Puccini - Turandot / Franco Zeffirelli - Marton, Domingo, Mitchell, Plishka, Cuenod - James Levine, MET
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46 Customer Reviews Posted
- The definitive Turandot from the Met
- How can a 40-year old Hungarian woman portray a twenty-something pre-Medieval Chinese princess? Very well is the answer. Many people feel that Marton is the definitive Turandot of our generation. She has power to spare in her voice, and although her acting is minimalist, it's by no means wooden. There's an economy of gesture, but she mimics many of the hand movements of the Peking opera and comes across as convincing.
Leona Mitchell, a large American woman playing a frail Asian slave, is less convincing to watch, but was in great voice on the night this was recorded at the Met. Domingo is the favorite tenor of many people and sings well here too. All the supporting cast members are well-chosen, and the ensemble movement is particularly effective--it looks as if there's a cast of 1,000s on the stage.
If you've seen opera at a provincial house, this is a good way to see how they do it at the Met, with the good (excellent musical preparation), the bad (endless curtain calls) and the ugly (Jimmy Levine mugging a self-satisfied smirk for the cameras, or is that how he really looks?).
It isn't quite a perfect opera: Puccini was beyond weird in his relations with women and knows nothing other than "love at first sight." And this opera was famously finished after Puccini's death by Franco Alfani, his pupil. There's a big bump in the score when you get to the Alfani bits--we move from daring modern harmonies, to something that sounds like a rehearsal pianist vamping major triads. But interesting for all that.
Highly recommended--if you own one opera on tape, this should be it.
- 2003-01-04, 16 of 18 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Best Turandot available!
- This video is in my top 5 favorites because of the production which is the very best the Met has to offer. Even better than Aida! Zefferilli is the master and the dream cast is almost perfect. The roles are highly demanding vocally as the tessitura is very high. I think the sets and costumes are unequaled in any other opera available on video. A friend of mine who has seen almost all of the Met productions in the last 10 years has confirmed this as the best. I am looking forward to LA Opera's version to be performed in 2002 with a new ending being written for a premier here. I'm not unhappy with the existing one, but something new and different, if good, is also welcome. Mitchell is a triumph as Liu (the audience goes nuts); Marton works very hard, manages vocally and dramatically to exceed performances than almost anyone else in this role (its a voice-killer!); Paul Plishka as Timur was excellent as was the chorus and orchestra under the baton of Levine. Domingo looks totally wonderful and except for one little crack in his voice when his fortisimo was over the limits of the voice, also almost perfect. Domingo slighted his support at the end of Nessun Dorma and ran out of breath but covered it quite masterly. If they would have allowed him to move closer to the audience, doubt if he would have made this fluff. Who cares! He looked quite good in that soft teal leather! Not to nitpick! If you could only buy ONE opera video or thinking of a first purchase of an opera video - make it this one! You'll watch it over and over again - and it has a happy ending!! I bought the VHS when issued and later it was the my first LD. Truly Grand Opera! Highly recommended!!!
- 2001-08-03, 14 of 16 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Leona Mitchell is Liu here not Hendricks
- Leona Mitchell didn't share as succesful a recording carrer as Hendricks, but her singing is wonderful. You can also hear her in the Ernani opera video from the Met, now available on DVD. Her voice is somewhere between that of Hendricks, and L. Price. She is at her best here in Turandot. Domingo, and Marton are also wonderful here. This is a better production than the recent production at the Forbidden City, and the roles are better represented.
- 2000-07-20, 19 of 22 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- a very good performance
- I wish to thank the two prior reviewers of this recording for confirming its provenance as the Levine set done at the Met for Deutsche Grammophon. I have not purchased the VHS version but the Laserdisc, and that format is effective too. As I recall, the Liu of this recording (as I recall, Barbara Hendricks) is the same one as in the Karajan studio recording, and she acquits herself very well on both of them. The rest of the cast generally is very fine, and special marks go to the chorus. The ascent of the moon in Act I, when yet another unsuccessful suitor meets his dark fate, is very moving, particularly aided by the stage sets and original costuming.
Domingo as Calaf is self-recommending and he acts the role well too. I have some reservations about Eva Marton's performance in the title role - hence 4 stars instead of 5 - as she has a noticeable beat in her voice, and in spite of the costuming does not look at all like an irresistable Princess that men would literally be willing to risk their heads over. It would be difficult to criticize her acting because the role does not require much of it. Vocally she is no match for Joan Sutherland in this role, nothwithstanding the difference between live and studio conditions. To be fair, she is better here than in the 1983 Turandot done live in Vienna with Jose Carreras and Maazel conducting, also available on VHS. Levine conducts very forcefully and revels in Puccini's exotic percussion and chromaticism. He also handles the Franco Alfano ending as well as possible. It is a great tragedy that Puccini died from throat cancer before completing Act III. The scene of Liu's death is as inspired in its own right as the Liebestod, and then the chords introducing Calaf's "Principessa d'iglessa", where Alfano takes over, hit you like a diatonic jolt.
Overall, this remains a very enjoyable experience and gives a thrilling idea of experiencing a live performance at the Met. Highly recommended.
- 2000-06-13, 48 of 55 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- A superb production
- This is probably the very best opera production that I have seen on video. This is the Metropolitan Opera at its very best, in my opinion. Overwhelming!
- 1999-11-17, 15 of 20 people found this review helpful, Rated:
