Donizetti - Lucrezia Borgia / Bonynge, Sutherland, Kraus, Royal Opera

Donizetti - Lucrezia Borgia / Bonynge, Sutherland, Kraus, Royal Opera
by Brian Large

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Alfredo Kraus, Anne Howells, Francis Egerton, Joan Sutherland, Stafford Dean
Director: Brian Large
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 157 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-03-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kultur Video

Movie Reviews of Donizetti - Lucrezia Borgia / Bonynge, Sutherland, Kraus, Royal Opera

Movie Review: Wretched production
Summary: 2 Stars

Lucrezia Borgia, while not one of Donizetti's best operas with a rather dopey libretto, is well worth hearing but not in this poor production. The camera work is at best routine, and tends to reveal the weaknesses of the staging, the stolid nature of the acting, and the rather inappropriate casting from a visual point of view of the two female leads. The subtitles are farcically incomplete and there is no libretto or any other useful information. Yes, the singing is distinguished, and Anne Howells is a delight, but as a whole this is highly disappointing. Since this DVD is not worth watching, and Lucrezia Borgia is given a much better performance in the 1977 recording (still available on CD transfer) with Sutherland and Bonynge in better form than here and with Aragall, Horne and Wixell vocally at least as satisfying as Krause, Howells and Dean, only a very devoted Donizetti fan will want this DVD. I shall not be watching it again.

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Summary of Donizetti - Lucrezia Borgia / Bonynge, Sutherland, Kraus, Royal Opera

Dame Joan Sutherland and tenor Alfredo Kraus star in Donizetti's tale of sixteenth century opulence and decadence. Joan Sutherland is unquestionably the unsurpassed Lucrezia of all-time, and this production at Covent Garden showcases her incomparable coloratura technique. Bel canto specialist Richard Bonynge conducts The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in this historic performance.

Cast - Lucrezia Borgia - Joan Sutherland
Gennaro - Alfredo Kraus
Maffio Orsini - Anne Howells
Alfonso d'Este - Stafford Dean
The Royal Opera Chorus
Chorus Master - John Barker
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

This 1980 Covent Garden production of Donizetti's opera based on the infamous dramatic heroine was undertaken so that one of the few sopranos who would dare tackle the fearsome range of Lucrezia Borgia--Dame Joan Sutherland--could do so in a setting amenable to her talent. And tackle it she does. This might not be the definite Lucrezia (a slight nod would go to Montserrat Caballe's 1965 RCA audio recording), but Sutherland shows she has the sheer chops to overcome Donizetti's piling on of difficulty after vocal difficulty. From the prologue's "Com e Bello," Sutherland never lets up through her gripping final scene of intense anguish and melodrama. Richard Bonynge conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House with aplomb, and the supporting cast--Alfredo Kraus, Anne Howells, and Stafford Dean--performs ably in Sutherland's wake. --Kevin Filipski

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