Andrea Chénier
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Angelo Questa, Antonietta Stella, Giuseppe Taddei, Mario Del MonacoBrand: Bel Canto Society
Writer: Umberto Giordano
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: Italian (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Classical, DVD, Mono, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-20
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: D003
Studio: Bel Canto Society
Movie Reviews of Andrea Chénier
Movie Review: Only 4 Stars?
Summary: 4 Stars
The quality of this video is very good considering it is a re-mastered disc of a 1955 soundtrack. Though my copy has a few glitch here and there, luckily both sound and picture are very good when either one of the three principals sings his (or her) big areas, or duets. Just watching those few scenes is more then worth it. The singing (through out the entire opera) was really remarkable. Not just the principals, the entire cast is simply terrific. If one must know how well it was? Thanks to the Editorial Review provided by Amazon, it indicates that Del Monaco had a new coach and changed his way of singing. I took it as saying that Del Monaco does not yell/scream any more. That was one of the reasons for me to buy this video. Sure enough, he did not yell/scream here. That made a whole lot differences. So if you don't like Del Monaco, give him a chance, this video can help you change your mind. I have a 1994 re-mastered CD of a 1964 EMI recording of Chenier. In which Franco Corelli and Antonietta Stella were Chenier and Maddalena, respectively. That is the only Stella's recording that I have. I never seen her on stage nor heard much of her in the radio broadcast neither. Though I read about her in articles, her rapid rising to stardom and fading away early. Anyhow, I had not form an opinion on her so far. In this video, she looks much older than her real age (26 at that time). She had a great voice, a real lyric spinto (fully developed, probably ahead of her age). Her voice blends with the other two principals' nicely. That explains why she was making it so early. What about Taddei? Well, what can I say? He was never wrong in my book. And he is the main reason that I bought this video.
In conclusion, this is a very good video, though not a perfect one, I think it deserves 4 stars.
Summary of Andrea Chénier
It's doubtful that most of you ever have attended a performance as thrilling as this one. Several now-defunct companies released this performance on VHS. Our DVD version easily surpasses all earlier incarnations, including ours. The images don't look like they come from a kinescope (although they do). Our tech Jonathan Casper restored the audio. Although occasional flaws remain, overall, the results are a joy!
Chenier was the role with which Del Monaco changed singing by introducing a technique taught by Arturo Melocchi, based on singing with the larynx kept low, at the bottom of the neck. It gave Del Monaco a powerful, brassy, thick, muscular, penetrating sound.
In March 1949 Del Monaco sang Chenier at La Scala. His performances excited the public and marked a changing of the guard. Gigli sang his final Scala performances in 1947, as Chenier. His object and that of the tenors he influenced was, above all, to caress you. Del Monaco's was to excite you.
Del Monaco sang La Scala's March 6, 1949 broadcast of Chenier. On hearing it Corelli, already having tried many teachers, went to study with Melocchi. Their lowered-larynx approach has been copied by Vladimir Atlantov, Giuseppe Giacomini, Luis Lima, Nicola Martinucci and a host of others. --Stefan Zucker