Prokofiev - Betrothal in a Monastery
by Valery Gergiev, Vladislav Pasi
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DVD details
Actor: Alexandr Gergalov, Anna Netrebko, Evgeny Akimov, Larissa Diadkova, Sergei AlexashkinDirector: Valery Gergiev, Vladislav Pasi
Brand: Philips
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: Russian (Original Language); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); German (Original Language); Mandarin Chinese (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); German (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Classical, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 157 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-09-13
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Philips
DVD Reviews of Prokofiev - Betrothal in a Monastery
DVD Review: Very Entertaining Opera.
Summary: 4 Stars
This opera may not have well known or most beautiful melodies, which is the only reason I can't give it five stars; but the plot, the voices, the performances and the costumes are all outstanding. Most important, this DVD has subtitles; so that one can understand the story which, in the case of operas, makes a world of difference.DVD Review: Ludicrous Beauty
Summary: 5 Stars
"Melodies flutter above the the lush thicket of Prokofiev's orchestration like cracked crystal dragonflies, defying the laws of musical gravity."
That's my lame attempt to evoke with words the angular eccentricity of Prokofiev's distinctive style. Nobody with a musical memory would ever mistake a Prokofiev melody for anyone else's. I'm very fond of Prokofiev's music. Though I wouldn't say he's a better composer than Shostakovitch or Schnittke, I listen to him more often, and I do think he's a better composer than his critics claim. Thus I hate it venomously when a rare production of one of his operas is unsatisfactory, and I love it when one succeeds. I love this production immeasurably.
For a modernist charged with using dissonance merely for shock value, Prokofiev is remarkably committed to extending musical traditions. Bethrothal in a Monastery is, formally speaking, a French Baroque opera-ballet. The frequent intermezzi of dance are equally interludes of orchestral development. If the dance is somewhat restrained, all the better for hearing the musical exposition! But Bethrothal in a Monastery is also a Rossini opera buffa par excellence. Rossini could have used the same libretto... and it's a shame he didn't. It would be fun to compare.
Set in 18th Century Seville but based on an English play by Sheridan, Bethrothal in a Monastery is the story of a miserly father and a beautiful daughter, Luisa. The father contracts a marriage for his daughter with an oafish fishmonger, Isaac Mendoza, purely for money. Luisa already has her willful heart set on Antonio, a handsome but impoverished nobleman. Luisa's brother Ferdinand scorns his father's wishes also and wants to marry Clara, who doubts his sincerity. Then there's the Duenna - the title character in Sheridan's play - who aspires to trap Mendoza for herself. Mendoza and the Duenna are broad commedia dell'arte buffoons; the music assigned them is as slapstick as the putty nose of the fishmonger and the clown make-up of the Duenna. Suffice it to say that all three couples are eventually united and the father reconciled to the matches.
Prokofiev himself prepared the libretto in collaboration with Mira Mendelson. It's excellent dramaturgy, concise and quick-moving, offering the composer a vehicle for condensing his musical thoughts scene by scene. The Kirov Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev, realizes those musical thoughts with jolly precision. Bass Sergei Aleksashkin sings the bizarre swoops and bellows of Mendoza with ludicrous beauty, while Nikolai Gassiev, as the father, and Yuri Shkliar, as the pompous old meddlar Don Carlos, likewise succeed in making brilliant music out of clownish roles. The four handsome young folk all sing handsomely, as befits their characters. In proverbial terms, "handsome is as handsome does." Physical, musical, and ethical beauty are all congruent in Prokofiev's comedy.
Anna Netrebko as Luisa and Marianna Tarassova as Clara... the whole cast is Russian. A case could be made, based on this production, that all operas should be sung by native speakers of the libretto language. I don't understand a word of Russian, yet I heard the words of this opera as real tongue, with the full expressiveness of speech. Other productions of Russian opera, with mixed casts, have not made this impression. I've had the same good experience hearing Czeck singers sing Janacek and Italian singers sing Donizetti, and the corresponding ill experience hearing Europeans sing Britten. The peculiar vocables of Russian are part of the fun in Bethrothal. I wonder if Russian sounds as bizarre to Russians as it does to "us." Listening to Betrothal, I realized for the first time that Prokofiev's queer lurching melodies are precise imitations of Russian elocution.
