Mirelli Freni's Micaela, the village girl Don Jose abandons for Carmen, acts and sings her arias with vocal beauty and charm to burn. Justino Diaz is a straightforward Escamillo in a part that wants more flair and self-centered smugness. Smaller roles are adequately done.

Herbert Von Karajan directed and conducts. He's seen during the Prelude and the entr'actes in his closed-eyes mode of conducting. This Munich-made film is based on 1967 Salzburg Festival performances. It's without obvious lip-synch problems, but busy camera work indulges in many meaningless close-ups, including a shoe-top view of von Karajan's hands. Not as cohesive as Kleiber's DVD or Levine's MET production, but a must-have for Bumbry and Vickers. --Dan Davis

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