R. Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Tomowa-Sintow, Baltsa, Perry, Moll, von Karajan, Salzburg Opera

Starring:Strauss, Karajan
Studio: Sony
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Simply divine
Reference and perfection - what else?
My 5th video, and a good one!
Not Quite Covent Garden...
Karajan and Strauss

R. Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier / Tomowa-Sintow, Baltsa, Perry, Moll, von Karajan, Salzburg Opera
Starring: Strauss , and Karajan
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005A1SZ
Release Date: 2001-03-13

Customer Reviews:

Simply divine.......2006-05-09

Along with the recording, this cast of "Der Rosenkavalier" is really one of the absolute best that I could ever ask for. Anna Tomowa-Sintow's Marschallin nearly brought me to tears, Agnes Baltsa's Octavian is absoultely sublime, and Janet Perry's Sophie is utterly lovely and adorable! Plus the amazing sets and the divinity of Maestro von Karajan, this DVD is simply amazing, one of the most perfect Rosenkavalier productions, and doesn't lose a bit to the Convent Garden production with Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Howells, and Barbara Bonney.

Reference and perfection - what else?.......2006-03-16

A (the?) reference performance of Strauss's "Rosenkavalier". Dated? no: timeless! The rival, hard to chose from: Carlos Kleiber's rendition with Anne Sophie von Otter as Octavian instead of Agnes Baltsa. I don't really like Richard Strauss, but I love and collect great recordings, and I cherish both of these "Rosenkavaliers" for the performances given. They are two solitary gems - perfectly transfered onto DVD, sound as well as picture. A pleasure to watch and to own!
For somebody who loves Strauss, they are a must. You'll never meet the likes again.

My 5th video, and a good one!.......2005-08-01

Thanks to the "troops" of reviewers, I bought my 5th version of Der Rosenkavalier. It's a delight, even if it's not my "favorite." But it has the stage elements of the Paul Czinner film that really brought me back. I saw the Czinner film as a teenager in Chicago. I later saw it at a movie theater in Wilmette, IL. This new DVD is great. The singing is wonderful, and the orchestra is gorgeous. Everybody agrees about Kurt Moll. (This man could sing the phone book.) My favorite video version of Rosenkavalier still is the Covent Garden performance, (second - but virtually tied for first is the Kleiber-Vienna recording) but this performance is very fine. Rosenkavalier is an opera where people will applaud the sets - they did so at a 1973 performance I attended at Chicago's Lyric Opera when the curtain rose on Act II. The Saltzburg set is really fine - enhanced over the years, but with all its elements in the same positions as the Czinner film - making it an almost nostalgic experience to see this version. Do yourself a favor. Now that the Czinner film is out of circulation (I bought 2 of the last 6 VHS copies available at least 3 years ago), see this one. You won't regret it.

Not Quite Covent Garden..........2005-02-02

...but a lovely (albeit enormous) production nonetheless. Well directed and designed, this 1984 Salzburg Festival performance doesn't come close to matching the magic of the Kiri Te Kanawa/Georg Solti version, nor, for that matter, of the Vienna Opera DVD (remarkably conducted by Carlos Kleiber). But what this "Der Rosenkavalier" does have is the best Octavian of the three, the brilliant Agnes Baltsa. Superbly sung and acted, this is a performance by turns funny, disarming and poignant. As her Sophie, Janet Perry is movie-star beautiful, but her voice thins out at the top; she's certainly no Barbara Bonney. As the Marschallin, Anna Tomowa-Sintow is more burghermeister's wife than princess, sounding lovely, but holding the same inexpressive face for most of her time on stage. For myself, Kurt Moll, who is also in the Kleiber version, is more frightening and unpleasant than Baron Ochs need be. But don't get me wrong, this is an enjoyable 3 hours, and at this price, you really can't go wrong.

Karajan and Strauss.......2004-09-28

I don't consider Karajan to be a great opera conductor, although he has made a few great recordings (especially with La Scala). When one listens to his Puccini recordings, one is mostly aware of the orchestral qualities, and less so the drama. This performance follows the same lines.

Karajan has a reputation for being a great Strauss conductor; I think this is somewhat unjustified, and stems mostly from misunderstandings about Strauss' music (specifically the over emphasis on the so called 'romantic' qualities). He tends to be high on intense passion, rather low on clarity--normally this wouldn't be a problem, but unlike Beethoven or Sibelius, Strauss' music is very dense and easily can easily get lost.

I do, however, enjoy this series of DVD's, mostly because he is far superior over the many other conductors out there making dvd's (Levine for example). I own several between him and Solti of operas that I don't feel are especially great performances, but better than any other in the DVD market. If there was a Bohm peformance of this opera on DVD, I would certainly not go for Karajan. When it comes to listening to opera, I always prefer Giulini's Falstaff to Karajan. But since opera is first and foremost theater, it's a fair trade off in order to experience it.

So why does Karajan tend to fail in the theater? Every opera performance I've seen by him features exagerrated gestures and obvious jokes that are often quite ineffective and akward. The performances often lack subtlety, and occasionally there seems to be trouble with communication between conductor and singers. He seems to need to fill every moment with action, and sometimes back ground action just becomes absurd. In the second act, for example, Baron Ochs quite amusingly is convinced he has recieved a mortal wound from Octavian. When a doctor is fetched, they mime a performance in which the doctor tests for reflexes and suggest painful, unrelated treatments. The sight gags are ineffective, too exagerrated, and a little desperate. I won't go as far as to say they hurt the performance (although his production of Falstaff definitely was) but they demonstrate an overall akwardness with the theater that is typical of Karajan.

Having said all that, it is certainly worth seeing, and as stated before, better than most of the alternatives. Certainly it does not hold up well to the very famous Kleiber performance (and Baltsa is not as convincing or successful Octavian), but at less than half the price it is a very good way to experience the opera. Moll's performance as Ochs is very masterful. Karajan conducts it well, and passionately; traditionally people have either made him out to be a brilliant sonorous perfectionist or aloof, disinterested and rude. I have heard accounts saying that he was obsessed with the recording process and also that he couldn't care less about it; personally I think, as with all people possessing what we call genius, that we should ignore most of what was said about him, especially in the face of such blatant contradictions. There is no doubt that he cared a great deal about this opera and that he worked very hard to make this performance good; also it is the best of the series in terms of video quality. If you have any interest or respect for Karajan, you will definitely enjoy this dvd.

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