Carnival is underway in Seville as the drama progresses, providing ample pretexts for a chorus, for dancers, and for fanciful dress. This is a period staging, with splendid sets and costumes. Each character's costume is a manifestation of that persona's moral and aesthetic stature. Fortunately for filming, the principals in this production all look physically convincing, with the gross Mendoza as ugly as an ape and with Luisa performed by the most beautiful woman in the world. I'm serious! If you know of a woman more beautiful than Anna Netrebko, please send me her photo! Her only rival is that Junoesque tennis star, Sharapova. There's an unfair distribution of talents here, friends! Netrebko sings as beautifully as she looks, and she can act, too! In any case, Betrothal in a Monastery is a visual feast.
The musical highlights are the quartet at the end of Act II and the meetings of the lovers in the garden of a nunnery in Act III, where Prokofiev mutes his sardonic jaggedness and lets his melodies flow gracefully.
Then there's the burlesque revel of the drunken monks, so vulgarly anti-religious that it might have served to placate Uncle Joe despite the composer's musical modernism. Satire of hypocritical monks was a standard element of European comedy from the Middle Ages onward, but I suspect "western" audiences will feel squeamish at these grotesqueries, as they might about the Jewishness of the greedy Mendoza, even though no overt anti-Semitism is expressed. Remember Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice? Prokofiev's humor is innocent by comparison.
This DVD has it all - great singing, gorgeous visuals, vivid acting, belly laughs, and fine technical work with cameras and mikes. I can't imagine not enjoying it, even if opera is not your usual choice of entertainment.
DVD Review: actually i love her very much,she trys her best in every role, not only as louisa, but also violetta, adina in l'elisir d'amore,
Summary: 5 Stars
actually i love her very much,she trys her best in every role, not only as louisa, but also violetta, adina in l'elisir d'amore,susanna in figaro and recently released elvira in I Puritani.she's great!DVD Review: Who's Afraid of Prokofiev?
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this DVD as a fan of Anna Netrebko while having some reservations about Prokofiev, preferring Mozart, Beethoven Bach Brahms etc. But what delights and surprises awaited me when I played the disc! The Kirov ballet were inventive and refreshing, the comedy made me laugh out loud, the sets were so imaginative, the costumes, the singing - gorgeous. I know I'll play this again and again, especially when I need cheering up. The Betrothal in a Monastery is a real tonic.DVD Review: Prrogrresseeve music, Rrreactioneery plot
Summary: 4 Stars
Firstly, if you're wondering if this offers a good opportunity to gaze at the beauteous Anna Netrebko, then -- YES! She has a plum role and she's gorgeous in this with enuf medium closeups to satisfy the most hormonal of men.
But, remember, this is Prokofiev's opera, not Puccini's, so expect the music to be atonal and expressive rather than melodic. Once you get used to it, it's kinda fun.
But... oiy!... that plot! Surely it was ancient when Richard Sheridan came up with his version ("The Duenna") in 1775 -- which was the source of this opera. Stop me if this sounds familiar: a pair of lovers attempt to get married despite the designs of a controlling father and a grotesque suitor, so the clever young woman with the aid of her clever servant generate a scheme which sometimes employs crossed identities.
At 2-1/2 hours, some of it is bound to bore. But this is blessed with a pretty good cast performing on colorful sets that just manages to stay shy of garishness. At least, it's well lit.
Which reminds me: this is a filming of the St Petersburg stage production. I prefer those since it gives me a sense of what it would be like to be sitting in the auditorium. But, alas, then there wouldn't have been any closeups of Anya.
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