zippo lighter and mozart's opera, the marriage of figaro
919347
Am very pleased with my products. I am enjoying both products.
Sometime in the future, I will order more DVD operas.
3718913
The performance was in January 1979 in Salzburg, and Leopold Hager recorded this in an opera in concert session before the performance of the opera on stage.
The last performance on record was 1 May 1772 also in Salzburg, but it was an incomplete performance, with only a small portion of the work being performed.  It was never performed during Mozart's life time thereafter.
The cast here is simply fabulous, and the arias are quite virtuosic even if Mozart composed them at the age of 15. The soloists tackle the various pieces with real artistry.
A good showcase of early Mozart opera, and the recording is a historical event in itself.
Highly recommended.
4924209
It takes a special kind of conductor to integrate the comedic and dramatic elements of Mozart's most Shakespearean opera.  Georg Solti, unfortunately, is not that conductor.  He takes a taut, driving view of the score which may be exciting to some listeners, but verges on the manic in my opinion.  Zerlina and Masetto's entrance is so frantic that they sound like they're preparing for a debauched Roman orgy rather than a peasant wedding.
There are, however, two performances here which give unalloyed pleasure: Margaret Price as Donna Anna and Lucia Popp as Zerlina.  Both are among the top recorded interpreters of their roles.  Price's silvery, vibrant soprano moves effortlessly through Anna's high tessitura, always beautifully controlled and dramatically alert.  There are no squally high notes or misjudged attacks - only Sutherland on the Giulini set is in Price's class.  Popp has a fuller voice than is often heard in Zerlina's music, (sopranos like Sciutti and Gueden sound tiny by comparison) but it pays off in the nuances and inflections she puts into the music.  She is both alluring and innocent at the same time.  Luckily, we get to hear her in even more of Zerlina's music than usual, as the duet with Leporello, "Per queste tue manine" is included.
Sylvia Sass is dramatically potent and can float a lovely messa di voce, but she is a little woolly for Elvira - her best work has always been in Verdi.  Stuart Burrows as Ottavio sings beautifully, but fades into the background dramatically (although this is more the fault of the role itself than anything Burrows does).  The final touch of individuality is all he lacks to be in the front rank of Ottavios.
Kurt Moll's Commendatore is fine, but the other low voices disappoint.  Gabriel Bacquier and Alfred Sramek (Leporello and Masetto respectively) sing the notes but don't do much more than that.  Bernd Weikl is a frustrating Don - at times his voice is beautiful, but rarely does he allow himself a chance to simply sing.  Like Solti's conducting, Weikl pushes through the music, perhaps to indicate the Don's doomed character, but it is impossible to believe this man is a successful seducer.  Moments where he should ooze charm and suavity, such as "La ci darem" and the serenade, sound effortful and blatant (a pity, as Popp is exquisite in the duet).
When everything is considered, I wouldn't want to be without this set for the superb performances of Price and Popp, and while Burrows, Moll, and Sass hold up their end of the show well, this can't be recommended as a first choice, although it could make a viable second choice to a favorite version.  Try the Giulini or Krips recordings to hear a more cohesive reading of Mozart's masterpiece.
(Readers should be advised that this recording comes with a libretto that is accessible only through a CD-ROM drive)
1021353
I remember the highlights of this opera, a Cetra Recording, from the early 50's, I believe.  The music stayed with me for years but, I didn't recall the name of the opera.  How nice to have it back in very enjoyable performance.
3201069
There is no one very famous attached to this production but everyone sings well, acts well, looks well. This is also one of the most intelligent and truthful representations of a Mozart opera you are ever likely to see. Vincent's production finds the heart of the opera in the attention above all to Mozart and da Ponte's text, its original scenography and its rhythms. It is mentioned in the booklet that the producer is thoroughly immersed in Beaumarchais's play and I suspect this also tells because it makes a difference in understanding the opera to know how it was adapted from its source (with both the proximity and the divergences being significant).

Particularly telling is the recitative - which is wonderfully poised, natural in expression but never losing the sense of meter: the same care you need for the verse in a Shakespeare play. It also never threatens the theatrical emphasis in the action allocated by the composer and the librettist through the musical numbers, and it always flows. The visual gestures are reminiscent of eighteenth century French engravings and paintings without it ever becoming archaeological. There is this profound sense that everybody has thought their way through the text and arrived at the point where they can embody their character freely. Paolo Olmi conducts with superb grace and precision: I don't know why he isn't better known.

The other day I looked in on a BBC broadcast of a Hi Tech Don Giovanni from Covent Garden. The effects were magnificent (and silly) but truthfully everything was adrift: no one looked like they knew what they were doing except getting through it all. It was terrible junk - may be the producer didn't get to work with his singers enough because he was so busy co-ordinating the effects, which in turn upstaged the real action. Maybe the conductor was no good because he was having to accomodate the concept. This Figaro is the real thing.
2892403
Better have the concert lighter for this price!
4471635
I have to return mine to zippo for repair. When I recieved the lighter, the lighting mechanism was loose, and expelled the lighting fluid.
2426066
Our local library ordered this DVD. I am glad I can enjoy the show in the midst of 2016 Blizzard. The show was outdoor in Austria. It's about the story in Spain and North Africa Morocco. Giuditta is a similar character as Carmen, freedom is everything.

Nice costume and dancing. Fireworks was synchronized with the music at the end. Just relax and enjoy it. The famous song is Meine Lippen, Sie Kussen So Heiss (My lips, they kiss with such fire).
128881
A very well done production. The Ohio Light Opera again came through. The music was lyrical and the story of an Italian girl having to pretend to be a boy so she could get to America and become a soprano was an interesting twist on operetta stories.

If you like operettas, this is a good choice.
3827082
Hard to take issue with this box set, with 4 of Mozart's operas including Don Giovanni, Cosi fan Tutte, and Le Nozze di Figaro. The sound is good, though as noted in the headline there will be more modern versions of these. Are better individual recordings available? No doubt, and because I'm no opera expert, I hesitate to award the fifth star. But if you check reviews on these operas separately, you'll find they're highly regarded. Maybe the best thing to be said is that if you own no Mozart opera, you truly cannot go wrong here. These are 9 CDs of rather authoritative versions--and I paid $20 delivered. This being said, I do recommend Rene Jacobs' and Arnold Ostman's period-performance takes on Cosi fan Tutte, and also Ostman conducting Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro. Hearing these operas with small forces and original instruments is enlightening, not so much because of the instruments as the small forces. For example, it really is worthwhile to hear Mozart symphonies (Mackerras) and especially Beethoven symphonies (Immerseel) with appropriately modest crews. The sound is so much more detailed and intricate than when instruments are doubled or tripled for the sake of majestic power.
1110205
Mozart's fecundity is astounding. The Posthorn Serenade, K 320, is not counted among the foremost of his compositions - it just sits there at the back of the bus and all - and yet what a masterpiece it is. It's no wonder over the years it has been transmuted into a symphony - it predicates the weightier medium. To my mind, it was written with an ulterior purpose in mind. It was composed upon Mozart's return to Salzburg after his disastrous trip to Paris. His father Leopold had set him the challenge: aut Caesar aut nihil. The latter was forthcoming. His mother died in the French capital. Leopold swallowed his pride and begged the Archbooby to take his son back into his service. This request was granted stonily. In response, the twenty three year old meandered his way back to Salzburg. His dalliance with his cousin further delayed his arrival home. Leopold was never one to hold fire. His offspring must have copped it in the cods as soon as he walked in the door. The Posthorn Serenade and the Sinfonia Concertante were written not long afterwards. Could one suggest that subliminally, Wolfgang was reminding his father of their respective placements in the scheme of things?

Harnoncourt's output in Mozart is highly variable. Charm is a rarity. It takes a more intrepid person than me to circumnavigate his Cosi and Figaro: they're unlistenable in their sinewy textures and speeds so maddening. Recorded in February 1984 - oh, when we were kings - one wonders whether the Wild Man of Borneo will be regnant in K 320 or will it be the conductor whose acuity is second to none? Here - thankfully - it is largely the latter; there is no evidence that Harnoncourt is bartering skulls with the Dayaks. Indeed, I enjoyed this performance. All the ingredients that constitute a successful Posthorn - swagger, poetry and elation - are present. The tempos are right on the money. There is little or no trace of Hogwoodism unless one reads Harnoncourt's insistence on orchestral clarity as a backhander of sorts to Karajan. The Marches - creations of brightness - bookend proceedings. Harnoncourt elicits a full-blooded and lustrous response from the Staatskapelle Dresden - how they red-line themselves at the end of the first movement where their ostinatos herald in the brass. The digital recording is fine enough.

