Handel: Semele
|
List Price: Our Price: $15.12 You Save: $14.86 (50%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $14.95 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Handel: Semele
Movie Review: Handel Shines!
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, I found the so-called comedy hokey rather than witty. Yes, it is modern dress; but I didn't mind. It doesn't detract from the performance. The minimal sets were acceptable but added nothing much to the strength of the production. In general, the absence of more extensive settings did limit the possibilities of interaction so as to minimize their impact. The direction seemed, at times, to be devaluing certain key supporting roles, such as Juno (Birgitt Remmert), so that they lacked the weight to be taken seriously when they are causes of key activities. I'm sure that I can come up with other deficiencies in direction which made the performance less than it might have been; however, that said, despite these weaknesses, the marvelous Handle score shines through thanks to first rate vocal performances by Cecilia Bartoli (as Semele) and Charles Workman (as Jupiter), Solo, in duet, and with the (excellent) chorus they give us words (by Congreve) and music which make for a most entertaining and stiumlating evening.
There is a moral, of course, which is very lightly touched upon. Handel was well aware of the nature of the British society of his day and paid his respects to its rulers, but with sufficient delicacy so as not to offend the developing middle class. The moral: if you don't know your place in society, the bosses (aristocracy) will see that you learn it the hard way. The directors of the production make sure that none of us will be distressed at the anti-democratic qualities which, once upon a time, probably were given greater emphasis.
Movie Review: Semele Excels
Summary: 5 Stars
Cecelia Bartoli has the voice if not the figure to make you believe Jove would lift her to a secrete love palace on the lambent wings of an eagle. This opera is Handel at his erotic best. I blushed many times as Semele and Jove cavorted the bed to sublime music.
The production is what opera should be: fun and entertaining to watch one rainy evening. The only irritant is the silly bedrobe Bartolia wears through most of the production---surely the lover of Jove would be more sexily attired?
My favorite aria is Juno in full fury: Hence hence, Iris, hence away. Always the jilted spouse, Juno is a fury of anger and malice as she tricks Semele into self-destruction. And does so here most convincingly. Bartoli looks so innocent besides the conspiring wife that I shuddered to think of silly, young girls throwing themselves at married men.
If you have ever conceived of Handel as serious water-cannon music, here is a production that is worthy of the modern and immodest times we enjoy, and done with verve and skill so that by the end you are satisfied as only opera can satisfy: full of visual, aural, musical, and sensual delight. Buy this one.
Movie Review: Excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
This modern dress production of Semele by Robert Carsen is very entertaining. I've admitted previously that I don't particularly care for baroque opera. This one started out slow, as usual, with the same lines sung over and over again, but once the gods were involved, the production started to percolate!
I wasn't expecting humor but this opera is filled with it. Isabel Rey as Iris and Birgit Remmert as Juno did some very funny bits together. Charles Workman as Jupiter and Cecilia Bartoli as Semele were brilliant together. If there was a weak link, it was Liliana Nikiteanu's English pronunciation and a tendency for her singing to fade out. Otherwise, the entire cast and chorus sang beautifully and the acting was superb!
If you are new to Handel, start here, you'll love it!
Movie Review: Endless Pleasure
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been greatly enjoying this new Decca DVD of "Semele," with Cecilia Bartoli in the title role and Charles Workman as Jupiter. The disc is now on sale here in the U.S., having been available on-line from the U.K. for some time. Originally performed as an oratorio, Semele takes naturally to the opera house (in this case, Zurich). Although in modern dress, Robert Carsen's staging is generally faithful to the text, with few gratuitous additions. As would be expected of William Christie, the musical production is excellent. The cuts are mostly minor. If you want to check it out yourself, you can find several excerpts on YouTube, including "Endless pleasure," "Myself I shall adore," and "Where'er you walk."Movie Review: Love's a Bubble Gain'd with Trouble: And in possessing dies.
Summary: 3 Stars
This performance opens into a somewhat Calvinist décor - solemn, restrained and wealthy. The spirit of Protestantism is here. This wedding certainly takes place in Zurich, not in Palermo J The overall design resembles of another Zurich Opera production - Ariadne auf Naxos, but this one is done with more taste and discretion - at least at the beginning (it was not an aesthetically rewarding idea to place Ariadne's action in a restaurant and make her a drunkard - even though it was the famous Kronenhalle Restaurant which is close to the Zurich Opera House).
I ADORED the newspapers headers after Semele's abduction : Daily Mail: "Where Eagles Dare!", The Times: "By Jove! Princess in Eagle Palace; Snatch-Drama Continues", Daily Express: "Semele: I'm in Heaven!" - this was hilarious and witty.
