Puccini - Tosca (Remastered)
by Franco Zeffirelli
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Actor: Cornell MacNeil, Hildegard Behrens, Italo Tajo, James Courtney, Placido DomingoDirector: Franco Zeffirelli
Brand: Universal Studios
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); Chinese (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Classical, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 127 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-09-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
DVD Reviews of Puccini - Tosca (Remastered)
DVD Review: Before there was Mattila, there was Behrens
Summary: 3 Stars
I recently watched the tape of the new Met "Tosca." For the most part, it was highly criticized due to
the controversial production. But within minutes of the leading lady's entrance, I was immediately
reminded of the sound of Hildegard Behrens in this staging of Puccini's masterpiece featuring
Franco Zeffirelli's lavish production (which was so much better than the recent Bondy fiasco.) Mattila's
voice, like Behrens', seemed all over the place. Too many notes seemed fluttery and without a center.
And I love both of these great sopranos! Mattila, currently one of the world's great sopranos, was
tremendous as the lead in Beethoven's "Fidelio," one of the best Leonores I've ever heard. (And I
grew up with Christa Ludwig's.) But she's just not right for Puccini.
And I'm afraid the same is true with the recently deceased Hildegard Behrens, a soprano that I
adored. Not endowed with a powerful voice, she nonetheless conquered very difficult roles like
Wagner's Brunnhilde and Strauss' Salome. I will never forget her Met "Elektra." (Which should be
on DVD.) Unlike most Elektras (including possibly the greatest, Birgit Nilsson) she brought a
likability and femininity to a role that often comes across as a monstrous lunatic. But vocally
she is just not right for Tosca. The first time I watched this otherwise fine performance, it was
actually painful for me to hear the sound of one of my favorite sopranos. It is interesting that
sopranos like the two I have written about can thrive in what are considered the heaviest roles
ever written (mostly Wagner) but can't produce the right notes for a part written by a (great) Italian.
Behrens tries very hard here, but I'm afraid it is all in vain.
Everything else here is fine. I have the Kabaivanska/Domingo/Milnes "Tosca" DVD, which
many consider the best available. Domingo is fine (but chubby) in this 1976 film but he is even
better here at the Met. I cannot imagine a better Mario - close to perfection. Cornell MacNeil
is a complete pro and I like his Scarpia. Sure he is a veteran past his prime vocally, but I
think he sounds quite good and his acting is excellent. It is nice to have a performance by the
great bass Italo Tajo preserved, although his Sacristan is a bit of a caricature. Sinopoli conducts
an idiomatic performance and as usual the Met orchestra is first rate. And if you like Franco
Zeffirelli, this is one of his most magnificent creations.
Most of the reviewers here seem to like Behrens' Tosca. I wish I could. I hate to say it,
but she ruins this otherwise excellent "Tosca." And she was the most wonderful artist.
Description of Puccini - Tosca (Remastered)
PUCCINI:TOSCA - DVD MovieThis is the best of Placido Domingo's several video performances as the painter Cavaradossi, lover of the prima donna Floria Tosca and enthusiast of revolutionary ideals in the repressive atmosphere of Napoleonic-era Rome. His colleagues, Cornell MacNeil and Hildegard Behrens, are both seasoned and highly capable performers who make the deadly confrontation between Tosca and the corrupt police chief Scarpia intense and believable. Guiseppe Sinopoli conducts with style and dramatic power. But in many ways the primary reason for wanting Tosca in a video rather than an audio recording is the staging by Franco Zeffirelli--effective for the few thousand who saw it in the opera house but even more effective on camera for the much larger television and home video audience. He shifts easily from the small-scale duets in Act I to the grandiose spectacle of the "Te Deum" just before the curtain. His attention to small details helps build the tension in Act II to its violent climax, and in Act III he gives poignancy to the abrupt shift from hope to despair. The essence of Tosca is melodrama, and the singers, conductor, director, and audience all revel in it. --Joe McLellan
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