To my mind, Karl Bohm and the Berlin Philharmonic command the field and imperiously so (<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Mozart-Eine-kleine-Natchmusik-Serenata-notturna-Posthorn-Serenade-Haffner-Serenade/dp/B000001GYG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Mozart: Eine kleine Natchmusik; Serenata notturna; Posthorn Serenade; Haffner Serenade</a>). Celibidache kindly referred to Uncle Karl as a sack of potatoes who never conducted a note of music all his life. Be that as it may, he left the spuds at home on that particular day in mid-1970. His Wagner notwithstanding, I cannot think of a more incandescent performance per se from Uncle Karl. Bohm is assisted no end by a Berlin Philharmonic which eats the music alive. If Bohm has an edge over Harnoncourt, it's in the Posthorn episode itself in the penultimate movement where he is more exuberant. Indeed, who would have thought that Uncle Karl would join Sal and Dean on the open road to the Promised Land?

Warner made an art-form of mutilating original Teldec covers. Spurn the reissue and track one down!
813269
Divine!  Without doubt the most delightful Le Nozze di Figaro I've yet seen.  Cotrubas IS Susanna.  Von Stade IS Cherubino. Has there ever been a more irascible, arrogant, demanding -- and totally convincing Count than Luxon?  And after the great performance of Skram as Figaro, why has the world of opera not seen more of him?  A pity.  I've scanned the Web and other than recitals as solo bass, he has done nothing else in music.  He spent five years in the U.S., studying music and architecture at Montana State U.  A strange combination.  Anyone know more about him? (xyzcolin1)

  Kiri te Kanawa.  What can one say about this great lady that has not been said?  Beauty, grace and the voice of an angel. The Glyndebourne version of Figaro was made two years after her debut in London featuring the same opera.  I did not see the debut -- is there film extant?-- that brought the world to her feet, but certainly it could not have been less of a performance than that of Glyndebourne, which was perfection itself.  A bonus of the latter was the view of Kiri at twenty-nine years of age.  The fresh and near startling beauty resulting from the racial mix of Maori and Irish.  The princess of opera.

  The princess of twenty-nine is now the queen of opera at sixty years of age.  Hard to believe and even more incredible is to see her at sixty.  She is not the fresh-faced kid of Glyndebourne, but certainly could pass for a lovely and young forty.  This is not a fancy on my part.  I did see her for the better part of an evening from a distance of not much more than a dozen feet.  It happened on Sept. 8, 2004 in Nashville at the Opening Night of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.  What?  Nashville, the home of country music?  Yes, we do have a faithful opera following; testimony to that was the sellout of Kiri's one-night appearance.  I did not learn about it until Sept 7 and I despaired of getting a ticket.  I tried to get a pair of 'best available' seats.  Zero.  Tried for a single.  The Gods of Opera smiled down on me and I came away with a seat on the first row.

  She wore a red, trailing gown, a sleek and simple one that hugged her body, unlike the flouncy ones she seems to favor.  Her entire repertoire consisted of but six arias.  I was a bit disappointed that she sang only one of my favorites--Depuis le jour.  I did so want to hear what has become a Kiri trademark, and sung in so many of her videos and CDs--O mio babbino caro.  What happened next I still find hard to believe, since the act on my part was brash and I am a retiring sort of person.  However, a physician and his wife seated next to me congratulated me on my action and its outcome.

Bear in mind, though, that this happened in an atmosphere of decorum, so unlike most American musical affairs where the audience believes in laissez faire to the utmost.

  At the end of her final number, while Kiri was bowing to a standing ovation, I shouted, "Sing, O mio babbino caro!"  The ovation was so loud she did not understand me and I repeated the request.  She smiled and I thought she nodded her head.  Alas, she did not sing the aria, took one final bow and left the stage.  After a few moments she reappeared, smiled and sang O mio babbino caro.  There are some skeptics who'll say the selection was in the plan, since she often includes it in an encore.  But I believe that the act was in keeping with her reputation for graciousness and generosity.
292238
It looks as if the organizers of the 2006 Salzburg Festival did not want to take risks with a new production of Don Giovanni and chose the one that Martin Kusej directed with great success three years ago with the Vienna Philarmonic Orchestra under Nikolaus Harnoncourt's conduction, and great singers like Thomas Hampson in the title role and Anna Netrebko as Donna Anna. However, given that Harnoncourt and Netrebko were meant to participate in Le Nozze di Figaro, the renowned conductor Daniel Harding and the famous soprano Christine Schafer were chosen to take their places.

Harding is quite familiar with this Opera, having conducted a well known CD recording in 1999 and a DVD recording in 2002, both with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Peter Mattei in the title role. In spite of the trouble he found in conducting a larger and heavier orchestra, with tempos which are some times too fast or too slow, the final result is still quite impressive. We can enjoy hearing Thomas Hampson as a suave Don Giovanni and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as a witty Leporello. It must be remarked that given that Hampson is a lyric baritone, his voice is much milder and sweeter than that of a bass baritone like Peter Mattei and Carlos Alvarez. That makes a very special Don who does not seduce women  with a voice that sounds tough and aggressive but subtle and captivating. Hampson's voice can only be compared with other legendary singers like Ruggero Raimondi and Dieter Fischer-Dieskau. D'Arcangelo's basso makes him the perfect companion to Hampson's voice because we can feel the contrast between the refined master and his tough and funny servant .The rest of the cast does a good job: Christine Schafer is a lovely Donna Anna, Piotr Beczala, who replaces Chrsitoph Strehl in the 2003 cast, is a nice Don Ottavio, and the same can be said about Luca Pisaroni as Leporello and Isabel Bayrakdarian as Zerlina. The lowest point is Melanie Diener, who was not able to repeat her wonderful performance of Donna Elvira in 2003.

The hardest critics go to the staging, which does not seem to be the most appropriate for what most people consider the best of Mozart's operas. The scenario looks like a Victoria Secret's store with women in sunglasses and underclothes moving around the main characters. It is not that I do not approve modern productions, but this one does not seem to work well.
796321
The words "Journeyman Opera Composer" have affixed themselves to Donizetti's name in much the same fashion as "The Great Reformer" have to Gluck: the price one pays for diligence and fecundity of imagination, I suppose. Although not all of Donizetti's 60 or so Operas are listenable today, some 10 of them are masterpieces of the Bel Canto repetoire and three of them are amongst the finest (and last) works of true opera buffa. L'Elisir D'Amore is his earliest opera buffa and considered his best by many (I prefer Don Pasquale but it's close). Composed quickly (under a month) to a libretto by Felice Romani, it premiered at the Teatro della Canobbiana, Milan in 1832. A Met stalwart, there have been more than 220 performances since 1904.

The story is simple: two men in a small Italian village are in love with Adina (soprano) the wealthy town flirt: Nemerino (tenor), a shy and gentle farmer and Belcore (baritone), a conceited and strutting army sergeant. Dr. Dulcamore (buffo bass) arrives in the village selling a magical elixir (actually a cheap Bordeaux). Nemerino buys it thinking it a love potion a la Tristan und Isolde, gets drunk and repulses Adina who decides to marry Belcore. She delays the wedding and Belcore decides to rid himself of Nemerino by having him enlist for the cash bonus of twenty crowns. Nemerino buys a second bottle of elixir and gets drunk again. Word spreads his rich uncle has died, leaving him his estate. The village girls suddenly take an interest in a man in uniform with money. Nemerino, unaware of the source of their interest, credits the elixir. Adina, now jealous of all the attention he is getting, realizes she loves only him. Belcore heads for greener pastures and Dulcamara sells all of his remaining elixir. Everyone is happy!

Nemerino has been sung by the greatest tenors: Gigli, Schipa, Gedda, Carreras, Alva and Di Stefano have all made their mark. But no comic role has ever suited a tenor more than this one suits Pavarotti. Not surprisingly, it is his favorite role. Nemerino has been described as "a cocker spaniel". Pavarotti's (limited) acting palette includes that of a large, playful puppy. He offers us a beautiful "Una furtiva lagrima" in this performance taped at the Met in November 1991. The voice, slightly pinched at the top, is clarion clear. His diction is exquisite, as always. But it is Kathleen Battle as Adina that is  revelatory. Her performance is stunning! Her voice has great force and beauty. In fact, it is more powerful than Pavarotti's in many scenes! A full, rich, lyrical instrument under superb control at all times. Her acting is superb as well. She throws herself into the role. I did not detect much chemistry between the two leads, however. Frankly, I did not expect much. Yet it still works. Enzo Dara as Dulcamara hams it up wonderfully. He is terrific! Funny, believable with a marvelous buffo bass. Juan Pons sings a suitably officious Belcore and Korliss Uecker is a pretty Giannetta.

James Levine conducts the Met Orchestra, then at the height of its powers as one of the world's greatest ensembles, with sublime rightness. The younger and healthier Levine extracts every bit of beauty and comedy from this lovable score. Listen to the Woodwinds (my favorite section of the Orchestra) and relish their Mozartean clarity and grace! John Copley's production is beauty simplified. Beni Montresor's designs and stage pictures are vibrant with stunning primary colors and lovely Children's book style illustrations.

Donizetti is not a journeyman! Rather, he composed to live. So he composed quickly and well in order to please both audience and singers. If you are amongst either of these groups purchase this DVD! For production, sight and sound, this version of Elixir is excellent! We may be entering a new golden age for Opera afficionados when Operas such as this are available for such a relatively small sum.
3881722
Lehar, as one of the most highly admired Viennese Operetta composers, gave us the world-renowned MERRY WIDOW which is still widely performed in world theaters in concept productions everwhere. He also gave us the delightful COUNT OF LUXEMBURG,ontinuously staged only in northern and Eastern Europe as a perfect gem of a tuneful, silly Viennese Operetta with enough fleeting soco-economic references in the undertones to make this perhaps the classic model of a Viennese operetta. His last work is the elaborate GIUDITTA, premiered not as an operetta, but as a grand opera at the Vienna State opera with opera diva Jarmila Novotna and guest star Richard Tauber in the central roles. It oncerns a virtually enslaved woman of Andalusia who fashions birdcage baskets for her apparently morganatic husband to sell. She spontaneously runs off to Africa with a naieve army officer whom she has just met,whereupon proceeds a melodrama with each deciding at the end that they have been given a bitter yet fleeting glance of how low the other has sunk after he decides he will no longer be her meal ticket or her paramour. With three sets in real life in defined time and two sets in a fantasy setting in a nonspecific future time, as well as with some pretty elaborate staging requirements, it has always been an enigma because amateur and professional opera and operetta companies are not sure in what niche to consider it. It is a lusty sing and a pleasure to behold in a well-funded stadium sized setting. This DVD may be the average person's only chance to experience it.
2401438
This opera, a cynical send-up of the Orlando/Angelica story emphasizing its silliness, is very worth hearing.  In terms of musical invention and quality, it is about on the level of Mozart's earlier operas, like Lucio SIlla or Mitridate (at least that's my opinion), which is to say that it is very, very good, and listening to it makes you wonder why it isn't performed regularly.  The soloists are all fine here, but I bet that the Dorati version is better (it has George Shirley and Arleen Auger). However, I couldn't afford that one :) With Harnoncourt you do get the period instruments, though.
The story is, as I said, silly, but since audiences have become more accustomed to Baroque opera these days, they will be able to appreciate how an opera like this is making clever jokes on its old conventions and stock characters.  (I love Baroque opera, by the way.) Although this is a live recording, the audio quality is great and you can't hear any coughing or anything.  If you like early Mozart, you shouldn't miss this opera!  I hope I can see it live someday :)
625498
This edition of the Requiem tries to eliminate anything that was not written by the hand of Mozart. Sussymayer, Eybler tamperings are not presented here in the Maunder edition.
This version is an early 80's recording with Christopher Hogwood with the signature "Hogwood" sound.  Beautifully recorded and buoyant.  I do recommend this version for the fine singing of soprano Emma Kirkby.
Hogwood chooses to use the Maunder edition which substitutes key sections with pieces from other Mozart compositions in an effort to keep the composition as purely Mozart as possible.  In doing so, he may have achieved to some degree a more "pure" Mozart authorship, but on the other hand the piece has lost it's overall musical structure and proportion and in this respect it is clearly less "Mozartian".
Still, it is interesting to listen to this version but if I were limited to only one version I would choose the Sussmayr edition and in this regard I recommend the one directed by George Guest and the English Chamber Orchestra with Choir of St. John Cambridge recorded on Chandos.