Glinka - Ruslan and Lyudmila
by Valery Gergiev, Lotfi Mansouri
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anna Netrebko, Galina Gorchakova, Gennady Bezzubenkov, Larissa Diadkova, Vladimir OgnovenkoDirector: Lotfi Mansouri, Valery Gergiev
Brand: Universal Studios
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Russian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); German (Original Language); Mandarin Chinese (Original Language); Italian (Original Language)
Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 288 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Philips
Movie Reviews of Glinka - Ruslan and Lyudmila
Movie Review: Terrific Russian Opera in the Very Setting for Which it was Meant
Summary: 5 Stars
A tale based on fantasy and sorcery, from a story of Pushkin's, this opera recalls the current trend in popularity of fantasy fiction, and of Shakesepeare's magic plays. Briefly, at a princesses' wedding, where two rejected suitors are present, she is abducted by supernatural forces. Many who were enemies before join hands to find and save her now, as the grief-stricken king promises her hand to whomever can save her. Not everyone is honest of course (what kind of opera would that be?), and the personalities that come through the music keep one on the edge of one's seat wondering if the lovely Lyudmila will end up with the one who truly loves her.
I found the singing to be pure and enjoyable. As conductor Valery Gergiev will mention in the first "extra", Anna Netrebko's voice was still fairly young at this time, but her character, Lyudmilla, called for a very young, impressionable woman. The contralto, Larissa Diadkova, and Galina Garchakova, both had strong mature voices. The acting was fine as well.
This is one of those charming DVDs that actually takes advantage of the digital storage space for which the medium was created, providing not only the advertised opera but a couple of useful extra features as well. One of them, "Introducing Ruslan", an interview with Gergiev on "Ruslan & Lyudmila"'s place in music history is a staid but informative piece that one might want to watch before the opera itself if unfamiliar with the Glinka piece. The other, "Catching Up With Music", is a by-the-official-bio history of the maestro's life up to and including his days managing the full operations of the Mariinsky (etc., etc., etc.). The former includes some rehearsal footage of "R & G" as well as explaining Gergiev's (from hindsight, wise) decision to take risks with "young, undeveloped artists such as Netrebko" at the Kirov whose voices may not be mature but who are "fresh and naive". Indeed, the fact that the former king-of-the-Soviet-hill Bolshoi is finally quietly catching up again to the Mariinsky is because they have a new staff copying Gergiev's business model of the 90's....don't scream so much when the old artists want to leave, and cultivate new ones from the bottom up (the difference being, of course, that the Bolshoi has a "staff", and the Mariinsky has a "Gergiev". But I digress....).
The latter "extra" is just plain fun, nothing outside of the official press releases you get from the Decca or Mariinsky web sites except some baby pictures and a number of scenes of Mr. Gergiev running, flying, recording and performing with different orchestras. (And pretending, not very well, to relax.)
The DVD is accompanied by a booklet giving further information about the composer and opera.
Summary of Glinka - Ruslan and Lyudmila
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