Donizetti - Don Pasquale
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Movie Reviews of Donizetti - Don Pasquale
Movie Review: Molto Bene!
Summary: 5 Stars
Donizetti created this masterpiece knowing that it required an outstnding cast, and here indeed it has just that. Having grown up with my ears seduced by the velvet of Tito Schipa I expected Flores might be a come down--- I should have know better! This is not just a "tenore de grazia" buy indeed a super-tenor. But all the other voices are equally apt, and the staging is splendid. And the music! One wonderful melody, rich in harmony, after another. And the story is good too. What more can one ask?Movie Review: Don Pasquale
Summary: 5 Stars
Don Pasquale, featuring tenor Juan diego Florez, is excellent. It is a
refreshing presentation with a more modern setting than usual.
Movie Review: Juan Diego Florez is the real deal...but what's with all the teddy bears?
Summary: 4 Stars
This is generally a great DVD of Don Pasquale, with plenty to love, but also with a couple of caveats.
Let's start with the good stuff, which far outweighs the bad.
The main attraction here is the singers. Juan Diego Florez is the hot bel canto tenor right now, and with good reason, his voice is a miracle, full of fluidity and grace, with brilliant high notes, free of any rough patches, a joy to listen to. Dramatically, he's no Placido Domingo, he's handsome enough, sure, but his stage presence can be a little stiff at times, he still hasn't outgrown the common tendency of romantic tenors to raise a fist whenever he wants to make a dramatic point, which is just nitpicking basically, the bottom line, Florez is the real deal. Let's hope he has a long career, because he is the type of singer who, if you see his name on a production, you know it is something you want to see.
HOWEVER...I can't agree with other reviewers who suggest that his presence is the ONLY reason to purchase this DVD. I thought all four of the leads were outstanding, easy on the ears. Having Ruggero Raimondi as Don Pasquale is a major coup for more than just sentimental reasons, the guy still sounds great, his voice has the agility to handle the tougher bel canto moments, particularly the patter duet, going so far as to reward the audience with a much welcome encore! And speaking of agile, he does a pretty good job of prancing about the stage at the moment when the old Don has his moment of, how shall I put this, rejuvenation. I really enjoyed Isabel Rey's performance, her voice is stronger than some of the more lilting coloratura specialists but still beautiful, and definitely full of life. She's a bit older than the young widow Norina but very attractive, not to mention strong-willed, and she seems to be having fun with all the madcap proceedings. Oliver Widmer gives us an amusing, extremely well-sung Dr. Malatesta(he matches Raimondi patter for patter), a bit more lecherous than usual, but, hey, this is commedia del'arte material, at heart anyway, so why not?
I enjoyed many aspects of the production, I wasn't put off by the updating of the time period, and I thought the revolving stage and large, detailed set pieces were nice touches, but some things bothered me, and here is where we get into the negative aspects of this DVD. The sets and costumes themselves are generally eye-catching, but a little busy at times, just like the stage direction, busy being an understatement, the term I really should use is over the top. Having Don Pasquale cradling a teddy bear is amusing at first, but after about the tenth teddy bear I was ready to shout "Enough!," especially after his tormentors seem to take such glee in ripping the poor things apart. The ruse in Don Pasquale is supposed to be a mild joke with the purpose of imparting a life lesson, it isn't supposed to be destructive. But they don't stop with teddy bears, before you know it they're rending appendages from his statues, tearing off strips of wallpaper, ripping his curtains, defacing his paintings. Again, this is just too much stage activity, too much clomping around. Fortunately it doesn't distract from the singing(for an example of a production really overpowering the performers, see the recent Met production of Barber of Seville, also with Florez), but come on. On top of all that, many of the set pieces are banal, from a statue of a teddy bear to a painting of Florez' smiling countenance to a giant foot in the last scene(what the heck?). If these are supposed to be symbolic, well, I'm not sure what they're supposed to represent, to me they're unnecessary. What is it with all these directors who think that opera buffas aren't funny enough on their own, they have to add all this garish nonsense? Sheesh!
Finally, I agree with the reviewer who found the orchestra too brash at times, overpowering the singers, especially since this isn't that kind of an opera. Don Pasquale is not Nabucco, although I sometimes felt as though I were listening to Nabucco(not that listening to Nabucco is a bad thing). Despite its frantic moments, Don Pasquale is basically a lower key outing than early Verdi and should be performed as such. There are also moments I found a little slow in terms of the conducting, which violates the fast-paced Rossinian ethos Donizetti was trying to adhere to.
I hope by giving such intricate detail to the negatives I haven't given the impression that this is a weak performance. Overall, it's wonderful listening(with singing that could hardly be bettered), a generally good but far from perfect production, with great video and sound quality, and in widescreen! It evens out in the long run, producing an opera experience that comes highly recommended.
Movie Review: Not a great production of "Don Pasquale" but worth owning for its singing and comedic high points
Summary: 4 Stars
The Zurich Opera has made a wealth of its productions available on DVD. They are consistently of high quality and feature "house" performers (such as Oliver Widmer) along with star-power guests (such as Juan Diego Florez).
"Don Pasquale" is funny funny funny and then suddenly bittersweet. (The fact that the overture starts with a plaintive cello solo should tip us off that this is more than just an opera buffa.) "Don Pasquale" has some beautiful arias and a great patter duet, but I don't think it sustains the consistently high quality of Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore." For one thing, there's a lot of talking over the music, so much so that what's going on in the orchestra is often more interesting than what the performers are doing onstage. (I would thus disagree with the reviewers who said that the orchestra overpowers the singers; I think it's Donizetti's score that does that!) One example: all the Act II marriage charade business takes place to beautiful orchestral music, the characters just speaking dialogue for the most part.
