Callas - A Documentary Plus Bonus / John Ardoin, Franco Zeffirelli

Callas - A Documentary Plus Bonus / John Ardoin, Franco Zeffirelli

Callas - A Documentary Plus Bonus / John Ardoin, Franco Zeffirelli
List Price: $12.82
Our Price: $12.78
You Save: $6.16 (32%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.00 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Actor: Franco Zeffirelli, Maria Callas, Renata Scotto, Rudolf Bing, Tito Gobbi
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown), Mono; English (Original Language), Mono
Format: Black & White, Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 117 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Bel Canto Society

DVD Reviews of Callas - A Documentary Plus Bonus / John Ardoin, Franco Zeffirelli

DVD Review: Worth having!
Summary: 5 Stars

For fans of Callas, this is about as good as it gets, and you must have it in your library. The interviews with her, taken out of the context of the whole, make this documentary worth having. Insecurities and other emotional baggage notwithstanding, Callas knew who Callas was. She provides an excellent perspective of her place in the art of music and opera specifically. Her views on art are a revelation.

For fans of opera, but not necessarily Callas--And, yes, she is an acquired taste!--the documentary is instructive on a revolutionary period in the history of opera. The documentary earns its place as an historical document.

Callas was a teacher on many levels. Her inspired mentoring of Caballe, for example, contributed much to the body of art we have today. Without Callas, we may not have had the magnificence of Caballe's "Norma". I only wish there was footage of Callas's master classes. I wish I knew something about the singers she coached, and where they are today.

Zeffirelli's narrative, handling of the contributing artists. and smooth transitions among archival footage and interviews are especially fine. Zeffirelli, himself, understates, rather than overstates his case. One has the sense that one is seeing and hearing the truth. Caballe's thankful tribute, however brief, was lovely. Gobbi's anecdotal comments will bring an iceberg to tears. Gobbi, all by himself, provided such an insight into Callas's inner being.

Enough! Read the other reviews! Then, buy it!
More Callas - A Documentary Plus Bonus / John Ardoin, Franco Zeffirelli reviews:
1

Description of Callas - A Documentary Plus Bonus / John Ardoin, Franco Zeffirelli

Extensive performance footage including some real rarities.

Newsreel footage: her funeral cortege; the Rome Walkout ("I would spit in the faces of my enemies...and make them go on their knees in front of me! I can! I will! And I must!"); her break with Ghiringhelli, Callas reading Bing's telegram firing her ("I cannot do routine"); Meneghini, Onassis and Churchill; Callas hounded by the press on her private life; Callas dancing with Onassis; her return to New York (1965); press conference about the Medea film (plus clips from the film); Callas as co-stage director with Di Stefano, directing Vespri in Turin; in a bathing suit with Onassis; Onassis's death.

Interviews: Bing ("She became intolerable!"..."She was more difficult than others because she was more intelligent"); Nicola Rescigno ("Her body was like that of a pachyderm"); Menotti; Scotto (on Sonnambula and Medea--"Cut Glauce's aria"); Caballé; Gobbi on her lost confidence and unhappiness; De Hidalgo on Callas as a student; manager Gorlinsky on the Callas-Di Stefano concert tour; Tebaldi on their rivalry; Visconti in discussion with Callas, including the "radish" incident.

Other topics: Sound vs. the use of sound; her debut at 15; "No agent would give me a job because immediately after my debut I wasn't loved that much. I was something new to listen to and they disliked anything that took them away from tradition"; her history at La Scala; her weight loss; Jackie Onassis; Zeffirelli and Gobbi on the London Toscas, her loneliness, her death.

Classical Music CDs

Bestsellers in Classical Music CDs
Winterscapes ImageWinterscapes
by London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebee ImageThe Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebee
by Dini Petty
Children's Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops: $13.98
Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr ImageClassical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr
Release date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos)) ImageTchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))
by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] ImageJose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]
Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops: $9.99
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] ImageTchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops: $29.95
Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] ImageRambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
Winter Music: Composing the North ImageWinter Music: Composing the North
by John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.73
Price in other shops: $25.95
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImagePuccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $29.95
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImageVerdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Maria Callas 100 Best Classics ImageMaria Callas 100 Best Classics
Release date: 2007-01-16; Music CD
Best price: $12.50
Price in other shops: $19.98
The Very Best of Maria Callas ImageMaria Callas - The Very Best of Maria Callas
Release date: 2002-02-12; Music CD
Best price: $9.90
Price in other shops: $16.98
Biography: Maria Callas ImageBiography: Maria Callas
A and E Home Video; Release date: 2008-12-16; DVD
Best price: $5.92
Price in other shops: $24.95
Callas - Assoluta ImageCallas - Assoluta
Release date: 2009-09-29; DVD
Best price: $15.97
Price in other shops: $24.99
Maria Callas - La Callas... Toujours ImageMaria Callas - Maria Callas - La Callas... Toujours
EMI; Release date: 2001-07-03; DVD
Best price: $11.48
Price in other shops: $29.98
Maria Callas - Living and Dying for Art and Love ImageMaria Callas - Living and Dying for Art and Love
Naxos OF America INC; Release date: 2005-03-22; DVD
Best price: $11.37
Price in other shops: $24.99
Maria Callas - Life and Art ImageMaria Callas - Life and Art
Release date: 1999-10-26; DVD
Best price: $45.99
Maria Callas - At Covent Garden 1962 and 1964 ImageMaria Callas - At Covent Garden 1962 and 1964
Release date: 2002-08-13; DVD
Best price: $11.55
Price in other shops: $24.98
Callas Forever ImageCallas Forever
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2005-06-21; Published: 2005-06-01; DVD
Best price: $9.23
Price in other shops: $14.98
Tony Palmer's film about Callas (30th Anniversary Edition) ImageTony Palmer's film about Callas (30th Anniversary Edition)
Koch International; Release date: 2008-01-13; DVD
Best price: $12.09
Price in other shops: $19.99
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners