Stravinsky

Starring:Stravinsky
Studio: Video Artists Int'l
Product Type: DVD

Fantasia (60th Anniversary Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Beautiful
A child's memories
GREAT BUT DATED 3 DISC SET IS NICE BUT......................
I'm a bigger fan of Lilo & Stitch!
Fantasia will amazia!

Fantasia (60th Anniversary Special Edition)
Starring: Leopold Stokowski , Bela Lugosi , Mickey Mouse , Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra , and Walt Disney
Director: Walt Disney , James Algar , Samuel Armstrong , Ford I. Beebe , and Graham Heid
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
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Similar Items:

Fantasia 2000
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
Pinocchio (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
101 Dalmatians (Limited Issue)
Alice in Wonderland (Masterpiece Edition)

Accessories:

Fantasia 2000 (Blisterpack)

ASIN: B00003CX9W
Release Date: 2000-11-14

Amazon.com essential video

Groundbreaking on several counts, not the least of which was an innovative use of animation and stereophonic sound, this ambitious Disney feature has lost nothing to time since its release in 1940. Classical music was interpreted by Disney animators, resulting in surreal fantasy and playful escapism. Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra provided the music for eight segments by the composers Tchaikovsky, Moussorgsky, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Ponchielli, Bach, Dukas, and Schubert. Not all the sequences were created equally, but a few are simply glorious, such as "Night on Bald Mountain," "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," and "The Nutcracker Suite." The animation ranges from subtly delicate to fiercely bold. The screen bursts with color and action as creatures transmute and convention is thrust aside. The painstaking detail and saturated hues are unique to this film, unmatched even by more advanced technology. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful.......2007-04-04

While it is not plot based or known for a memorable and charming story, it is a wonder to watch. Music creates images in most of us, whether they be memories of something prior, or something conjured up from the sound. Fantasia is based on that idea. Listening to this classic music, set to such elegant and wonderful images is a treat. One of the best of it's kind. Enjoy.

A child's memories.......2007-03-09

This is the first movie I remember seeing as a child. I was probably about 7 years old at the time. I've never forgotten it, and now, after 59 years, I'm viewing it again. It's just as wonderful as it was when I saw it the first time, although there are a couple of "bits" that I don't remember from my first viewing. It keeps me company during my treadmill walks. It does a wonderful job of helping me to pass the time. It's a beautiful combination of art and classical music.

GREAT BUT DATED 3 DISC SET IS NICE BUT.............................2007-03-08

I am a big fan of Disney films. The animated classics will be forever imprinted in my mind. I do have a huge problem with any censorship! Unfortunately, the people at Disney decided to buckle under to it, because of a few cry babies complaining about racial stereotypes in some of their films. I know I am not the first to say this,but really are these people serious? I am Italian and German, do you think I have not seen my share of stereotyping in my 45 years on this planet? Why hasn't Stromboli from Pinochhio been altered for it's depiction of an Italian? It seems we are very selective with what we censor..hhmmm!I don't mind it because I know the characterization is just that and it doesn't reflect the entire race! Please stop censorship of any kind especially regarding these historic works of art. You can not change history you can only learn from it!

I'm a bigger fan of Lilo & Stitch! .......2007-02-17

I bought it when I was on my Disney kick -- was fascinated by it for like a week and then sold it on eBay. It's great for kids though!

Fantasia will amazia!.......2007-02-16

Sorry Disney studios, but my heading was an actual promo quip for the FANTASIA theatrical release.
I was first introduced to the awareness of the Fantasia movie while in elementary school viewing a "prehistoric animation clip" narrated as a seperate dinosaur documentary. Later I learned it was taken from Walt Disney FANTASIA feature. When I finally saw the movie as a whole in the theater, I was mesmerized. "The Dance Of The Hours" sequence was especially memorable, since no one in the audience could stop laughing at the animal ballet antics.
Being a soundtrack collector, even as a young kid, I got the 3 vinyl album issue of Fantasia soundtrack on Buena Vista label, which included a program insert that was as wonderful as the movie. It even included a fold out long colorful poster which had been used to promote the re-release of Fantasia in the 70's.
Therefore I totally agree with people's opinions that this animated feature is relevant to interests of all ages, young children and adults.
I would listen to the classic movie soundtrack over and over, picturing the fantasies in my mind. This is a wonderful addition to any childs collection, whether soundtrack, movie, or both! Do not wait!

Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music - Stravinsky's Rite of Spring

Average customer rating:

The work - and this DVD - stand alone
Great Presentation
Wonderful presentation on every front!

Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music - Stravinsky's Rite of Spring
Director: Joan Saffa , and David Kennard
Manufacturer: San Francisco Sym
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Keeping Score: Revolutions in Music - Beethoven's Eroica
Keeping Score: Copland and the American Sound
Keeping Score: MTT On Music
Mahler: Symphony No. 5 [Hybrid SACD]
Hilary Hahn: A Portrait

ASIN: B000JBWWTW
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Customer Reviews:

The work - and this DVD - stand alone.......2007-05-24

To my knowledge, this DVD is unique. Michael Tilson Thomas does an excellent job of dissecting this music for those of us who can't read a score. I've been listening to Le Sacre ever since I was sixteen (1972), and there are many, many things I've learned from watching and listening to this DVD. (Not the least of which is the fact that the famous upper register bassoon opening is, in fact, quoting a Russian peasant song.)

