Andre Rieu - Tuscany
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Movie Reviews of Andre Rieu - Tuscany
Movie Review: Festive Italiano
Summary: 5 Stars
Andre Rieux's DVD's combine an evening at the symphony with a travel guide experience. Symphony recordings are worthwhile, but the Maestro recreates the festive atmosphere with his own innovations to the classical concert. Because Andre Rieux is intimate and less formal, he makes the time with both audiences special. As conductor, he is accomodating in a European way, balancing well his roles as both host and guest. The warmth flows from the host, to the audience, to the armchair viewer. He is a fine showman and an accomplished musician. We are given close-ups of audience members, orchestra members, and the ambience of the concert, complete with fireworks, et al. The close ups of each section, show how genuinely the orchestra members are enjoying themselves. Audience participation is usually present. In Tuscany the audience is often invited to sing along. Humor is thrown in for good measure as well. The whole show makes all previous classical concert videos seem somber and an admirable test of endurance.
He manages to taylor make his selections to match the culture where he visits. This isn't new, but his execution is masterful. In Tuscany, the songs are romantic, of course. "O Mio Babbino Caro," "Strangers in Paradise," and "The Godfather" tell much of the evening's story. In the audience we see young lovers embracing, old lovers embracing, children clapping hands, men in comraderie with arms around each other, and an elderly man crying at the sight and sound of a beautiful woman singing a magnificent aria. The concert is interrupted by a few scenes where the beautiful women are frolicking in the Italian countryside flanked by some ancient building on a scenic, sunny day. These highlights broaden the scope of the viewer's experience.
Subjectively, this is his best DVD so far, even though the reviewer has yet to experience all of his recorded concerts. Some wishing for a more upbeat concert would do well to look at "Vienna" or "The Albert Hall Concert". (For the latter, he has people dancing in the aisles!) Whichever recording one chooses, one will end up in some exotic country with a lively concert experience.
Movie Review: Tuscany... A beautiful DVD from Andre Rieu
Summary: 5 Stars
A stunning disc: both the visual and audio!
This DVD is was produced in 2003 in Cortona in the province of Tuscany, Italy and features Andre Rieu and his orchestra. It is performed at an outdoor stadium with a live audience. The music selection is superb, the costumes sumptuous (see the women in the orchestra) and the musicians are first class. The camera work and editing simply make this DVD a cut above: you see film not only of the musicians but also candid shots of the audience; men, women, children and couples all enraptured by the effects of the extraordinary music they are hearing. There are even some shots of the magnificent countryside that are just stunning.
There are many selections that I loved...I'll mention a few
_The William Tell Overture, played with zest and pace.
-The Italian National Anthem; I never realized this was such beautiful and inspiring work
-The Opera Potpourri was dazzling; all the classics, including excerpts from "Rigoletto", "La Traviata", "Carmen", "Aida" and others.
Highlight of the disc:
The me, the best cut on this disc was Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" (sung exquisitely and with great theatre by Carmen Monarcha). It is said that when Puccini was asked what he want his music to do, he replied " to make people cry". Well, if this quiet, heartfelt masterpiece doesn't make your eyes moist, nothing will; Several of the audiences' certainly were (as were mine).
The disc includes some extras, including some material on Andre Rieu himself, and then on the making of this Tuscany DVD (which shows the enormous amount of manpower it takes to assemble and the disassemble one of these shows). There is also a time lapse sequence that gives a rapid viewing of the assembly/disassembly process that is really interesting. However, all these "extras" would not make a great DVD if the music was not truly outstanding.
Someone in the audience hold up a sign that says "Musica Bella": and this entire disc really is, Beautiful Music. Highly recommended!
Movie Review: An Italian Way of Evening
Summary: 5 Stars
We have 16:9 screen format with DD5.1 and DD2.0 sound options. He speaks in Italian (with English or French subtitles) and feature runs for 87 minutes. This concert took place in Cortona in Italy (in Tuscany region -NW of Italy, which is famous for its vineyards, olive gardens and Pisa Tower). Concert is in two parts; first part takes 43 mins and second 44 mins. There are also bonus materials in the DVD with the song Largo, Behind the Scenes and Making Of. But all of them run only 3-4 minutes. With this concert Andre Rieu takes us to a summer evening atmosphere of a Tuscan City. Song selections are based on Italian songs and Italian composers. Some tracks have video-clips by Rieu and his soloists, in order to take us back those medieval times in Italy. At the end of the concert, Rieu plays his own piece called "I Love You". Apart from other DVDs by him, there are only 2 tracks from Viennese composers and therefore we cannot name this concert as Viennese style or A Waltzing Evening. But of course, it is a very nice example of Andre Rieu's concert to make us feel Italian way of music.
For those of you who are familiar with Andre Rieu's DVDs/CDs; it is needless to say how his music is beautiful and joyful. You never and ever keep yourself in your chair. If you like waltzes or classical pieces or a beginner listener in that area; he is the one who can give you the magic of classical music. And according to me, everyone should invite classical music to his home and introduce it to his/her kids from early ages. And to begin with, Andre Rieu is the great choice...
Movie Review: magnifico!!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This recording is SO special to me. For starters, Andre Rieu is a masterful showman, conductor, composer and human being. He brings his best to this concert performed in Tuscany, Italy, with his orchestra. The performance is warm, sunny, full of love and you know he and his orchestra loved performing for the very enthusiastic Italian audience.
For starters, Mr. Rieu is charming, full of joy, and greatly enthusiastic in his attempts to speak in Italian to those present, as well as his greatly spirited infusion of traditional Italian pop songs, the Italian national anthem, "Once Upon A Time in The West" movie score (composed by a famous Italian composer), and well-loved opera arias in Italian that are interwoven into his well-rounded repertoire. I must make a special note of how wonderful the female soloists from Brazil are!!!!! Carmen Monarcha's interpretation of "O Mio Babbino Caro" from Puccini's Gianni Schiacchi is magnificent. She brought a tear to the eyes of many in the audience, as well as to mine.
This is a DVD that can be enjoyed over and over again, is also a great form of musical therapy. I say this because whenever I play this concert for my 88 year old grandmother with dementia, whom I cartake for, no matter how cranky she is, it brings a smile to her face. This can be enjoyed by people from all backgrounds. Don't miss out!!!!!
Movie Review: Our first Andre Rieu Experience
Summary: 5 Stars
One night while channel surfing we hit the PBS special of Andre Rieu in Tuscany. We were captivated and surfed no more. Having no idea who Andre Rieu was it was not his name that caught our attention but the beautiful setting and the music. It was absolutely spell-binding. We subscribe to netflix and looked to see if it was available through that and it was so we ordered it. We watched it about six times before returning it and then we looked for it through Amazon and ordered it along with the Dublin one. We have also watched, through Netflix, the 100 years of Strauss and the one from Berlin. Although they are all good, by far we love the Tuscany concert the best. My favorite is the Puccini piece with Carmen Monarcha singing. What an absolute angel. My sentiment is with the old man they show a couple of times during that song who ends up with tears coming down his cheeks. It really is a moving rendition. One of the best features of the concert, however, is the fantastic audience response to most of the songs. All the concerts we have seen have good audience participation but this seems like the best. It must be an Italy thing. Anyway, needless to say, my wife and I have become HUGE Andre Rieu and Johann Strauss orchestra fans and if some day we were able to attend one of his concerts I know it would be a highlight of our lives!!!