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Strauss: Arabella [DVD] [1995]
 
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Strauss: Arabella [DVD] [1995]

DVD ~ Kiri Te Kanawa
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Price: £19.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Customers buy this item with Strauss: Ariadne Auf Naxos [DVD] [1999] DVD ~ Susan Anthony

Strauss: Arabella [DVD] [1995] + Strauss: Ariadne Auf Naxos [DVD] [1999]
Price For Both: £44.98

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Product details

  • Actors: Kiri Te Kanawa, Wolfgang Brendel, Marie McLaughlin, David Kuebler, Helga Dernesch
  • Directors: Brian Large
  • Writers: Hugo von Hofmannsthal
  • Format: Classical, Colour, DVD-Video, Full Screen, PAL
  • Language German
  • Subtitles: English, German, French, Chinese
  • Region: All Regions
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: Exempt
  • Studio: Deutsche Grammophon
  • DVD Release Date: 16 April 2001
  • Run Time: 166 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005A78O
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 43,681 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    Popular in this category:

    #14 in  DVD > Musicals & Classical > Opera > Composers > Strauss

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Like most of his later operas, Richard Strauss' Arabella ends with a meltingly lovely duet. But then criticising Strauss for composing melodically enduring operas is as pointless as lambasting Vermeer for painting only exquisite interior scenes. Those who say Strauss never improved on Rosenkavalier may be right but when such beguiling sounds kept coming from his music for the next 30 years of his life, there shouldn't be any quibbles. Arabella is, in a nutshell, the story of a woman who cannot make up her mind about a suitor. Taped at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1994 under the baton of conductor Christian Thielemann, this production features Kiri Te Kanawa in the title role; her acting is mediocre but vocally she never forces anything and at least sounds like the perfect Arabella. Wolfgang Brendel does well with Mandryka, who finally ends up with Arabella and Marie McLaughlin makes a sympathetic younger sister to the heroine as Zdenka. Otto Schenk's production is sturdily conservative, the video transfer is acceptable if unspectacular and the sound mix is CD-quality. --Kevin Filipski, Amazon.com

Special Features

Region 0

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2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Glorious singing by Te Kanawa in a sumptuous production, 18 Jan 2008
By KazM (London) - See all my reviews
This is a 1994 production of the "lyric comedy" made at The Metropolitan Opera House. The stage direction is by Otto Schenk. It is a sumptuous production in traditional settings and costumes.

Kiri Te Kanawa sings the title role in a ravishing voice. Her portrayal of the title role brings out the serene and loving character of Arabella very well indeed. Wolfgang Brendel - in an honourable but vulnerable role of Mandryka - is convincing as a rich provincial land owner and sings with a firm voice. Marie McLaughlin (Zdenka) is excellent in singing as well as acting as Arabella's younger sister who loves Matteo who in turn is in love with Arabella.

The role of the parents are taken by Donald McIntyre and Helga Dernesch: they are both very good in characterisation. In the ball scene in Act 2, the young Nathalie Dessay (Fiakermilli) is full of character and sings brilliantly.

Christian Thielemann draws a beautiful sound from the orchestra and his direction is exemplary. The recorded sound is rich and clear.
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15 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Gloriously sung but, as a DVD, not value for money, 29 April 2001
By A Customer
With an all star cast this is a justly famous version, dating from 1994 at the Met, NY. Dame Kiri's voice is glorious and full of feeling, belying critics who suggest she emphasises beauty of tone above expression. It's a role that excellently suits her noli-me-tangere stage persona. She is well matched in voice, presence and acting by the bluff Mandryka of Wolfgang Brendel. The Zdenko/Zdenka & Matteo plot is always difficult to carry off: how far do you press the homosexual subtext? In this production not at all, but Marie McLaughlin is excellent in the tricky role of Zdenka/Zdenko; David Kuebler matches her (although his eye-popping is too stagey for the closeups he's granted). Adelaide and Graf Waldner are sung by no less than Helga Dernesch and Donald McIntyre, and the brief but always striking part of the Fiakermilli is brilliantly done by Natalie Dessay. Christian Thielemann and the Met Orchestra produce attractive and clearly articulated sounds without producing breath-taking beauty. The reason this only gets 3 stars when it really is a very good production is its comparatively poor production as a DVD - despite its high price even by DVD standards. It's more or less a straight transfer from the video version. It has, it's true, the important additon of choice of subtitles in several languages (inclusing Chinese), but image quality is not what we expect from DVD these days and there are no extras such as we have come to consider essential in DVDs of feature films - no interviews, no background documentary (however small), no clips from rehearsals, no extracts from earlier productions. Even the booklet is basically a castlist with synopses in English, German and French and a couple of photos from the production - absurd duplication since we can see the images again and again on our screens and use the subtitle option. Why not some interesting essays to add to the value? Opera still has a LONG way to go on DVD and this is by no means a cutting edge.
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