Verdi - Luisa Miller
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Movie Reviews of Verdi - Luisa Miller
Movie Review: ANOTHER "LIVE FROM THE MET" GEM
Summary: 5 Stars
Not to "ditto," Rush-Limbaugh-like, comments other have made, but I too have hoped for a commercial, well-mastered issue of this telecast ever since it was broadcast live on PBS on a Saturday night in January, 1979. I didn't own a video recorder at the time and recorded the audio track on a (barely adequate) cassette. The same cast appeared on the Met's radio matinee exactly a week later, which has been available (in stereo) on CD on semi-pirate labels like Gala and Myto. And it has its strong points, mainly that everybody sounds a bit more relaxed than they were on the live telecast a week earlier, and thus some of the singing is a bit smoother.
But I'll take the feverish excitement of the telecast any day--and say what you will about Renata Scotto's occasionally wiry top notes, the lady was always riveting to watch. Some commentators have suggested she looks too matronly here for the young Luisa--I just don't see it. Vocally she was perhaps just past her peak here, and just beginning a precipitous slide that would crash-land about three years later with a disasterous opening-night "Norma" where she was practically booed off the stage. But for my ears the voice holds together nicely in this performance, and she acts her heart out.
Speaking of "booing"... if you, like me, wondered why the Met never saw fit to release this telecast on home video, evidently they had to wait until digital video editing was sophisticated enough for them to remove a rather ugly little demonstration by an obnoxious audience member in Act One. When Scotto begins her first solo, some idiot (evidently put out with some comments Scotto had recently made about Maria Callas) screams out "Brava Maria Callas, soprano assoluta!!" You DON'T see it on this DVD because DG managed to edit it out somehow (perhaps with videotape shot for test purposes at a previous performance; they neither acknowledge nor explain the omission). If you're interested, do a search on You Tube for "Luisa Miller"--I believe the original clip can be seen there.
I have to agree that Domingo looks foolish in the blond wig, but my, he sings like a god here, all the way up to a clean high B natural--and no, this was NOT cleaned up or edited for the DVD. Love him as I do, he has a somewhat justified reputation for cracking on high notes. But not this night. "Quando le sere" in act two is vintage Placido: impassioned, sonorous, broadly phrased. The minute-long cheering ovation that greets him is nearly as thrilling as his singing. Even as early as the 1978-79 season Milnes was, like Scotto, on the downward slope of his vocal prime, but he often sings thrillingly here. Bonaldo Giaiotti is in characteristically rich, if rather wooly, voice as Count Walter, and his plotting and scheming with Wurm is truly terrifying. Wurm, in the person of the young James Morris, is suitably creepy and oily. It's not exactly a showcase role vocally for a bass, but Morris has charisma galore. The supporting cast of Met regulars is perhaps less glamorous-- Jean Kraft looks more like Placido's mother than a childhood girlfriend--but they fit well into the production. Levine was still in his "young firebrand on the podium" period at this time, and his conducting, right from the overture, has an exciting, stylish Toscanini-like drive and thrust. The Met Orchestra wasn't as yet the virtuoso body they eventually became, but the playing is spirited.
The Scotto-heckler wasn't the only thing DG has edited here. This being a live telecast, the Met's radio announcer Peter Allen performed his customary job of commenting on the curtain calls and intro'ing the station breaks. Evidently the original stereo soundtrack was a very basic two-track job; DG no doubt wanted to eliminate Allen's live announcements for the purposes of home video, and since they couldn't simply remove them, they just dubbed over them... with "canned" applause... specifically, isolated "bravos" from the Domingo ovation in act two! Frankly, I almost wish they had eliminated the end-of-act curtain calls altogether, just a quick fade at the curtain. But I do understand why they did it. The camera work is a bit erratic (this was live-to-air, remember), and the video technology of 1979 isn't the last word in clarity; neither is the sound, which strikes me as too distant and echoey at times. (PBS would get much better at live audio as the "Live from the Met" series went on.) These same comments apply to the Met "Rigoletto" and "Boheme," both from 1977 and released along with this "Luisa Miller" by DG. But that doesn't make them any less essential. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Visceral performance of heart-rending Verdi.
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow! This is one of those glorious golden performances that we are privileged to now enjoy on DVD. This was my first exposure to Luisa Miller and I was astounded by the sheer power and emotional impact of both the opera and this performance. I'd have bought this long ago had I known what I was missing! This is an incomparable evening of heart-wrenching Verdi. For me, there is not a slack moment in it. Whatever weaknesses the opera has pale before the vigor and sincerity of Verdi's intent combined with the tremendous talent and dramatic commitment of the artists in this production.
At the outset Levine seizes you firmly by the throat with a ferociously intense overture (which may be full of sprightly tunes but the tragedy is already lurking, I think). Domingo and Scotto. Either of these incredible singing actors would be enough for me. Put them together and you are guaranteed fireworks. Here you get them performing as if their very souls just might burn themselves out. But it doesn't end there! We also have Milnes and Giaiotti (familiar from many a classic Verdi recording) who are both excellent in their contrasting father roles. Also, a devilishly charming Wurm in James Morris- what a treat!
And if the mere extravagance of the cast weren't enough there is that special, indefinable something extra that lifts this performance to a unique place in my viewing experience. Besides having one thrilling highlight after another there is a constant dramatic tension and overriding sense of occasion. Every time I watch this I am impressed all over again by the sheer earnestness of it all. There is real `heart' in the music and the performance.
In Luisa Miller I think Verdi has given us a very potent drama as well as lovely music. It strikes me as unpretentious- no grand opera spectacle- but simply direct and gripping. He concerns us with a handful of rather ordinary people and certainly managed to enlist my sympathy for their struggles. I don't say this can compare with the likes of Otello but it is utterly worthwhile in its own right and the third act is particularly exquisite. Verdi always has a special tenderness for father/daughter scenes and surely this is among the best. Scotto and Milnes play it out beautifully. Luisa's brief prayer of farewell reminds me a little of the similar scene in Otello- Desdemona's "Ave Maria". Then, enter the hurt, embittered and desperately vengeful Otello, er, Rodolfo. Domingo brings an animal ferocity to the following confrontation scene. I won't spoil it any further in case you don't know the story- I didn't before watching this and that first viewing was something to be remembered.
Bonus
The DVD also contains a unique bonus- a filmed interview with Levine, Scotto, Domingo and Milnes prepared for broadcast during intermission. It's pretty interesting with some discussion of how conductor and singers communicate and work together in performance.
Movie Review: A spirited performance
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this performance in a copy of the original broadcast. Not only were Domingo, Scotto and Milnes in their prime but the overall production is beautiful.
This performmance is one of those instances in which the singers, the greatest in their profession at the time, knowing it is being produced for video, give the best of their craft.
Domingo is dazzling, powerful and convincing as Rodolfo. His 'Quando le sere al placido' aria followed by the tragic 'L'ara ol'avello aprestammi' answer to his father request of marrying the Countess instead of his beloved Luisa, is perhaps among the best singing Domingo has ever done.
Renata Scotto's powerful expressive voice also in her prime gives Luisa character and credibility. The duet in the first act with Rodolfo is a delight to listen.
Morris with his deep tragic voice (remember Die Walküre) gives the sinister, treacherous Wurm a nice place in this performance. As does Giaiotti in Rodolfo's father 'Il Conte di Walter' role.
Jean Craft, alto expressive voice is perfect for the elegant Duchess doomed by a wrong match.
Last, but by no means least, is the strong and musical Sherill Milnes, who performs a moving, yet menacing Miller. His bravado in the 'A fu giusto il mio sospetto' aria confirming the young man pretending his daughter is a nobleman and not the peasant is a show of vocal fireworks. (Although I know many don't like Milnes, I cannot forget a beautiful Iago in Boston with McCracken and the Met, when I was a young man. Since then I have been his faithful fan.)
With the excellent leadership of Levine, this is a one of a kind perfomance not to be missed.
Movie Review: a superb classic
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the last great bel canto opera from Verdi's early period. (Stiffelio was actually the last, but Verdi wasn't happy with it and rewrote it so extensively that he renamed it 'Aroldo'.) The set is fine, we even get a bit of decorative Tyrol in the opening scene. It is a pleasure to see that the costuming is spot on for the period (think of the Roundheads and Cavaliers, large white collars over black coats).
The five principals are either the best in the world or equal to the best. Renata Scotto equals Joan Sutherland in technique but far surpasses her as an actress. Her pathos in the final scenes was heart-wrenching.
Placido Domingo was at the peak of his career. I was surprised that in his big Act 11 showpiece aria, he sang with the use of brilliant tone throughout, whereas the words in the middle section were calling out for a gentler, legato colour.
Sherrill Milnes was, in my opinion, simply in his day the best baritone in the world. His technique and musicianship are magnificent.
James Morris, familiar as a Wagnerian bass, has light tone for a bass, but the added advantage of flexibility.
Bonaldo Giaiotto has a rich, honeyed basso cantate with silky smooth delivery, an ageing man, but with no sign whatever of the dreaded vibrato.
Verdi has written a bel canto opera the equal of anything that Donizetti and Bellini ever wrote, and with singers that are best world class, this production is simply superb. K.R.
Movie Review: An Evening Out Of The Golden Age
Summary: 5 Stars
While it is true that the picture from this telecast is occasionally fuzzy and the sound, despite remastering, at times more congested than ideal, this "Luisa Miller" remains a performance of the highest caliber, a reminder of what the Met can do when it casts only from strength. Scotto, Domingo, Milnes, Giaiotti, and Morris are all captured here in their glorious primes. They are undisputably, to a person, vocal Paganinis. Moreover, James Levine has never conducted, in my experience, with a more subtle balance between vocal and orchestral demands. The only way to do justice to this performance is to call it what it surely is: an evening out of any operatic Golden Age, past or present.