The audio mix is especially good for hearing the various orchestral textures in this piece. (I heard details I've never heard before.) Also helpful is the actual footage of the instrumentalists playing the pieces - and discussing their parts in the work.

One note, however: A DANCED PERFORMANCE OF LE SACRE IS NOT A PART OF THIS DVD. What you get is an orchestral performance. (Some footage of danced scenes are in Thomas' commentary, however.) This concert performance is excellent - but it is just not complete. I suppose it's too much to ask for both...

Great Presentation.......2007-04-18

This DVD is fantastic, especially if you are not familiar with the Rite of Spring. The DVD goes through some of the background of Russian ballet and Russian composers from the late Romantic period, then briefly discusses Rimsky-Korsakov (Stravinsky's teacher) and his ballet Mlada. This leads up to to Stravinsky and the Firebird, then covers the radical departure to Rite of Spring. Michael Tilson-Thomas does a superb job in breaking down the musical material and orchestration of the Rite, and there are interviews with some of the musicians from the SF orchestra who describe and demonstrate their parts, although this can sometimes be a bit redundant in conjunction with the narrative. What is also remarkable about the DVD is that the viewer gets to see the conductor from the front, as opposed to the back of the conductor in a concert hall situation. Michael Tilson-Thomas is a very expressive conductor, and his face demonstrates this as well as his baton. I recommend this DVD for music teachers, as I use it in my classrooms. It is a very fine presentation of one Western music history's greatest pieces!

Wonderful presentation on every front!.......2006-12-27

Michael Tilson Thomas does a fantastic job presenting the musical and social elements that went into this masterpiece of composition. The program is pithy enough for musicians, and accessible enough for music lovers. A very intelligent and entertaining piece of work; beautifully filmed and edited.

As a bonus, we get full performance versions of excerpts from "The Firebird" (beautifully played!) as well as the complete "Rite of Spring". The performance is very exciting; I am familiar with at least 4 other recordings of this piece, and sections here are taken faster than I've heard before-but never sound too fast. The energy and joy of the the conducting brings out the best of this incredible piece. This performance has become my favorite. Highly recommended.

Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet

Average customer rating:

Stravinsky Ballets
artistry at its best
An audio visual feast
A Battle In Visions -- Or What a Wedding!
firebird &les noces dvd

Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet
Starring: Stravinsky , Carewe , and Royal Ballet
Manufacturer: BBC / Opus Arte
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Kirov Celebrates Nijinsky / Sheherazade, La Spectre de la Rose, The Polovtsian Dances, The Firebird
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Diaghilev, Cocteau - Picasso and Dance / Paris Opera Ballet
La Sylphide - Lis Jeppesen, Sorella Englund, Royal Danish Ballet
Return of the Firebird: Petrushka/Firebird/Scheherazade

ASIN: B0000714CM
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Description

The Royal Ballet's glorious Stravinsky Double Bill unleashes the spectacular production of "The Firebird" with the stark beauty of "Les Noces," magically choreographed by the legendary Nijinska. The all-star cast includes Zenaida Yanowsky and David Pickering as the Bride and Bridegroom in "Les Noces," Leanne Benjamin as The Firebird, Jonathan Cope as Ivan Tsarevich, Genesia Rosato as The Beautiful Tsarevna and as The Immortal Kostchei, David Drew, who recalls in an absorbing interview his role in Nijinska's original production of "Les Noces." As an added bonus, this unmissable DVD also includes exclusive behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage of the two ballets.

Customer Reviews:

Stravinsky Ballets.......2007-06-27

Firebird is one of the greatest ballets, and it was well done. Les Noces is rather dull.

artistry at its best.......2007-05-08

This DVD is a must have for any Stravinksy fan, any dance fan, and any fan of what's good in the world. Both Firebired and Les Noces are top notch productions in every way. The DVD extra documentaries about rehearsing and the choreographer are also very good.

An audio visual feast.......2006-03-16

Everyone interested in Stravinsky ballet music will certainly value this amazing recording. The Royal Ballet at his best.

A Battle In Visions -- Or What a Wedding!.......2005-11-28

This DVD contains two marvelous works of Igor Stravinsky: his Firebird and Les Noces [the Wedding], each performed in ballet to a profoundly different effect. I am sure you will find this disc both enthralling and deeply disappointing.

The Firebird is Stravinsky's most popular work, and it receives top billing here. Musically, it is an experimental work, preparing the foundation for the revolution that is Le Sacre du Printemps. Yet, its treatment by thr Royal Ballet in costumes, scenery, and dance, is as a work of pure classical ballet, marked by grace, and a remarkable lack of dynamism. Firebird is not not Swan Lake (despite some similarities in their underlying myths); to treat Stravinsky like Tschaikovsky is to produce a banal anachronism. One ought not to blame Folkine here -- at least not entirely, for the Kirov's Return of the Firebird shows the excitement that can be produced in Folkine/Stravinsky conbinations, even if the Kirov's technical effects a bit over the top.

