Previn - A Streetcar Named Desire / Previn, Fleming, Gilfry, San Francisco Opera
by Kirk Browning
Our Price: $34.95
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $33.33 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anthony Dean Griffey, Elizabeth Futral, Judith Forst, Renée Fleming, Rodney GilfryDirector: Kirk Browning
Producer: Barbara Bellini Witkowski
Producer: David Horn
Producer: David McCarthy
Producer: Jac Venza
Producer: Jane Seymour
Producer: Jason Kleinman
Writer: Philip Littell
Writer: Tennessee Williams
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 166 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-11-30
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Summary of Previn - A Streetcar Named Desire / Previn, Fleming, Gilfry, San Francisco Opera
Recorded live with the San Francisco Opera, the world premiere production of Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire. For his first-ever opera, Previn turned to one of the most celebrated plays in the history of American theater, Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning A Streetcar Named Desire. He saw the haunting story of lost youth and innocence in the romantic, shadowy world of New Orleans as ideal material. Collaborating with librettist Philip Littell, Previn has captured all the claustrophobic tension, volatile emotion and sexual undertow of Williams' original in his own Streetcar. This world premiere recording took place in September 1998 at the spectacularly renovated War Memorial Opera House, with Previn conducting. The cast includes Renee Fleming as Blanche DuBois, Rodney Gilfry as Stanley Kowalski, Elizabeth Futral as Stella Kowalski, and Anthony Dean Griffey as Mitch. Nominated for a 1999 Emmy Award. English: Stereo. 167 minutes.There are those who believe (whether they admit it or not) that opera is an exclusively European art whose history ended with the death of Puccini. They are, of course, entitled to this delusion, but it creates serious obstacles for a vital form of new music and it deprives opera fans of some memorable theatrical experiences. For most of the 20th century and very intensively in its last half, American composers have been transforming literary masterpieces into operas that deserve and are gradually winning a place in the repertoire with the European classics. With A Streetcar Named Desire (1998), André Previn is the latest addition to the list of these composers, with Gian Carlo Menotti, Dominick Argento, John Corigliano, Carlisle Floyd, John Harbison, William Bolcom, Mark Adamo, and others.
Previn came to classical music from a background as a jazz pianist and soundtrack composer, credentials that may raise a few eyebrows but obviously developed his sense of what works dramatically in music and a knack for regional flavor in an opera set in New Orleans. The libretto preserves the impact of the original Tennessee Williams play about the fragile Blanche DuBois (brilliantly portrayed by Renée Fleming) and the loutish Stanley Kowalski (sung with precision and a subtle sense of character by Rodney Gilfry). There are no weaknesses in the supporting cast and there are particularly fine performances by Elizabeth Futral and Anthony Dean Griffey. Previn, a world-class conductor, is of course an expert in his own music, and Kirk Browning has a convincing approach to the opera's visual elements. Highly recommended to anyone not allergic to modern opera. --Joe McLellan
Similar DVD Movies
Rossini - Semiramide / Conlon, Anderson, Horne, Metropolitan OperaRelease date: 2000-12-12; Published: 2000-12-01; DVD
Best price: $15.23
Price in other shops:
![Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Fleming, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Gergiev, Carsen [Metropolitan Opera 2007] Image](/images/Tchaikovsky-Eugene-Onegin-Fleming-Vargas-Hvorostovsky-Gergiev-Carsen-Metropolitan-Opera-2007-B000YCLRBA-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Fleming, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Gergiev, Carsen [Metropolitan Opera 2007]Uni; Release date: 2007-12-18; DVD
Best price: $13.46
Price in other shops:
Renee Fleming: A Film by Tony PalmerRelease date: 2002-11-26; DVD
Best price: $15.80
Price in other shops:
Donizetti: Anna BolenaRelease date: 2011-11-01; Published: 2011-11-18; DVD
Best price: $22.46
Price in other shops:
WertherRelease date: 2010-10-25; DVD
Best price: $22.44
Price in other shops:
Turnage: Anna NicoleRelease date: 2011-09-27; DVD
Best price: $17.88
Price in other shops:
A Streetcar Named Desire: Librettoby Philip Littell
G. Schirmer, Inc.; G. Schirmer, Inc.; Published: 1999-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.88
Price in other shops:
Massenet: Thais- The Metropolitan OperaUni; Release date: 2010-01-26; DVD
Best price: $16.83
Price in other shops:
Previn - A Streetcar Named Desire / Fleming, Futral, Gilfry, Griffey, SF Opera, PrevinRelease date: 1998-12-22; Music CD
Best price: $18.98
Price in other shops:
Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named DesireImage Entertainment; Release date: 2011-03-29; DVD
Best price: $11.90
Price in other shops: