Puccini - La Boheme / Pavarotti, Scotto, Niska, Wixell, Plishka, Levine, Metropolitan Opera
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ingvar Wixell, James Levine, Luciano Pavarott, Maralin Niska, Renata ScottoBrand: Universal Studios
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); German (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Classical, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-10-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Movie Reviews of Puccini - La Boheme / Pavarotti, Scotto, Niska, Wixell, Plishka, Levine, Metropolitan Opera
Movie Review: FIRST EVER "LIVE FROM THE MET" WELL REMASTERED
Summary: 5 Stars
There isn't much to add to what the other posters have said about this truly historic DVD remastering, but allow me a few comments. This is it, the granddaddy of Met telecasts on PBS, the first in the long-running, but recently sadly dormant, "Live from the Met" series. (Apparently Peter Gelb's commitment to live movie-theatre telecasts from the Met will help get the PBS series back on the rails--we've already had the English-language "Magic Flute" on broadcast TV this season, with "I Puritani" coming soon.) Scotto and Pavarotti make a nearly unbeatable team in this score; both have Puccini's music coursing through their veins. Scotto was in her "plump" period here (seeing a video playback supposedly prompted her weight loss!), but she's plump in a cute way. As always, dramatically she goes straight to the heart of the role of Mimi, and vocally is in near-prime condition. As someone else commented, it's such a pity her definitive Butterfly, well-documented on studio (audio-only) recordings, was never videotaped for TV. Pavarotti does nearly lose the high C in "Che gelida manina"--but give him proper credit for not transposing the aria down a half-step as Domingo always had to, and as Carreras does on the 1982 "Boheme" telecast! At this early-mid stage of his career, he is definitely a LOT more mobile than he later became, and that's all to the good. But the revelation is in the light and shade of his facial expressions. His ability to act for the cameras--when he was of a mind to--always surprised (and pleased) me. The rest of the cast is an eminently likeable bunch. Wixell was never exactly an Italianate baritone with his grainy, wide-open timbre, but he was a consummate musician and sings magnificently here. Paul Plishka never seems to get his due from critics--count me as a longtime fan of his rich, sonorous voice and bluff, hearty acting. Similarly Allan Monk, the Schaunard, always seemed much underrated and underprized, at least to me. Gorgeous, rich, lyric-baritone sound and fine characterization--was the voice perhaps undersized in the house? (I never heard him live.) Marilyn Niska's Musetta never struck me as being quite on this level, but she contributes an enjoyable, lively performance. Levine was at his very best in this score, and the Met Orchestra and chorus responded with crispness and precision.
I must dissent from some of the positive comments about the production itself, borrowed by the Met from Chicago Lyric Opera. On the original March 1977 PBS live telecast it looked dark, dank and dreary, even the Cafe Momus act. It still does... DG's remastering can't do much about that, but the clarity they achieved is still pretty remarkable. The sound is cleaner and richer than I remembered too, though PBS still had a lot to learn about miking the Metropolitan Opera House effectively. The later Zeffirelli production with Stratas and Carreras is thrilling in an eye-candy sort of way, and nearly as well sung as this one. But this is my sentimental favorite.
As with the Met "Rigoletto" and "Luisa Miller," DG has seen fit to remove all of announcer Peter Allen's commentary during the curtain calls, but owing to the historical nature of being the first PBS Met telecast, they do include NBC newscaster Garrick Utley's introductory remarks. I remember being rather annoyed and/or impatient with the live backstage interviews--"for God's sake, let these people go to their dressing rooms and REST until the next act, will ya?!" But actually I'm glad to be able to see them again. (But note that for the second PBS telecast, "Rigoletto" in November of '77, the interviews were PRE-taped.) Many thanks to the Met and DG for bringing this classic performance back in such a fine remastering!
More Puccini - La Boheme / Pavarotti, Scotto, Niska, Wixell, Plishka, Levine, Metropolitan Opera reviews:
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Summary of Puccini - La Boheme / Pavarotti, Scotto, Niska, Wixell, Plishka, Levine, Metropolitan Opera
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