Monteverdi - L'Orfeo
by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dietlinde Turban, Francisco Araiza, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Philippe Huttenlocher, Trudeliese SchmidtDirector: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Brand: Universal Studios
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); Chinese (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), DTS 5.1; Italian (Published), DTS 5.1
Format: Classical, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-03-13
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Movie Reviews of Monteverdi - L'Orfeo
Movie Review: L'Orfeo Triumphant.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the first performance out of total of three there were created by Ponnelle and Harnoncourt in the laet 1970s for Zurich Opera House. I personally watched Il Coronazione di Poppea first and was so amazed by that performance that I knew I had to see everything that this artistic team has done. When watching the Poppea, I understood after the fact what our Boston Early Music Festival production of Poppea in June 2008 was after - and they were partially successful, but Harnoncourt and Ponnelle reign supreme up to this day.
L'Orfeo is simply superb and without equal today; the attention to every detail - musical and visual - is unparalleled; I loved how the staging visually separates mythological personagges, as Apollo and La Musica, and then Orfeo and Euridice, dressing them in black and grey chiaroscuro palette, from real life people like peasants, who are all in colorful clothes. The acting is amazing, even the male vs female chorus act in such a believable fashion that one can imagine herself watching some noble court of Renaissance Italy.
There was such deep symbolism in staging again; Orfeo and Euridice were quite motionless, she is in pure white dress which can be as a bridal gown but as a shroud, too. The choice of a young and beautiful woman was so excellent - she looked as Botticelli's Primavera, underscoring the tragedy of her untimely end and Orfeo's loss. What is amazing that the whole performance is seen as perfectly natural, without extravagance or excessive pretense that often punctuates modern productions; perhaps it is most appealing to those who appreciate Renaissance art and shun overly bold and often vulgar modern ways of staging; it was interesting to read the booklet where the idea of doing this in jeans was discarded from the start - something that is so widely embraced now that doing Handel or Purcell in jeans is no more shocking but rather common and banal.
As always with Venetian opera of that time, it is not without witty humor, and the singing skeleton was quite funny.
Singing is excellent, and the whole musicality is fantastic; overall, we are lucky to have this masterpiece preserved on DVD; it is a must for all Monteverdi and Baroque music lovers - it truly sets a standard.
Summary of Monteverdi - L'Orfeo
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