As Ernesto, tenor Juan Diego Florez gives a stand-out performance. We are treated to his usual meticulous attention to phrasing, one of the many qualities that make him so unique as a performer. The purity and sheer beauty of his voice is something special for our times. Such is his charismatic presence onstage that, as with his Count Almaviva in "The Barber of Seville" on DVD, he turns a supporting role into a star vehicle.
Ruggero Raimondi is not the greatest patterer. (In this regard, he can't match Alessandro Corbelli's Don Pasquale, also on DVD.) But Raimondi makes up for it with a great comic instinct and by having such a good time in the role that we are irresistibly drawn in.
Unlike Raimondi, Isabel Rey doesn't have a natural feel for comedy. However, her strong singing goes a long way to compensate for it (her duet at the end with Florez is stunning). Rey was so moving as Donna Anna in the Zurich Opera's DVD of "Don Giovanni" that I was curious to see how she'd fare as Norina. I wish she had a light comedic touch, one that could, for example, make "Quel Guardo Il Cavaliere" the delight it should be. We do get some beautiful trilling from her in that aria though, and that will have to do.
The pleasant surprise is Oliver Widmer as Malatesta. I've seen Widmer on several of the Zurich Opera DVD's. This is by far his best performance. What was once an indistinctive baritone voice has deepened and developed the wonderful burnished tone that all great baritones possess. And he's become an excellent actor (maybe he's been tutored by his wife, the mezzo Cecilia Bartoli, who is so expressive onstage). Widmer's and Rey's voices blend beautifully in the Act I, Scene 2 duet where they rehearse the charade they're about to put on for Don Pasquale. I love this piece with its great melodies and continuous key modulations.
The colorful Art Deco costumes are delightful, but this 1930's concept doesn't translate well into the set design. The stage is so cluttered and the colors so garish that the sets and props sometimes swallow the performers (when they aren't trying to maneuver around them without tripping). And, I understand why Norina would insist on including a portrait of Ernesto (her true love) in her redecorating scheme, but frankly, sitting as huge as it is in the middle of the stage (and I do mean huge), the portrait looks like a publicity shot of Juan Diego Florez. I doubt anyone watching the opera is able to see it as representing his character, Ernesto. It's as if the big brass at the Zurich Opera wants to remind us, even when Florez isn't onstage, that they succeeded in booking this big-name star at their opera house. (Sorry for the cynicism; at least I'm not suggesting it was in Florez's contract to have it there!)
I haven't seen the recently released 1994 La Scala production of "Don Pasquale" with Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title role. The other DVD available is the Teatro Lirico production from 2002. I'd also give it four stars. Alessandro Corbelli (Don Pasquale) and Eva Mei (Norina) outshine their counterparts in the Zurich Opera cast. But the Zurich Opera DVD is worth owning just to see Florez as Ernesto.
Movie Review: Florez is stunning
Summary: 4 Stars
This video would fall into a two or three star category were it not for the amazing vocal technique of Juan Diego Florez. Somehow, this singer who was always great, is even better than ever. He seems to be giving even more attention to delivering a variety of vocal color, which makes his somewhat bleating-style voice ever so appealing. He's just wonderful.
The production is by turns tasteful and lovely, and then crass and embarrassing. Some crassness might be understood for the era they are using as a setting and the idea they are trying to underscore of 'old' versus 'new' (and young), but it's taken way too far. The Andy Warhol-style portrait of Florez is just frightening. Besides, does Norina really get the house completely redecorated in one day? It doesn't work, and Pasquale's teddy bears are embarrassing. The story is on the edge of believable as it is, so it needs to be delivered with care so as not to become foolish.
I enjoyed Raimondi very much - it's a beautiful voice as always although a little lighter than one might wish for. I differ from some of the other reviewers in that I found him reasonably funny. Oliver Widmer is a good singer, although again the director annoyingly has him groping at his own sister for much of the show. He's a DOCTOR, for goodness' sake. How could he have a medical career and be that creepy? Anyway, the big duet between the doctor and Pasquale seems to absolutely thrill the audience and it was a highlight of the show. Widmer's voice is neither beautiful, nor ugly - more like pleasant, and somewhat interesting. Isabel Rey is an enjoyable singer but I would prefer a more bell-toned soprano for Norina. Rey has a darkness to her middle register, plus her high notes are not as easy as one would like. I would prefer to hear her in other operas.
*****PLEASE NOTICE THE FOLLOWING*****
The sound is not at all ideal on the video. On my plain old 2-channel stereo system, the orchestra is too far to the front, and the singers are in a cave. I tried both sound tracks and it was the same. However, when I played it on my computer with again only 2-channel available, but software to touch up the sound, basically by taking out the ambience, it was much better. I was going to give the video three stars until I heard it on my pc. Still, four stars is a bit of a stretch, and they really all go to Florez. Please consider this before purchasing. If I had only to go on my first experience of hearing this video, I would not recommend it as worth the money due to the sound quality, but if you have a system where you can tinker with the sound quality and environment, you should be okay.
It's rarely worth it to buy an opera video for just one singer, but in this case, unless they give us another Pasquale with Florez in it, if you have any appreciation of this tenor, you might just want to buy this one.
If you are trying to decide between this one and the one with Corbelli in the title role, I can only remind you that that one has a very fine tenor in it also, Eva Mei is everything a Norina should be, plus the production is sweet and tasteful. For your first Pasquale video, the Corbelli one is the best choice, IMHO.