Rossini - Semiramide / Conlon, Anderson, Horne, Metropolitan Opera
by Brian Large
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DVD details
Actor: June Anderson, Marilyn Horne, Samuel Ramey, Stanford Olsen, Young-Ok ShinDirector: Brian Large
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 219 minutes
Published: 2000-12-01
DVD Release Date: 2000-12-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Rossini - Semiramide / Conlon, Anderson, Horne, Metropolitan Opera
DVD Review: Great theater superbly sung!
Summary: 5 Stars
Finally, Rossini's greatest musical drama reaches the dvd screen with a cast and production worthy of the music and its composer. Critics praised Horne's performance but with reservations but the audience had no reservations in its acclaim and I was fortunate to have been at the last performance of the series. Unfortunately I did not enjoy the presence of Anderson and Olson, superior in every way to their replacements. Olson is one of the few bel canto tenors who can sing Rossini without sounding coarse,thin and labored. Olson is like a lighter voiced Vargas. Merritt is out of the running when we have Olsen to sing with such security and beauty. Cuberli was good but Anderson I find stunning in her coloratura, tone and security. No one but Caballe sang it with such security and with even more beauty of tone and timber. The Met never deemed to bless us with Sutherland in the role of Semiramide, (She and Horne made the opera present to the twentieth century. The lack of their presence at the Met in this opera is lamentable but the Met is good at that.) All in all then a peforance to cherish, a real treat! And Ramey is breathtaking in his coloratura, power, declamation with a timber that is velvet wrapt in silk. His "mad scene" in Act II is a tour de force and there is no one I have heard who can touch him in the role of Assur. Horne is astonishing in every category of voice, clarity and sheer beauty. The four leads sing the roulades and leaps with effortless ease with the drama intact. Only Ewa Podles can do this punishingly role any better and the Met doesn't seem to know of her in spite of her concert some seasons ago in a evening of Rossini arias with full orchestra at Carnegie Hall. From all revues that was a performanace for all seasons. The other roles have less time and music but all quit themselve with dignity. Rally no wink link in the cast. Conlon and the Met orchestra perform miracles that are too often taken for granted. This tape performance is better than the performance I saw (they must have been exhausted by the final performance) and we are blessed that this was the one we have on dvd for prosperity. Anyone who hasn't as yet heard this, is in for a vocal, musical and dramatically thrilling evening. Buying it is a personal choice, but hearing it is the duty of anyone loving beautiful music superbly sung, and played with brilliant warmth and musicality. Rossini must be screaming from above with bravos and kudos like the audience on the dvd and at the performance I attended. Probably one of the best dvd's yet to be produced and likely never to be surpassed. The scenes are dark but so was the production in the house. Listen toit! Buy it! Steal it from friend. But by all means hear it and then again. I don't think you'll be sorry.
Description of Rossini - Semiramide / Conlon, Anderson, Horne, Metropolitan Opera
Bel canto can be translated as "pretty singing," and that definition seems tailor-made for this production, which offers grace, charm, and a fine-tuned sense of style in abundance to compensate for its limited psychological and emotional impact. The four principal singers are all specialists in the bel canto style, and this opera has played a key role in building their substantial reputations. Their singing is more spectacular than their acting, but that is what bel canto is all about. Those who want gut-wrenching situations and passionate emoting should try the "verismo" style. Meanwhile, for its sweeping musical imagination and technical wizardry, Rossini's epic about royal assassination and misdirected lust in the ancient Babylonian empire deserves a place in any inclusive opera collection, and we are not likely to have a better video "Semiramide" recording in the foreseeable future.\n June Anderson has an attractive appearance and sounds exactly right in the music's florid melodic lines. But she is not dramatically compelling as the wicked queen who had her husband killed and fell in love with a man who turned out to be her long-lost son, Arsace. Marilyn Horne rose to the highest levels of international fame in the role of that conflicted son, and her presence alone would be enough to give this video classic status. Her voice was a bit past its prime when this performance was recorded in 1991, but still there is no other voice quite like it, no other voice so suited to Rossini's heroic mezzo roles. Samuel Ramey is a close bass counterpart to Anderson: great tone, agile florid singing, and a rather wooden but visually appealing stage presence. Sanford Olsen has a small role and sings it almost perfectly. James Conlon gets excellent musical results; John Copley's staging is massive and static. "--Joe McLellan"Classical Music CDs
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