Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci / Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana / Domingo, Stratas, Pons, Bruson, Obraztsova, Pretre
by Franco Zeffirelli
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alberto Rinaldi, Florindo Andreolli, Juan Pons, Plácido Domingo, Teresa StratasDirector: Franco Zeffirelli
Brand: VARIOUS
Cinematographer: Armando Nannuzzi
Editor: Franca Silvi
Editor: Giorgio De Vincenzo
Writer: Giovanni Verga
Writer: Guido Menasci
Writer: Ruggero Leoncavallo
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), DTS 5.1
Format: Classical, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 140 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Movie Reviews of Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci / Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana / Domingo, Stratas, Pons, Bruson, Obraztsova, Pretre
Movie Review: Unbeatable!
Summary: 5 Stars
On this unsurpassed 1982 film version of Mascagni's Cavelleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Italian film director Franco Zefferelli whisks away to turn of the century Italy and brings the verisimo opera to breathtaking reality through the art of cinema. Placido Domingo appears in both films- as Turiddu in Cavelleria and as Canio the clown in Pagliacci. He is in terrific vocal shape and his acting is right-on-target as both men, in two entirely different portrayals. Domingo outshone all the tenors of his time, proving time and again how he was the true heir to Enrico Caruso's legacy. Here, we get to see his excellent verisimo style and it helps that he is handsome and that his surroundings are real and not an operatic stage. Both films were filmed in the Italian countryside, locales familiar to the native Italian Zefferelli. The Russian mezzo Elena Obrazstsova is Santuzza, and hers is a stunningly dramatic and moving performance. She is an older, mature Santuzza, middle-aged when compared to the elderly Mamma, and her mezzo voice is dark, deep and anguished. She can hit the high notes without difficulty and without annying vibrato. I don't favor a mezzo soprano in the role of Santuzza. If I had it my way, Santuzza should always be sung by a lyrico-spinto soprano, whose angelic voice would make her situation as the betrayed wife is even more touching. Obraztsova is not an attractive woman. She's big and her dramatic, big, almost manly voice does nothing to inspire pathos. I would prefer that the role of Lola (sung by soprano Alexe Galle in this film) be sung by a mezzo, for mezzos have traditionally enjoyed the reputation as the temptress. Lola (the perfect name for a woman who cheats on her own husband with another married man) is played very well by Galle and sung well. In the role of Mamma is veteran soprano Fedora Barbieri, with supreme vocal tone. Even if she is the stereotypical Italian mamma, I love her performance. The setting is an authentic Italian country village, and local color is everywhere, from the clothing, homes and even the Church scenes and Easter procession. A very cinematically dramatic moment comes at the end when a woman runs screaming "They've killed Turrido!" The betrayed husband Alfio is sung superbly by baritone Renato Bruson. As for Pagliacci, this is yet another superb film. The Prologue is well-sung, by a bass who connects with the audience in a direct way and who recounts the tragic tale of Canio. Domingo's Canio is by far the most realistic interpretation. His acting has never been greater than in this role. His Nedda is sung by the brilliant Canadian soprano Teresa Stratas, who at this time was also singing Traviata opposite Domingo in another Zefferelli film. Stratas' Nedda is exquisitely sung, with dramatic outbursts in the appropriate places and pathos in others. It is she who cheats in this opera, but we seem to understand why she would do such a thing. Silvio, her lover, is another moving performance. The Tonio of Juan Pons is appropriately lusty and nasty. The excessive make-up everyone has, the carnival atmosphere of the traveling circus is dizzying. During the final moments, when Canio kills Nedda on stage, we are indeed shocked to find out it was not staged but real! It is however, Domingo and Stratas' performances that move us. Cinematically, this Pagliacci is a lesser light than Cavalleria, but it's still breathtaking. I enjoyed such moments as when Nedda is singing to the group of children. These films are supreme works of cinema and Zefferelli found his niche adapting grand operas into film. Unfortunately, not all the operas he had dreamed of making into movies were realized. He had hoped to film Puccini's Tosca starring Maria Callas but that was never actualized. He never filmed Tosca, though he easily could have done so in Rome. It would have been terrific. He never made a movie version of Verdi's Aida as well, another favorite of his. Other than this Cav/Pag, he filmed La Traviata with Domingo and Stratas and Verdi's Otello with Domingo and Katia Ricciarelli.
More Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci / Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana / Domingo, Stratas, Pons, Bruson, Obraztsova, Pretre reviews:
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Summary of Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci / Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana / Domingo, Stratas, Pons, Bruson, Obraztsova, Pretre
The Zefferilli film versions of the two operas about passion, jealousy, betrayal, and revenge.Genre: Music Videos - Classical
Rating: NR
Release Date: 14-JUN-2005
Media Type: DVD
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