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Puccini: Tosca -- 2002 Film Version [DVD]
 
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Puccini: Tosca -- 2002 Film Version [DVD]

DVD ~ Angela Gheorghiu
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
RRP: £24.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Puccini: Tosca -- 2002 Film Version [DVD] + Puccini: Madame Butterfly -- 1995 film version [DVD] [1997] + Verdi: La Traviata -- Royal Opera House [DVD] [1994] [NTSC]
Total RRP: £64.97
Price For All Three: £41.85

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Product details

  • Actors: Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Ruggero Raimondi, David Cangelosi, Sorin Coliban
  • Format: Classical, PAL, Widescreen
  • Language Italian
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: Exempt
  • Studio: Opus Arte
  • DVD Release Date: 23 Jun 2003
  • Run Time: 141 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00009XW7Z
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 23,122 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    Popular in this category:

    #13 in  DVD > Musicals & Classical > Opera > Composers > Puccini

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Benoit Jacquot's filmed Tosca treads a fine line between operatic staginess and cinematic contrivance. As per the libretto, each act takes place in a single setting, but with the singers here miming to a pre-recorded soundtrack. Jacquot freely reminds us of the conceit with cutaways to the recording session itself--revealing conductor, orchestra and soloists at work--thus a bridge is made between the on-screen action and the music-making itself, and the inherent duality of any opera production is laid refreshingly bare. The same cannot be said for the director's decision to interpolate spoken dialogue over the music in key places--a distraction not an enhancement.

Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna are glamorous and attractive enough to make the most of their Hollywood-style close-ups; their singing easily bears similar close scrutiny--as anyone who owns the CD soundtrack album will surely already know. If Alagna lacks a little power as Cavaradossi on record, his charismatic screen presence happily compensates; Gheorghiu is both vocally and physically almost ideal as Tosca. Ruggero Raimondi's Scarpia completes an outstanding trio, and in the pit (or, rather, in the studio) conductor Antonio Pappano handles the drama of Puccini's score without missing a single nuance. Both musically and visually, then, this is a Tosca to treasure.

On the DVD: Tosca on disc looks vibrant in this warm, widescreen picture accompanied by a DTS 5.1 soundtrack. Three filmed interviews--with Gheorghiu, Pappano and Jacquot--provide some insight into the making of this production. --Mark Walker

Special Features
Soprano Angela Gheorghiu on her role as Tosca
Director Benoit Jacquot on creating Tosca as a film
Antonio Pappano on Puccini's music for the oper
16:9 Anamorphic
LPCM Stereo, DTS 5.1
Subtitles: GB

See all Reviews


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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Marred by a few eccentricities, 28 April 2006
By N. Faria (Portugal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Marvellous music. A very good cast, where Angela is the biggest star and probably the best Tosca I've listen to. The conducting by Pappano is wonderful. The sets are of very good taste and many of the images are very good (although not all in accordance with my taste). The scenes of the studio session in the middle of "movie" scenes are torelable, although I would prefer not to see them included (but this is again a matter of taste). Now, what I think is a shame and a lack of respect for the composer is the reciting on top of singing, which sadly happens a couple of times in the film. For example, in a scene, you can hear Mario sing but on top of that you see and hear him talk as well..If Puccini wanted the opera to be that way, he would have composed it like that! This is the main directing eccentricity, there are some others. This had everything to be a top film.
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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A rather shaky balance, 22 Feb 2004
By Michael Bo - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This is a hard to love 'Tosca', but obviously its level of ambition is praiseworthy.
Benoit Jacquot does not seem to be too well-versed in the grammar of moviemaking. He manages a very shaky balance between the melodrama of the action, induced by the music, and the naturalism of the cinema verité-inspired recording sessions in everyday clothes. It is plain affectation when for instance the tenor whispers the rhymes as an impassioned line over the same monologue sung as an aria proper.
At its best, which is far too seldom if you ask me, this is a dynamic, even explosive 'Tosca', brilliantly sung and conducted by Antonio Pappano who really knows this music.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars insensitive filming spoils magnificent performance, 12 Sep 2008
By Mrs. J. F. Green "catbosun" (Devon UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Superb performances by a stellar cast are badly marred by intrusive and unneccessary insertions of rehearsal and recording shots, even worse, occasional commentary. This DVD should not be marketed as an opera production, it is a travesty, destroying the atmosphere at some of the most sublime moments, Puccini must be turning in his grave and I am appalled that the Royal Opera House allowed their excellent production to be tampered with in this way.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars What a surprise
Watching an opera is always a compromise, lets face it singers are not the best actors, and they rarely look the part. with this Tosca the compromises come thick and fast. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lou Barnes

3.0 out of 5 stars Why spoil such an excellent performance
Musically very, very good. Howver, if all I wanted was the sound I'd have bought a cd instead.
The stage performances are good, but the whole thing is marred by at... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. Leslie Davis

2.0 out of 5 stars A great musical performance but a disappointing staging
Unfortunately I must disagree with some of the other reviews who praise this film version of Tosca. Although there is no limit to my praise of the musical performance on this DVD... Read more
Published 19 months ago by cellofantasten

5.0 out of 5 stars SUPERB
I have two versions of Tosca on video - both with Domingo, one with Ruggero Raimondi and the other with Sherrill Milnes as Scarpia. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2005 by Jussi

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Version on DVD
I must say that I think that this version of Tosca is the best available on DVD. Even though the singers mime to a pre-recorded soundtrack, the filming, singing and acting is 1st... Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2005 by Robert Petersen

5.0 out of 5 stars TOSCA - 2002 Film Version
An absolutely stunning film version of this Puccini classic, with all three principle performers in wonderful form, particularly Angela Gheorghiu. Read more
Published on 15 Jul 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Puccini:Tosca --- 2002 Film Version Axiom Films
Fantastic ! Full of emotion . If youve never seen an opera then this would be a great first . Axiom films have done a great job on the dvd and the sound quality is excellent. Read more
Published on 8 Jul 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Puccini:Tosca --- 2002 Film Version Axiom Films
Fantastic ! Full of emotion . If youve never seen an opera then this would be a great first . Axiom films have done a great job on the dvd and the sound quality is excellent. Read more
Published on 8 Jul 2003

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