R. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
by Filippo Sanjust
(Click here)
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Axelle Gall, Edita Gruberova, Manfred Jungwirth, Ren? Kollo, Walter BerryDirector: Filippo Sanjust
Composer: Richard Strauss
Conductor: Karl B?hm
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: German (Original Language); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); Mandarin Chinese (Original Language); Chinese (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); German (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 127 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-08
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
Movie Reviews of R. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
Movie Review: The problem is the tenor....
Summary: 2 Stars
For this recorded performance, Karl Boehm selected the wrong tenor in Rene Kollo. It is not worth the price to pay if you don't have a good Bacchus. James King, who triumphed in the 1976 production in Vienna, with the same cast except Agnes Baltsa for Trudeliese Schmidt as the Composer, was the essence of Bacchus in Boehm's Wiener Staatsoper production which premiered November 20, 1976. I was in the audience, as I was a music student in Vienna at the time. Kollo could never beat King in performance of this role. I am just unbelieving that Boehm would even consider Kollo for this recording over James King. The MET version, with Jessye Norman and Tatiana Troyanos, has King in the cast as well. Suggestion: skip this version to get King's rendition of Bacchus, although Janowitz was truly a great Ariadne as well.
Summary of R. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos
Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos premiered in 1916, was something new, a startling blend of comedy and tragedy, both a frothy entertainment and a serious dip into the big issues--life, death, art, and love. It succeeds as a musical and theatre experience, especially in a production as respectful of the composer's intentions as this one, which more than fulfills his considerable musical demands on the performers. Strauss and his librettist, Hugo von Hoffmannsthal, fuse the tale of an opera company and a team of comedians hired to provide entertainment for a dinner party at the palatial home of Vienna's "richest man." The two groups of artists are forced at the last moment to combine their incompatible talents in a hastily rewritten opera which follows the Prologue--the familiar story of Ariadne abandoned by Theseus on the Greek island. This DVD of Ariadne is a 1978 film based on Filippo Sanjust's Vienna State Opera production. The bustling Prologue is set in the backstage area of the mogul's palace and the 18th century costumes fit neatly. In the opera proper, the stage is transformed into a very stagey desert island with an improbable set of stairs leading to the heroine's cave, the action spilling over into the theatre's side boxes at times. While there's nothing particularly imaginative about the production, it never distracts from the main event--the music. Strauss was profligate in his melodic gifts, his ability to make a reduced orchestra sound big, and his wonderful obsession with the female voice, which yields many glorious moments in the opera. Lavish casting helps.Gundula Janowitz is the prima donna who sings the title role, her fresh voice and musicality make her lament moving, but the coloratura soprano, Edita Gruberova, all but steals the show as Zerbinetta, providing both singing and acting splendor. Her coloratura is flawless, the trills in the aria "Grossm?chtige Prinzessin," effortless. The harassed Composer, seen only in the Prologue, is Trudeliese Schmidt, whose singing is first-rate and whose acting in the pants role suits the part admirably, the veritable archetype of the ardent, impetuous artist. Among the men, veteran Walter Berry is a fine Musicmaster, the voice of reason amid all the madcap goings-on, while the comedians are a feisty bunch with good voices. Special mention is due baritone Barry McDaniel's Harlequin and lyric tenor Heinz Zednik's Dancing Master (in the Prologue) and Brighella. The role of Bacchus is a thankless part and if Ren? Kollo is sometimes stiff and blustery, so too, are most tenors in that role. Pacing and orchestral playing could not be bettered as the Vienna Philharmonic is led by the great Strauss conductor, Karl B?hm. John Vernon's video direction is efficient, but his discreet use of fades and tight closeups may strike some as too much of a good thing. Filmed to a prerecorded soundtrack, lip-synching is smoothly done. There's a fine 1988 MET production led by James Levine with Jessye Norman and a similarly starry cast, but you can't go wrong with either--or both--of these versions of Strauss's opera. -- Dan Davis
Ariadne auf Naxos is an all-regions DVD in color and 4:3 ratio. Sound options include PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1 Surround. Sung in German with subtitles in English, French, Spanish, and Chinese.
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