Ah!, but the production Les Noces with choreography by Nijinskaya is among the most extraordinary on disc. Through most of his music, Stravinsky in interested not in portraying the day to day reality of individual lives but the excitement and drama of community rituals. Nijinskaya, the sister of Nijinsky, choreographed a dance of extraordinary originality based on her own unique conception of formalized movement that underscores Stravinsky's artistic genius. Those who, like me, love the Taymor production of Oedipus Rex with Norman & Ozawa will be intoxicated by this dance. (Drew's commentary on Les Noces is the most enjoyable "extra" I have found on DVD.) If, however, you find these works distasteful, I am sure you will enjoy the Royal Ballet's Firebird.

firebird &les noces dvd.......2004-08-26

well performed, great for the lover of CLASSIC ballet. shot on a very obvious childishly simple stage. the ballet is technically correct but dead. no tv effects were used. look at the newest "midsummer night's dream" dvd to see what can be done with video and a computer. this firebird dvd is well danced but boring. i think it is a terrible dvd of an exciting ballet. this is not the dvd to teach your kids to love ballet. sorry . i am so disappointed with this dvd that i am trying to return it.BORING,BORING,BORING.

Choreography By Balanchine / Tzigane, Andante from Divertimento No 15, The Four Temperaments, Selections from Jewels, Stravinsky Violin Concerto

Average customer rating:

a dream come true
Don't buy it!
out-of-sync problem still not fixed
Great Dancing but the sound is Out of Synch!
Suzanne Farrell returns in Tzigane

Choreography By Balanchine / Tzigane, Andante from Divertimento No 15, The Four Temperaments, Selections from Jewels, Stravinsky Violin Concerto
Starring: New York City Ballet , George Balanchine , Suzanne Farrell , and Merrill Ashley
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
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Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Choreography By Balanchine / Chaconne, Prodigal Son, Ballo Della Regina, Elegie, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux
Balanchine
Suzanne Farrell - Elusive Muse
Balanchine - Jewels / Aurelie Dupont, Alessio Carbone, Marie-Agnes Gillot, Agnes Letestu, Jean-Guillaume Bart, Clairemarie Osta, Kader Belarbi, Paris Opera Ballet
The Kirov Celebrates Nijinsky / Sheherazade, La Spectre de la Rose, The Polovtsian Dances, The Firebird

ASIN: B000228SWS
Release Date: 2004-06-08

Customer Reviews:

a dream come true.......2007-04-22

PBS: Great Performances > Dance In America > Choreography by Balanchine >:
Parts 1 and 2 of 4 (1977)

I saw some of this series on TV back in 1978. I was awe-striken. I was a twenty-year fan of Stravinsky's music already and impressed by the composer's high opinion of this dance master (Mr. B). Seeing it for myself (being unable to go to NYC and actually attend) was totally thrilling and indelibly memorable.

Not mentioned here by other reviewers is that this is parts 1 and 2 of 4 parts made in Nashville TN. By the time I found out about the HVS tapes and their tranfer to DVD, I already had read Bernard Taper's biography of GB (with super photographs!) and became a Balanchine admirer in general (not just Stravinsky-Balanchine!). Some PBS celebration shows helped.

I like all of it. I haven't been bothered by any video/audio unsynchronicity (if there really is any) on this DVD.

Let me rave on about my very favorite dances.

The Four Temperaments, music by Hindemith - I am amused by the tale that Mr. B had some cash ahead after working for Broadway and Hollywood, so he commissioned the piece of music from Hindemith. I don't know of anyone else who would celebrate a financial return into the black this way. Mr. B didn't even have a dance company at the time. But then he and Lincoln Kirstein started Ballet Society, with would end up evolving into NYCB. The story is pure Balanchine: the music comes first; the dance makes the music visual.

Stravinsky Violin Concerto, music by Stravinsky (of course!) - Mr. B made two choreographies of this concerto: Balustrade in the 1940s and Violin Concerto after Stravinsky's passing on. This one is the second of these. Unlike the first, it is plain, without storyline, decor or special costuming. The music is the story.

The dancers are so young (and beautiful!) in this film. Some of them would achieve great dancing and teaching careers. But others must testify to the exact quality of dancing on this film. I couldn't tell you the differences between demi-pliés and battements fondus. I just like what I see and hear.

Don't buy it!.......2007-01-25

YES....let this and the other 1 star review stop you from buying this DVD. The works on it are masterpieces, but the lousy inexcusable tech problems do not deserve your hard earned money! The music is off by maybe a second, but c'mon....this isn't American Bandstand. It's BALLET...precision is the rule. I would hope you would care enough to mind, whether you've seen the ballets before or not.
"The 4 Temperaments" is the best of Balenchine. A piece of perfection to fantastic music by Hindeminth. The choreography actually enhances the already brilliant score. But if dancers are not dancing to the beats, it is ruined and that's what you have here. It is unwatchable!

out-of-sync problem still not fixed.......2005-09-12

I recently bought this DVD, and the out-of-sync problem is still not fixed. The problem is blatantly noticeable with "Tzigane", no less because of the telltale hand-slap just before the end of the ballet. With "The 4 Temperaments", it's rather like a niggling pain that just gets on your nerves. I've also written to Nonesuch, but as with the other reviewer, they haven't responded. Having said all that, however, I would still highly recommend it if only because it is still a valuable record of NYCB in its golden age. Farrell in "Diamonds" is peerless. The other alternative would be to get it on VHS, which doesn't have the out-of-sync problem.

Great Dancing but the sound is Out of Synch!.......2004-07-22

Don't waste your money. Unfortunately, this long awaited DVD was transferred badly and the sound in part one is out of synch by several counts. Suzanne Farrell and Merrill Ashley are dancing off the music and it is very annoying. It is unbelievable that something like this could happen when you take into consideration that Balanchine was probably the most musical choreographer that ever lived. Never pedantic, always magical. I did inform the Balanchine Trust. They were surprised and are looking into it. They are aware that the transfer was done incorrectly. The company that produced the DVD, Nonesuch was also called but did not respond. Wait until it?s fixed unless you like dancing 4 counts behind the music.

