Reviews (14)

Musically and visually gorgeous, but a dramatic flop
The sets and backdrops are up to Met standards, i.e., gorgeous and sumptuous. I have no reason to complain about the music and singing. Horne's deep voice is stunning in its power--more on the other aspects later. I haven't heard Anderson before, but her singing here gives me no reason to doubt promo claims that she IS Semiramide.
Alas, as drama this performance left me unmoved. Two huge problems: there is no way costumes and headdresses can tart up Horne to be a young pubescent warrior about to take over the throne of the greatest world power of its day. I realize this is partly Rossini's fault requiring a female voice, but Horne is too short, too fat, too old--in a word, too matronly.
Second big problem: Anderson can't act. In the ghost scene at the end of Act one, she is supposed to be acting horrified. Instead, her gestures and expressions are standard operatic, "oh poor pitiful me." The opera is full of opportunities for subtle psychological games by Semiramide: cunning, betrayal, lust, greed, revived maternal love. She only gives us pointing, heart grasping, throat clutching gestures. Yuk. I've watched enough opera on video to know that there are plenty of great singers who are also great actors. The only exception is at the beginning of Act 2, with Ramey as Asshur. It is as if Ramey's maleness brings out her female wiles--for about five minutes.
Apparently, this opera is meant to be heard rather than seen.
Singing: 5
Visuals: 4
Acting: 2
Overall: 3

Bravi!
This recording of Semiramide captures an all-star cast of Rossini specialists all in good voice and clearly "on" for the evening's performance. There are some glorious examples of duet singing for the soprano and mezzo executed with brilliance and style by June Anderson and Marilyn Horne. I own a CD recording of this opera with Marilyn Horne made back in the 1960s. The quality of Marilyn Horne's singing in the DVD makes it hard to believe that some 30 years separates her audio recording and this taped performance at the Met! Having seen this production of Semiramide at the Met (unfortunately with a different cast) the DVD captures the lavish scenery and costumes of the opera production well. The tracking on the DVD is well done and permits one to skip through the entire performance and get all major segments of music (arias, ensembles, etc.) with relative ease. The special features could stand to be beefed up some more but the ability to turn the multi-language subtitles on and off is an added bonus Iuseful. The other (minor) draw back I noticed was that in certain scenes, the reflection of the opera house lights off of certain character's costumes (i.e., Semiramide's crown) in several scenes created a split-second glare that was distracting at times. Despite this, I still give this five stars and would more than tolerate that minor distraction for the quality of picture and clarity of the DVD provided. Overall, a good addition to anyone's home viewing opera collection. With the aid of surround sound speakers as part of a home theater system, this DVD is the next best thing to actually seeing the performance live.

One of my favorite opera recordings ever
First off, if you like opera for the drama, you might want to consider skipping any of Rossini's serious works. The stories are interesting enough but I find the dramas seriously lacking. In this video, there is very little action and often the singers are simply standing like cardboard characters as they sing, although occasionally they do liven up and show a smattering of emotion. BUT, BUT, BUT, the singing in this video is absolutely top-rate, all the principal singers being some of the best ever in their roles. At first, I didn't quite feel that way about Anderson, because perhaps she is not quite as exciting as Sutherland or Caballe as Semiramide, but she certainly does a more than acceptable job of the role with her pretty voice and smooth fioratura, and what's more, she looks just lovely. The sets and costumes are wonderful. If you are the kind of person who really loves fancy, yet tasteful coloratura - the kind where the notes are like strands of pearls, with a bare minimum of scoops and slides, you are definitely going to appreciate the singing in this video. Also, if you have never heard this opera, but you like tunes - the toe-tapping, get-in-your-head-and-can't-get-out kind of tunes, you will love this wonderful music. I listened to other recordings of this opera alot before I ever got this video and it was so nice to finally learn what is going on in the opera, AND get a superb audio recording of the opera at the same time. The English subtitles are there, although I had to learn how to make my cheapy dvd player find them.

Semiramide is the best Rossini opera!!
This DVD of Semiramide is fantastic!! The singing and the music were very beautiful. June Anderson is a great Semiramide, and Marilyn Horne with a beautiful mezzo-voice was amazing as Arsace.
The rest of the cast was incredible!! You should get this DVD because the music of Rossini was beautiful. It's the best!!

Babylon circa 1200 BC
Samuel Ramey's international career began in earnest when he sang the role of Assur in Rossini's "Semiramide" at the 1980 Aix-en-Provence Festival. Two of his co-stars were no slouches, either: Marilyn Horne and Montserrat Caballé.

