Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nicely Staged, but Musically a Little Unsatisfying, 18 Oct 2005
This is a DVD of a 1998 live performance at La Scala, under the excellent musical direction of Riccardo Muti, whose orchestra really shines. (It had previously been released as an audio CD by Deutsche Grammophon.) Unfortunately, the two stars, Maria Guleghina as Manon and José Cura as Des Grieux, while looking good and even acting well, leave something to be desired vocally. Guleghina's voice is a spinto that seems a bit too heavy in the loud passages, and in the softer passages, of which there are very many in this part, her voice seems sometimes to recede almost into inaudibility; one suspects she was not able to sustain the core of her voice when below a dynamic of mezzo-forte. (Since this is a live recording, one imagines this could be a fault of the sound engineers.) She also has some unsteadiness at times. Cura is better, but his singing is a bit coarse; he makes less than he could of the ardent and pleading aspects of the role. The voice lacks the necessary elegance. When he is at the top of his range and at or above forte the voice rings out brilliantly. And, of course, he looks the part better than any tenor currently before the public. Lescaut is sung by Lucio Gallo, who looks and acts the part well and sounds fine. Geronte is taken by the veteran Luigi Roni whose voice shows some wear but perhaps that is appropriate for the 'older man.' Not enough can be said for the playing of the orchestra in this almost Wagnerian score of Puccini's. And Muti leads a nicely paced and nuanced performance.The staging, costumes and sets are gorgeous. Lighting is sometimes a little murky but otherwise fine. Sound is also a little unclear at times. We are given a choice of Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, and LPCM Stereo. Subtitles in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. Scott Morrison
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nicely Staged, but Musically a Little Unsatisfying, 16 Oct 2005
This is a DVD of a 1998 live performance at La Scala, under the excellent musical direction of Riccardo Muti, whose orchestra really shines. (It had previously been released as an audio CD by Deutsche Grammophon.) Unfortunately, the two stars, Maria Guleghina as Manon and José Cura as Des Grieux, while looking good and even acting well, leave something to be desired vocally. Guleghina's voice is a spinto that seems a bit too heavy in the loud passages, and in the softer passages, of which there are very many in this part, her voice seems sometimes to recede almost into inaudibility; one suspects she was not able to sustain the core of her voice when below a dynamic of mezzo-forte. (Since this is a live recording, one imagines this could be a fault of the sound engineers.) She also has some unsteadiness at times. Cura is better, but his singing is a bit coarse; he makes less than he could of the ardent and pleading aspects of the role. The voice lacks the necessary elegance. When he is at the top of his range and at or above forte the voice rings out brilliantly. And, of course, he looks the part better than any tenor currently before the public. Lescaut is sung by Lucio Gallo, who looks and acts the part well and sounds fine. Geronte is taken by the veteran Luigi Roni whose voice shows some wear but perhaps that is appropriate for the 'older man.' Not enough can be said for the playing of the orchestra in this almost Wagnerian score of Puccini's. And Muti leads a nicely paced and nuanced performance.The staging, costumes and sets are gorgeous. Lighting is sometimes a little murky but otherwise fine. Sound is also a little unclear at times. We are given a choice of Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, and LPCM Stereo. Subtitles in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish. Scott Morrison
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