Suzanne Farrell returns in Tzigane.......2004-07-08

Worth it for Suzanne Farrell's abondoned return to the fold in Tzigane - the moment in the coda when she bends back into Martin's supporting arm is worth the price of admission. Weakness: they omit the Rudies section of Jewels supposedly because Heather Watts was not happy with her performance. Nice to see Kay Mazzo again. Wish they would release Serenade and Duo Concertante, the initial programs of the Great Performance Balanchine series.

Included:
Tzigane: Farrell/Martins

Andante from Divertimento No 15 w/ Ashley, Calegari, Pillarre,
Saland, Spohn, Bennett, Casttelli, Weiss

The Four Temperments w/Cook, Luders, Neary, Ashley, Duell

Selections from Jewels
Emeralds: Ashley, Ebitz, Bourne, Duell, Watts, von Aronldingen, Lavery

Diamonds pas de deux: Farrell/Martins

Customer Reviews:

At a loss for words.......2007-05-31

Not much to say...I'm simply stunned and speechless, in agreement with the most extreme of all you enthusiasts. I just found this DVD up here in the Mexican High Sierra, and I can hardly express my delight with it. I'm in the classical music world, and really know what a valuable thing Julie Taynor has done for every creative soul: from Sophocles, Cocteau, e.e.cummings and Stravinsky, to all the people she's inspired in the concept of this "oratorio". As Jessye Norman says; she felt she was co-creating with Taynor, something that brought out the best in her. Already a goddess, that's saying something.
The DVD production is A-1, and as Julie and Jessye suggest: turn off the subtitles (you know the story) and just let the magic - the dancing, the sets, the costumes, the acting, and above all Stravinsky's powerful music, transport you back to a time when human beings were the playthings of the gods, and when the rational mind had not yet destroyed our imaginative capacities.

Buy this production NOW before it disappears. You just never know.

simply superb!.......2006-12-24

Gifted director/designer Julie Taymor apparently secures one amazing success after another, and this arresting production is surely one of her supreme creations! Adapting the conventions of the seventeenth-century opera-oratorio, Stravinsky's 1927 score marks the beginning of his neoclassical period, with absolute command of both orchestral writing and dramatic intensity. It's interesting that Stravinsky's stated reason for choosing Latin for the score's libretto - '(it) had the great advantage of giving me a medium not dead but turned to stone, and so monumentalised as to have become immune from any risk of vulgarisation' - is precisely that offered by the Roman Church as the reason for her codification of Latin as its liturgical language (before the desacralisation of the Roman liturgy by neo-modernist barbarians). In fact, Cocteau's libretto was translated from French to Latin by the Jesuit (later Cardinal) Jean Danielou. The impersonality of the text/poem itself has the adroit effect of freezing dramatic consequence to the point of white heat, intuitively heightening the entire drama, something Stravinsky no doubt foresaw and is, interestingly, the key facet out of which Taymor vividly draws unerring pathos. The design of this production is like nothing else! That being said, the singing is magnificent - Jessye Norman, Philip Landridge and Bryn Terfel all in rare and perfect form, Norman especially, with her leonine face and voice delivers a riveting Jocasta in the performance of a career, something all the more shocking given the princely Impersonal so deliberately embedded by Stravinsky in the score itself. Norman and Ozawa have often worked together to wonderful effect (their recording of Carmen comes to mind), and the elucidation of detail he draws from the Saito Kinen Orchestra is astonishing at every turn. This is a piece impossible to completely absorb in one read through, but repeated viewings easily yield its greatness, and the DVD bonus extras are a vital part of reaping every ounce of the greatness of this superb production. Highest recommendation.

The Very Best!.......2006-06-17

This is the best production of ANYTHING I have ever seen.
I could go on and on about this but I'd run out of superlatives in no time at all.
We've waited a long time for this to become available. I'm glad it's here at last.

Absolutely brilliant........2005-10-31

Oedipus Rex is probably my favorite of Stravinsky's works (which is obviously saying a lot), and Julie Taymor's production enriches the opera in every conceivable way. On one hand, it may not be totally true to the distance and austerity Stravinsky originally had in mind, but Taymor strikes a perfect balance with her reserved yet extremely artistic staging. She draws emotion from the work that is obviously present, no matter what Stravinsky may have maintained!

The cast is great, Ozawa and the musicians interpret the music well...I could go on and on. Thank goodness they finally released this on DVD...I'm replacing my bootleg VHS version!

The Best in Opera.......2005-10-13

Frankly, I have never seen a more riveting opera. It's so wonderful and full of symbolism and imagery that will blow your mind! Julie Taymor's design and ingenuity truly rules the stage.

Also, if the imagery is a bit unclear after you watch it, the part in JULIE TAYMOR: PLAYING WITH FIRE about this opera is a good tool. It will explain everything and make it all the richer.

PS It's also quite short-only about 57 minutes, so anyone over age 12 will be able to enjoy it. (any younger than that, they may not be able to appreciate all the imagery)

Stravinsky - Le Rossignol / Natalie Dessay, Laurent Naouri, Violetta Urmana, Marie McLaughlin, Maxim Mikhailov, James Conlon, Paris National Opera

Average customer rating:

Very Surealistic
Five stars don't do this one justice! Brilliant!
Extraordinary and Beautiful Re-imagining
magical performance
Classical Animation

Stravinsky - Le Rossignol / Natalie Dessay, Laurent Naouri, Violetta Urmana, Marie McLaughlin, Maxim Mikhailov, James Conlon, Paris National Opera
Starring: Natalie Dessay , Vsevolod Grivnov , and Albert Shagidullin
Manufacturer: Virgin Classics
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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Stravinsky - Oedipus Rex / Norman, Langridge, Terfel, Swenson, Tatara, Peters, Shiraishi, Ozawa, Saito Kinen Opera-Oratorio
Prokofiev - Betrothal in a Monastery / Netrebko, Diadkova, Alexashkin, Akimov, Gergalov, Gassiev, Sokolova, Gergiev, Kirov Opera
Rossini - Moise et Pharaon / Frittoli, Ganassi, Abdrazakov, Schrott, Filianoti, Muzek, Giuseppini, Ceron, Surguladze, Muraro, Muti, La Scala Opera
Rossini - Ermione / Antonacci, Ford, Montague, Austin Kelly, Howell, Nilon, Lopez-Yanez, Unwin, Davis, Glyndebourne Opera
Rameau - Les Paladins / Piau, Naouri, Lehtipuu, d'Oustrac, Piolino, Schirrer, Gonzalez-Toroi, Christie, Paris Opera

ASIN: B0007RO54I
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Customer Reviews:

Very Surealistic.......2007-02-25

I have enjoyed the CD of this performance for years and I tried to watch it when it was shown on my local PBS station, but you can't be interrupted and you have to watch it from the beginning. When I saw that it was available on DVD (actually I looked for it after the last abortive attempt to watch it) I snapped it up. I finally got a chance to watch it last night and I was amazed. This performance is a bit difficult to understand and I would suggest that reading the Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tale first. The musical production is fantastic. I have always hoped that Natalie Dessay would dome to the San Francisco Opera and she finally is next season. The video production is magical and surreal. The bonus materials that I have watched so far are intriguing.

Five stars don't do this one justice! Brilliant!.......2006-08-05

This DVD is an excellent example of what the DVD medium can and should be, especially in relation to Classical music and Opera.

This is a fantasy and an opera. The singers, actors and orchestra are first class. The production is imaginative and beautiful to behold. There are lots of extras on the DVD.

This is what Fantasia 2000 should and could have been and what Fantasia 2000 aimed for and failed so embarrassingly and so ignominiously to do - marry music with the imagination. Throw your Fantasia DVD into the nearest dumpster and buy this! Trust me.

Natalie Dessay is here, and, if you're like me, her presence is sufficient reason to buy this marvellous product. She is the star of this, as well as the sweet and innocent little boy who stars in this film.

Fantastic stuff! YOU should have a look!

I mean it!

Extraordinary and Beautiful Re-imagining.......2006-07-24

This amazing film blends 3-D computer graphics with live action and it is simply brimming with creativity and ideas. The tips of hundreds of violin bows appear out of the mist-covered ground. We inhabit a weird yet wonderful world run by an all-powerful "man behind the curtain" who happens to be personified by two black gloves manipulating an enormous control console. "He" has hundreds of assistents sitting in front of computer screens, typing away in rhythm with the music. There are Gigantic Chinese Urns inhabited with dancing girls instead of Genii. There are courtiers who appear as heads inside of Chinese lanterns. There are crowds of black-gloves applauding wildly and pointing at the scenery to get some bit of stagecraft done. There is a cigarette-smoking death (Violeta Urmana), in league with a mad flying, clicking bar-code applier, and there is the Nightingale (Natalie Dessay) who sings most beautifully, and makes a present of a cellphone to the Great Emperor. Does all of this sound weird? Well, I suppose it is... a bit. But it is also stunning, moving, and, yes, even awe inspiring.

magical performance.......2006-02-01

Christian Chaudet's film of Le Rossignol is mesmerizing; the graphics that create the magical kingdom are equivalent to anyone's finest dream. Natalie Dessay's wordless vocals, throughout, mingling with the rest of the magic in the kingdom makes for an undescribably satisfying evening of watching and listening.

Classical Animation.......2006-01-28

I tuned into this midway through late one night on PBS and had to find out what it was. The mix of live action and CG is totally captivating, no small achievement in this age of big-budget special effects. I especially appreciate how the imagery, which cleverly integrates a campy Orientalism with the paraphernalia of the digital age, has a brash, disturbing edge to it that matches Stravinsky's music. This isn't your grandma's Hans Christian Andersen, and I don't think Stravinsky wanted it to be. Christian Chaudet deserves a lot of credit for finding a way to re-enchant these classics while staying true to their spirit. Well worth watching.

Stravinsky - The Rake's Progress / Lott, Goeke, Ramey, Elias, van Allan, Haitink, Glyndebourne Opera

Average customer rating:

Impressive Realization of THE RAKE
This Production Will Likely Never Be Bettered
Finally, The Rake's Progress as Stravinsky and Auden intended it.

Stravinsky - The Rake's Progress / Lott, Goeke, Ramey, Elias, van Allan, Haitink, Glyndebourne Opera
Starring: Samuel Ramey , Leo Goeke , Felicity Lott , Richard van Allan , and Bernard Haitink
Manufacturer: Arthaus Musik
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000A16I2S
Release Date: 2005-08-16

Customer Reviews:

Impressive Realization of THE RAKE.......2006-06-27

THE RAKE'S PROGRESS, a collaborative effort between composer Igor Stravinsky and poets W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is one of the operatic milestones of the 20th century. This often misunderstood and even maligned work divided critics when it was premiered in 1951: some thought it a pointless pastiche, others found the work's classical sanity and clarity deeply meaningful and the perfect artistic antidote to the recent World War. The highly literary Auden/Kallman libretto, inspired by moralistic narrative drawings by William Hogarth, is a brilliant and timeless parable, illustrating the moral downfall of a weak, naive young man at the hands of the nihilistic arguments of the Devil. Stravinsky's neoclassical score, by turns acerbic and warmly lyrical, attains in places to a 20th-century approximation of the crystalline purity and perfection of Mozart. Such arias as "Love, too frequently betrayed", "Vary the song, O London", and "No word from Tom"; the trio in Act II Scene 2; and the final scene in the madhouse are among such transcendent musical moments.

Finally (as of 2005), we have the opportunity to enjoy on DVD what is probably the most famous production of the opera, the one designed by David Hockney for the Glyndebourne Festival in 1975 (though it could be 1995, so clear are the picture and sound). The sets of this staging feature flat surfaces and cross-hatching motifs that mimic the famous Hogarth etchings while also underscoring the opera's deliberate artificiality and stylization. The sets and costumes are in several places colorful and beautiful; on the other hand, in the brothel scene and the auction scene Hockney sacrifices beauty to gross realism and/or grotesquerie, making these scenes less enjoyable for me (though by no means un-Hogarthian).

Tenor Leo Goeke plays the titular rake, Tom Rakewell; while not extremely incisive in vocal tone or stage presence, he proves moving as Tom plunges into despair and madness, crying real tears in the madhouse scene. As Anne, Tom's "true love", Felicity Lott offers a warm, intelligent stage presence and fluid vocalism (including secure intonation and accurate rendering of coloratura, tasks which Goeke sometimes falls short of). The other outstanding performance is the Nick Shadow of Samuel Ramey, then 32 or 33 years old; wearing a black wig which gives him a somewhat androgynous appearance, he makes a suave, sinister, and seductive (to say nothing of superbly sung) Devil. Bernard Haitink leads the London Philharmonic in a brilliant, incisive reading of this tricky score. A curiosity of the formal presentation of this Arthaus Musik DVD is the liner notes, which appear to have been translated from German by someone with limited proficiency in English. Lovers of this opera who are English-speaking may be a little put off by this bit of amateurism.

Fans of Stravinsky, Auden, 20th-century opera, great English poetry, classicism, morality plays, the 20th-century Christian revival, or all of the above, will be intrigued and pleased by THE RAKE'S PROGRESS.

This Production Will Likely Never Be Bettered.......2005-09-14

This 1975 production from Glyndebourne is one of the most celebrated opera productions of the past thirty years. Primarily this is because of the absolutely fabulous design by David Hockney who took the engravings of Hogarth's series 'The Rake's Progress,' which had inspired the opera in the first place, and turned them into some of the cleverest sets and costumes ever seen. The designs mimic the hatchmarks seen in etchings and are conveyed in only a few basic colors - black, blue, red, green - and appear not only in the backgrounds but also in the materials of the costumes themselves. Some of Hockney's 'Rake' designs can be found on the Internet, if one looks, and can give one an idea of how striking they are.

All that, of course, would be for naught if it weren't for the graceful stage direction by John Cox and the stunning musical direction by Bernard Haitink, leading the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

As for the cast, they are well-nigh perfect. Leo Goeke, a tenor of whom I am not generally fond, is perfect both in looks and sound for the rake of the title, Tom Rakewell. He limns the downward spiral of the young man with simplicity and without a bit of sentimentality. The then-young Felicity Lott, at the beginning of her career, is a simply stunning Anne Trulove. She sings with lyric beauty and her acting, in a fairly one-dimensional part, is believable and touching. Her 'Gently, little boat' brings tears to one's eyes. Samuel Ramey, also at the beginning of his career, is splendid as the efficiently evil Nick Shadow, with enough charm to make the character believable. The card-playing scene in the graveyard between Tom and Nick is paced, sung and acted so credibly that one holds one's breath. Nick's disappearance into the coffin after he loses to Tom is a coup de théâtre of the best sort. Rosalind Elias chews the scenery as Baba the Turk, the bearded lady. She brings down the house in the continuation of her aria in Act III, and she sings gorgeously. Richard van Allen, as Trulove, is appropriately stern and then forgiving, and his black bass is used in service of the character. Minor characters - Sellem, Mother Goose, the keeper of the madhouse - are all done wonderfully. The Glyndebourne Chorus, who have an extremely important part to play, are superb. In the madhouse scene one realizes they would be stunning in, say, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms.

This production had previously been available on VHS but I never saw it. This DVD has wonderful sight and sound. I doubt I shall ever need to own another version of this wonderful Mozartean opera by Stravinsky.

An unabashedly enthusiastic recommendation.

TT=146 mins; PCM stereo; Subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish.

Scott Morrison

Finally, The Rake's Progress as Stravinsky and Auden intended it........2005-09-10

This 1975 Glyndebourn Festival production of The Rake's Progress cannot be surpassed. David Hockney's sets refer back to the 18th Century engravings by Hogarth that inspired Auden and Stravinsky. He magically uses the effect of black and white engraving lines along with brightly colored costumes to achieve a feast for the eyes. Bernard Haitink conducts Stravinsky's score with an ear for accuracy and affect. Perhaps he might have directed with a mite more "snap" to the rhythms, but this is a very minor quibble.

Felicity Lott's Ann Truelove is sweetly innocent yet passionately in love. Her singing is exquisitely produced and nuanced. Goeke's Tom Rakewell's descent into greed, lust, boredom, and failed good intentions is masterfuly portrayed. His voice is light and accurate, just as the score calls for. When his love for Ann saves him from damnation and his association with the devil robs him of his sanity, the scene in Bedlam in which he thinks Ann is Venus and he sings of his love for her thinking he himself is Adonis - well, the heart breaks and breaks again. Samuel Ramey's Nick Shadow is as good as it gets: he is in turn charming, insidious, theatening, seductive, sarcastic and, yes, thoroughly diabolical. Of course, his singing is impeccable. One is reminded of how perfect a Mefistofele he made in Boito's opera of the same name (available on VHS and DVD in a San Francisco Opera production). Rosalind Elias sings and plays Baba the Turk with her usual command of her art; she is simply fabulous, at times hilarious and at times imperious. Richard van Allan brings vocal distinction together with dignity and compassion to the part of Father Truelove. The other singers are excellent in their roles (Mother Goose, Sellem the auctioneer, the warden in Bedlam). The acting and singing of the chorus cannot be faulted.

Everything is right about this production and this performance.

Finally, for goodness' sake don't be drawn into buying the Salzburg Festival version available on DVD. Although the singing and playing are first rate (Jerry Hadley, Dawn Upshaw, et al.), the stage production is a travesty. The production is a stage director's ego trip and a fine example of "Euro-trash." The "Progress" becomes a bohenian painter's search for his artistic aesthetic. Tom wears paint spattered jeans and a Brando t-shirt. Ann turns up throughout the opera wearing what seems to be a slip (perhaps a shift). Nick Shadow is something of a Mafia thug. Father Trulove is a hick farmer. Baba the Turk wears a butterschotch leather jacket over a black t-shirt with a yellow happy face, together with a mini-skirt. A group of monkeys comes and goes. Clown make-up is laid on increasingly thickly from act to act. One can do an innovative production of this opera, as Sarah Caldwell once did in Boston, without disrespect for librettist and composer and without asking the performers to appear foolish. Stay away from Salzburg 1994; go for Glyndebourn 1975.

Igor Stravinsky: The Final Chorale/Five Orchestral Pieces

Average customer rating:

two seminal classics of modernity
Two Masterful Music Documentaries by Frank Scheffer

Igor Stravinsky: The Final Chorale/Five Orchestral Pieces
Starring: Stravinsky
Manufacturer: Juxtapositions
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

( I ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Pierre Boulez: Juxta Positions
Attrazione D'Amore/Voyage to Cythera
Gustav Mahler: Conducting Mahler/I Have Lost Touch With the World
Arvo Part: 24 Preludes for a Fugue
The Matchstick Man / The Seventh Door - Two films on Gyorgy Kurtag and Peter Eotvos

ASIN: B000AMMSQ2
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Customer Reviews:

two seminal classics of modernity.......2006-04-19

with the new crop of DVDs on contemporary music I guess we cannot complain, be greatful for whatever we get. But here such an important seminal figure as Schoenberg, we come away with some only minor surface understanding of his "Five Orchestral Pieces" mostly from Gielen's fragmented comments. The actual rehearsal spots are nothing really,not of how the work was put together, the problem areas, the balance, the phrasings, the timbral differences, the dynamics,the typical problems of bottom-heavy orchestrations in the Schoenberg as in Berg, well early mostly. If you are a student of conducting or contemporary expression this is only a beginning, compared with other rehearsals you may encounter as Boulez's Berg "Three Pieces" with Vienna Phil.
And the Schoenberg is a work well worth exploring. It represents the beginnings of modernity,his first important work for orchestra with a newly found language; the idea of "fragments" of timbres, yet shaped without a need to proceed. Even the last piece where the entrances of the woodwinds is to be un-noticed imperceptible as electronic music to come. Gielen is admirable in his explanations, and without it there is not much here.There is also some vintage footage of the slim,lean Schoenberg and students on an apartment roof in what looks like Berlin. Along side this there are wonderful "cinematic visits" to Schoenberg's work place, his working deeply varnished desk,quite small and cluttered, but not un-interestingly so where he had invented many handheld contraptions is the only word for them; game-like objects,scales, slide-rule-like 12 tone rulers to help comprehend the the possibilities of the 12, almost Kaballah like in its vision. Also Schoenberg was an accomplished painter, so we get ample reviews of the expressionist surfaces of these paintings, a self-portrait with deeply tortured red eyes.Then the music overlaid.Scheffer seems to hook into Schoenberg the artist not through the implications of his music which he doesn't really come to understand from the content not developed here,but more the visual world of what Schoenberg must have experienced.(I found this also exists in his Mahler DVDs one with Berio where Riccardo Chailly is given the burden of explaining all that exists in Mahler) That's legitimate.

Schoenberg during this time lived in Berlin I beleive, what was the East in Prenzlauer-Berg, where the November 1989 revolution occurred(in a Church walking distance near Danziger Strasse). A little bit of explanation of these 12 Tone objects would have helped.Also an explanation of how Schoenberg might have utilized these "objects d'aide" would have been helpful; Instead their mystery and opaque-ness is sustained forever in Scheffer's film here. We then get a full performance of the "Five Orchestral Pieces" with Gielen.
Charles Rosen is included in the proceedings, long a Schoenberg enthusiast with one slim book.We see him sitting at the piano commenting on the groundbreaking Opus 11. He should have played the entire work, I don't think that would have slowed down the quick momentum of the editing.Also Rosen should have made a few comments on the structure of Opus 11 on how Schoenberg had come to exploit the piano's resonances,how he voiced a chord, are made textures ring, or dull penumbrality as in the Second Movement of Opus 11 this creation from someone who really was not a pianist,yet the resulting piano writing has an eternal fascination.

The Stravinsky then we get a full rehearsal with overdubbing translations from the Dutch of conductor de Leeuw, an accomplished interpreter of the new. Momente form was what Stravinsky had in mind with also these reoccuring fragments, of his typical spiked and reedy,plaintive at times woodwind timbres, exposed with a brass choral, hence the title as like a spine or a block that is the minimal buttress of the work dedicated to Claude Debussy. Both works here still have not lost their power of suggestion,of pointing toward a future, the Badiou-ian Event I suppose in many respects.

Two Masterful Music Documentaries by Frank Scheffer.......2005-10-26

This DVD combines two marvelous documentaries done by the expert classical music documentarian, Frank Scheffer. The first, called 'Igor Stravinsky: The Finale Chorale,' concerns itself with the 'Symphonies of Wind Instruments' from 1920. 'Symphonies' was written in memory of Stravinsky's friend and colleague, Claude Debussy -- one remembers that the first private performance of 'Sacre de Printemps' was a four-hand version prepared by Stravinsky and with Debussy sight-reading the bass part, reportedly without making any mistakes! -- and it is a paradigm of Stravinsky's mosaic or block style of formal organization. Interviews with Stravinsky's acolyte, Robert Craft, as well as the conductor of a performance of the piece, Reinbert de Leeuw, form the main spoken parts of the documentary. One sees various musicians of the acclaimed Netherlands Wind Ensemble as they rehearse, make reeds, practice by themselves, talk about their experience with the piece. Included is much archival film of the composer at work. The connecting narrative is beautifully written as is the filming and editing of the documentary. 'The Final Chorale' is a masterpiece of documentary film. It dates from 1992 but I had never seen it before and am very grateful now to have done so.

The second film, from 1994, is about Schönberg's 'Five Orchestral Pieces' with much discussion of its meaning to the composer, technical comments about its construction given by both conductor Michael Gielen, who is seen rehearsing and then conducting the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in a beautiful performance of these path-breaking pieces, and by pianist/musicologist Charles Rosen who makes pithily informed comments about the work and also plays the third piece of Schönberg's Opus 11 'Three Piano Pieces.' The discussion and illustration of Klangfarbenmelodie (Sound-Color Melody), invented for 'Five Orchestral Pieces', is not only communicative in the extreme but beautifully illustrated by musical examples from the third of the pieces. There is much archival film of Schönberg and many closeups of his quite beautiful expressionist paintings.

As an extra, there is also included a brief documentary based primarily on Wagner's 'Ring' that I found confusing but exhilarating, too, largely because of the quick intercutting of scenes and music from a vast array of modern musics. And there are brief trailers of other classical music documentaries from Scheffer, including those on Mahler.

Subtitles in English, French, German, Dutch, and Spanish; most of the spoken narrative and interviews are in spoken English. Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0. TT=104mins

I have always been fascinated -- from many years of assiduously attending rehearsals, masterclasses, and seminars -- watching musicians at work. For anyone who, like I, is mesmerized by the process and who is interested in the music of Stravinsky and Schönberg, these two films are must-haves.

Scott Morrison

Average customer rating:

a great film about Stravinsky

Stravinsky
Starring: Tony Palmer
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Benjamin Britten: A Time There Was / Tony Palmer
Stravinsky - Oedipus Rex / Norman, Langridge, Terfel, Swenson, Tatara, Peters, Shiraishi, Ozawa, Saito Kinen Opera-Oratorio
Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky: The Final Chorale/Five Orchestral Pieces
Arnold Schoenberg - Moses und Aron

ASIN: B000F0UT3S
Release Date: 2006-08-01

Customer Reviews:

a great film about Stravinsky.......2007-02-02

If you can get your hands on a copy of this film you'll be rewarded with a beautiful look at Stravinsky the composer and a great deal of his music. I first experienced this fine film, called 'Stravinsky: Once at a border...', in a double VHS version, and only recently acquired the dvd from amazon. It is now listed as unavailable, which is a misfortune for those interested in the composer. It is one of Palmer's best efforts, with unforgettable footage of Stravinsky in Clarens, where he composed Sacre, in Venice and a number of other places, including his time in America. It plays like an extended conversation with the great composer. There are marvelous contributions from artists close to the original performances of seminal Stravinsky scores, and wonderful reminiscences from his children, especially Soulima Stravinsky. The composer himself speaks throughout much of the film - about his music, about Diaghilev, and some wonderful anecdotal stories of his experiences across an unbelievably rich artistic life. It's regrettable that films like this are oftentimes scarce as hen's teeth to acquire - it says much about a society that has never learned to value the riches of culture, preferring instead the mass produced pablum of a great mindless nothing. It's unfortunate, but certainly nothing new in American life. The gems are out there if you are devoted enough to search them out. With Tony Palmer at the helm, I have never been disappointed at the effort that must be made. He is a filmmaker of inextinguishable vision and gifts. Highly recommended.

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