Puccini - Madama Butterfly
by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
List Price:
Our Price: $19.97
You Save: $10.01 (33%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $13.69 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christa Ludwig, Michel S?n?chal, Mirella Freni, Pl?cido Domingo, Robert KernsDirector: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: German (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); Italian (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language), Unknown; English (Original Language), Unknown; German (Original Language), Unknown; French (Original Language), Unknown; Spanish (Original Language), Unknown; Mandarin Chinese (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Classical, Color, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 145 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-06-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Movie Reviews of Puccini - Madama Butterfly
Movie Review: The Many Faces of Madame Butterfly
Summary: 3 Stars
From the David Belasco play to Puccini's opera to Schonberg's Miss Saigon, there are many faces of Madame Butterfly. But none is any more exquisite than that of Mirella Freni-- especially as she sings the near-perfect aria, "Un bel di" and the Flower Song duet with Suzuki. However, Ponnelle, who staged and directed the film version, made Placido Domingo as Lt. Pinkerton a little too caddish for my taste. This version seems to resemble a faded memory that speaks not to the intellect but to the heart. It certainly deserves a place in any opera collection.
Summary of Puccini - Madama Butterfly
Of all Puccini's major operas, the intimate tragedy of Madama Butterfly is least in need of elaborate staging and might therefore benefit most from the close scrutiny of film. The story is domestic, the setting Spartan, the incidental characters kept to a minimum. This 1974 version, however, demonstrates that Butterfly still needs a healthy injection of proscenium arch melodrama. Director Jean-Pierre Ponelle's production strives for realism but remains unfortunately studio-bound, having neither the benefit of location filming nor the heightened reality of an opera stage. The exterior is a perpetually fog-shrouded heath of indeterminate locale; the interior is cramped and unadorned. The setting is just too prosaic to contain the epic emotions of grand opera.Thankfully, the cast is a superb one, headed by Pl?cido Domingo's rakish Pinkerton and Mirella Freni's rubicund Butterfly. Their singing is incomparable, as is Herbert von Karajan's musical direction of the Vienna Philharmonic. The singers mime to prerecorded music, which is occasionally disconcerting since when film demands close-ups, opera provides broad gestures. Musically, this Butterfly is impeccable. Visually it adds nothing that could not be seen to better effect in a stage version. --Mark Walker
Music Video & Concerts DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Operas are not boring!
Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Te Kanawa, Howells, Haugland, Bonney, Solti, Schlesinger (The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)Release date: 2004-01-13; DVD
Best price: $14.62
Price in other shops:
Beethoven - Fidelio / Levine, Mattila, Heppner, Pape, Lloyd, Polenzani, Metropolitan OperaRelease date: 2003-11-25; DVD
Best price: $17.48
Price in other shops:
Johann Strauss - Die Fledermaus / Domingo, Te Kanawa, Prey, Royal Opera Covent GardenRelease date: 2003-10-14; DVD
Best price: $15.51
Price in other shops:
Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci / Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana / Domingo, Stratas, Pons, Bruson, Obraztsova, PretreRelease date: 2005-06-14; DVD
Best price: $18.39
Price in other shops:
Bizet - Carmen / Levine, Baltsa, Carreras, Metropolitan OperaRelease date: 2000-12-12; DVD
Best price: $18.69
Price in other shops:
Rossini - L'Italiana in AlgeriRelease date: 2007-03-13; DVD
Best price: $23.95
Price in other shops:
Rossini - Il Barbiere di SivigliaRelease date: 2005-06-14; DVD
Best price: $17.88
Price in other shops:
Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor / Joan Sutherland, Alfredo Kraus, Pablo Elvira, Paul Plishka, Richard Bonynge, Metropolitan OperaRelease date: 2006-01-10; DVD
Best price: $17.78
Price in other shops:
Donizetti - La Fille du R?gimentRelease date: 2006-10-10; DVD
Best price: $18.97
Price in other shops:
Donizetti - L'Elisir d'AmoreRelease date: 2005-05-10; DVD
Best price: $17.33
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Verdi - Rigoletto / Domingo, MacNeil, Cotrubas, Diaz, Levine, Metropolitan OperaRelease date: 2004-08-10; DVD
Best price: $17.22
Price in other shops:
Verdi - Otello / Domingo, Fleming, Morris, Croft, Levine, Moshinsky, Metropolitan OperaRelease date: 2004-04-13; DVD
Best price: $18.39
Price in other shops:
Bizet - Carmen / Levine, Baltsa, Carreras, Metropolitan OperaRelease date: 2000-12-12; DVD
Best price: $18.65
Price in other shops:
Verdi - La Traviata / Levine, Stratas, DomingoRelease date: 1999-04-13; DVD
Best price: $199.89
Verdi - Rigoletto / Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, Edita Gruberova, Victoria Vergara, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Riccardo ChaillyRelease date: 2006-07-04; DVD
Best price: $18.65
Price in other shops:
Puccini - Tosca / Kabaivanska, Domingo, Milnes, Luccardi, Mariotti, BartolettiRelease date: 2005-06-14; DVD
Best price: $18.69
Price in other shops:
Verdi - Aida / Levine, Domingo, Millo, Metropolitan OperaRelease date: 2000-12-12; DVD
Best price: $18.65
Price in other shops:
Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci / Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana / Domingo, Stratas, Pons, Bruson, Obraztsova, PretreRelease date: 2005-06-14; DVD
Best price: $18.65
Price in other shops:
Puccini - Turandot / Franco Zeffirelli - Marton, Domingo, Mitchell, Plishka, Cuenod - James Levine, MET (1988)Release date: 2003-08-12; DVD
Best price: $18.65
Price in other shops:
Puccini - La Boheme / Pavarotti, Scotto, Niska, Wixell, Plishka, Levine, Metropolitan OperaRelease date: 2005-10-11; DVD
Best price: $18.38
Price in other shops: