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Bizet: Carmen [DVD] [2002]
 
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Bizet: Carmen [DVD] [2002]

DVD ~ Anne Sofie von Otter
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
RRP: £29.99
Price: £29.39 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Bizet: Carmen [DVD] [2002] + Bryn Terfel - Don Giovanni - Mozart [DVD] [2000] [NTSC] + Verdi: La Traviata -- Royal Opera House [DVD] [1994] [NTSC]
Total RRP: £74.97
Price For All Three: £52.25

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Product details

  • Actors: Anne Sofie von Otter, Marcus Haddock, Laurent Naouri, Lisa Milne, Mary Hegarty
  • Format: Box set, Classical, Colour, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Widescreen, PAL
  • Language French
  • Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
  • Region: All Regions
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Classification: Exempt
  • Studio: Opus Arte
  • DVD Release Date: 12 Feb 2003
  • Run Time: 220 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000089AS2
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 51,892 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    Popular in this category:

    #24 in  Music > Opera & Vocal > Opera > By Title > Carmen

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

All too often Bizet's great comic opera Carmen has been pared down to its basic bodice-ripping components, leaving its adored melodies with only torrid clichés to cling on to. Nothing of the sort happens here. David McVicar's 2002 production for Glyndebourne restores it to its rightful place as a stupendous musical entertainment. Bold, lusty, tightly directed and designed in sanguine shades of red and black, this Carmen spills and bustles across the stage and out of the screen like a living painting.

At first glance, Anne Sofie von Otter is not an obvious choice for the title role, but just look at how she seizes and inhabits the character, wrenching her from the jaws of dark, sultry stereotype and rendering a complex modern woman. Her Carmen both revels in and is tormented by the ripe sexuality that fascinates her lovers and sets her apart from the other women. Von Otter's interpretation suggests it has its roots in a hinterland of wretched, bitter experience; the "Habanera", the "Gypsy Song" and the "Seguidilla" become multi-layered expressions of hope and desire: we never forget that for all its gusto, Carmen ends up a tragedy. And the men aren't ciphers. Laurent Naouri's proud Escamillo and Marcus Haddock's immature, damaged Don José are rounded, richly sung characters. So too, is Lisa Milne's touching Micaëla. All told, this Carmen is full-length, fibrous and, with conductor Philippe Jordan at the helm, a triumph.

On the DVD: Carmen is spread over two discs, presented in anamorphic widescreen format that opens up the stage and capitalises on some refreshingly brisk camerawork. The sound quality (Digital Surround sound) is finely balanced. A rich set of extras includes fascinating short documentaries on various aspects of the production, from stage fights to characterisation and costume design. There's also a useful spoken synopsis and a stroll through the famous Glyndebourne Gardens. --Piers Ford



Special Features

16:9 Wide Screen
Region 0
Linear PCM Stereo
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Costume Design
Illustrated Synopsis
Choreography Of Carmen
Fighting On Stage
Cast And Their Characters
Gardens Of Glyndebourne
English\French\German\Spanish

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Much is at stake here, 26 Mar 2003
By Michael Bo - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
I completely surrendered during the ouverture, as conceived by young Swiss conductor Jordan. There is much at stake here, and darker hues are being brought to the fore. Not a natural Carmen, one would have thought, Swedish mezzo von Otter is a devastatingly sexy, saucily sung gypsy, quite traditional in the way it is acted, but fascinating none the less. Haddock's Don José is of commanding vocal presence, but Carmen's real amour of this production is the suave Escamillo of Naouri. I had initial misgivings about badboy director McVicar in this work, but every reservation melted away, when I was confronted with his very urgent and compelling mise-en-scene. Nothing is contrived, but organic and intelligent. We get the folksiness that is also inherent in the score, but we also get the human drama, thrust right in our faces. DVD is brilliant, with clearly defined images of unprecedented colour texture, sound is crisp and ideal, but the extras are entirely forgettable.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Carmen with Anne Sophie von Otter, 8 Jun 2009
By JOHN PILKINGTON "Fighter" (England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Bizet: Carmen [DVD] [2002] This is truly the best production I have ever seen of this opera - Anne Sofie von Otter acts the part of Carmen so perfectly - the absolute flirt. The overture is brilliantly conducted by Phillipe Jordan and as a fencer myself, his actions with his baton remind me of fencing with my sword. The extras give an insight to the thought and ideas that went into this production.

This DVD is an absolute must for any lover of Carmen.
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