Juno's costume is absolutely ravishing - she is dressed as Queen Elisabeth II, which is so incredibly funny and smart, telling us that the action is actually happening in London, where Handel lived; it was for me the first time I understood we were actually not in Zurich anymore! But Juno's astonishment over the photos of the amorous couple seems to be exaggerated - considering that her spouse had many other passionate love stories, and by the way, not only with women - he practiced equal sexual opportunities for both males and females. We have more entertaining newspaper headlines here: Daily Mirror: "Jupiter and Semele! It's official!"
Iris acts to laugh. Juno sings her famous aria "Awake, Saturnia... Iris hence away" - well, although the best ever singing of this belongs to Stephanie Blythe, and that voice is incomparable, I also like Hilary Summons in this role. This Juno sounds are not always agreeable to me - I find her shrieks inappropriate for the Empress of Olympus; her role is of dignity and unyielding revenge; such do not scream hysterically.
Next bedroom scene is well-done. Zurich's sense of gifts is certainly richer and more generous than that of Boston's - the jewelry Jove gives to Semele must be custom-made from Chopard at least (it there a world-famous British jeweler???), while in our Boston home-made production Jove gave Semele a very modest tiny Tiffany box. That was stingy indeed for the King of Gods. I am was also glad that they have not overdone "burning sensuality" scenes. Regarding music, I could clearly hear "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd" in Jove's aria "Where'er you walk" in Scene 3, Act II.
At the end of Act II the chorus presents a globe of good fortune to Semele - a very elegant touch, in my opinion, conjuring up images of Fortune by Giovanni Bellini or Albrecht Durer as fortune traditionally holds a blue globe.
It is somewhat strange to recall again a link between this and Aridane auf Naxos production of the same Zurich opernhaus - at the end of Ariadne Bacchus sings of his mother Semele, as at the end of Semele Jove sings of a "god more powerful that love", that "sighing and sorrow for ever prevent" - that is, to Bacchus. Perhaps it is another pearl of Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss in their opera, a subtle allusion to Semele and an elegant homage to the Baroque King.
Back to this Semele - Happy - the last chorus bears a strong resemblance to that of Acis and Galatea "Happy, happy, happy we...". Cecilia Bartoli is charming in "Myself I shall adore", but even allthe acting cannot help the voice that is too low for Semele.
The funeral scene with Semele body was burdening; and production booklet reveals somewhat simplistic and moralizing thinking of the production director; definitely Ovid and Romans did not think in Zwingli terms about marital infidelity on the part of the Emperor. The performance ends on Jove caressing the behind of a courtier lady in the direct sight of his wife. I find this vulgar and unnecessary to stress his libertine nature - and such vulgarity has no place in Ovid, who is more playful than crude; barbarians like Robert Carsen seemingly do not value an understatement. It is a pity they did not stop at fabulous extravagance of Juno and Jove opulent costumes in the final scene, but had to hint thickly with that vulgar gesture that Jove is always up to new adventures, to the consternation of his wife. Yet it was overbearing and awkward to my taste.
Singing-wise, I think this is a good, but not excellent production; Cecilia Bartoli confirmed once again that she is a vocal agility virtuoso, but her voice lacks squillo, yet she compensates for it with vibrato. However, the brilliance of the genius voice is not there. Her mezzo voice is not the best fit for Semele, and she could never compare to true sopranos like Kathleen Battle or similar youthful voices in this role; I'd say that Norma Burrowes, Rosemary Joshua or Beverly Sills are more believable and more delightful in their sopranic divinity. Semele must be a very young, naïve and somewhat childish, trustful, see-no-evil girl, and Bartoli's mezzo is rather a middle-age mistress. She is an expert singer, and her vocal tricks are amazing, but her voice is just not right for Semele - there is no lightness of soft and innocent youth in her voice. Yet I still give this production 3 stars for the effort and quality, but without Bartoli's virtuosity, it would probably be less. Jove is quite good, but he is not anything close to Anthony Rolfe-Johnson; Juno is adequate and Ino is below average - I wonder how such mediocre singers get solo roles in the world of opera fierce competition. Athamas makes a companion in voice quality with Ino - he is not impressive; both of Ino and Athamas seem to be insecure in their singing.
Conducting by William Christie is good, but the orchestra sound this time is average.
Story-wise, I think Handel's personal position regarding the narrative is in Juno's words: "Love's a Bubble Gain'd with Trouble: And in possessing dies". I find it a little silly to give serious attention to these stories, since they are utilized to demonstrate emotion and singing ability of a singer for whom they were written, but I actually think that Jove disappointed Semele as a lover, and she grew frustrated, not knowing anymore what to ask for. That marked the end of love. I strongly detest bourgeois explanations offered by Carson and others. Romans were not puritan prudes, and they adored Ovid's "Ars Amoris", so the outcome like Semele is most likely from intimate frustration, not from any social status. But it is truly somewhat ridiculous to give this story any serious consideration; it has to be ironic, as in this production.
Overall, I recommend this DVD for viewing and audio pleasure; while this is not a masterpiece but a good entertainment.
More Movie Reviews:
1 2
1 2