Horne and Ramey both repeat their roles in this 1990 New York Metropolitan Opera version of Rossini's last great dramatic opera, with Horne singing the trousers role of the young hero, Arsace. This is the opera video I'm going to wear out first because the singers are so perfectly cast (and because I'm a Rossini nut). Luckily, I've got a second copy.

I also have a video of the Aix-en-Provence "Semiramide," but the tenor was terrible and the costumes were atrocious--almost everyone was dressed up to look like chunks of ancient Assyrian architecture (perhaps because the soprano resembled a chunk of ancient Assyrian architecture, even without a costume). I'd give Caballé the edge over June Anderson vocally, but dramatically Anderson is 'the' personification of the flamboyant Met Semiramide.

Ramey is superb both vocally and dramatically in the role of the villain Assur. His powerful, agile bass is displayed to perfection in the long and very difficult duets with Semiramide ("Se la vita ancor t'è cara") and Arsace ("Bella imago degli Dei"), and in his own aria, "Il di già cade" toward the end of the opera. His singing is always elegant, never over the top, even in the basso mad scene (with chorus) when he sees the ghost of the king he and Semiramide had murdered.

The role of Arsace was practically invented by Marilyn Horne. She has trouble moving around the stage in this Met production and she is quite a bit shorter than the other principals, but that's not what you'll notice when she sings. Lovely. The notes just pour out in rich, musical passages with all of the dark coloring that makes her perfect for this role. I've got a CD of Jennifer Larmore singing Arsace (to Cheryl Studer's Semiramide) and as much as I love her voice, I've got to give my vote to Horne.

Stanford Olsen does a fine job as the thwarted Indian prince, Idreno (he has a much more brilliant and disciplined tenor than the Idreno in Aix-en-Provence).

The Met chorus performs with distinction in the grand manner but rather static staging of this John Copley production. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good Don Carlo.
I still prefer The Met production with Domingo, however, I bought this for Sam Ramey's performance as King and certainly wasn't disappointed! He was great! Dessi was a pleasant surprise as Elizabetta! Enjoyed her performance very much! Pav is much better than usual, thinner and more animated. It was well known that his voice cracked on a high note during one of the performances of this run without anyone mentioning the thousands he has hit and, of course, the audience booed. If it was during this one, they fixed with dubbing. Why any major stars put up with the audience behavior at La Scala and Muti's tantrums is still a mystery. The only weak voice was Cano's as Rodrigo - too much vibrato for my taste but his acting was acceptable. Sets were grand if somewhat lifeless. The costumes were beautiful but somewhat colorless which gave the whole effect a dark and somber look. The minor characters were well sung and the orchestra sometimes too loud but colored nicely and chorus sounded just fine. Enjoyed it as a different version when I'm tire of watching The Met and the French verson from the Chatelet in Paris. Both of which I rank above this one. A definite good buy if Pav and Dessi fan and a "must have" if you love Ramey! I look forward to sharing it with friends who haven't seen it and consider it a worth addition to the collection. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Arrigo Boito's treatment of the Faust legend has never been as popular as Gounod's, but Boito was an imaginative composer and a great librettist (he wrote the words for Verdi'sOtello and Falstaff, the two finest librettos in Italian opera). As the title suggests, his Mefistofele puts the spotlight on the diabolical villain of the story at least as much as its hapless hero. It is a role ideally suited to Samuel Ramey, requiring a rich, deep voice, a striking stage presence, and only elementary acting skills. He has taken it to most of the world's great opera houses with spectacular success, and it is good to have it in a first-class video recording.

The libretto stands out, among operatic treatments ofFaust, for its effort to capture the full, epic scope of Goethe's drama, including its moments of unearthly sublimity. The prologue and the conclusion are among opera's most memorable moments of choral grandeur, as this production makes clear. Elsewhere, Boito is witty, colorful, and, sometimes, philosophically dry. --Joe McLellan ... Read more

Reviews (9)

M E P H I S T O ...
Es una Opera Absolutamente Preciosa y Maravillosa! Y sobre todo desde el punto de vista metaphysiko y philosóphiko! Excelente! Un trabajo hermosísimo el de la Opera de San Francisco!

A Near-Perfect Production..Stellar Presentation !!!!
Seldom has an opera affected me so much; this presentation
has more than heart ! Don't pass it by while it's still available ! Nothing short of a revelation !

Sheer splendor
The 1989 performance of the San Francisco Opera's production of Boito's 'Mefistofele' could not have been more brilliant, more vibrant, more beautiful. It was captured well during the original performance and the transfer to DVD was superb. Having not seen the show performed live, I should state that I am at a bit of a loss in that department, but having seen enough operas live in my days and having recorded them as well, I can safely say that this particular DVD is well worth the money.

Ramey's performance is without question phenomenal. The supporting cast shines as well, but in contrast they are merely props to his indomitable presence on stage. He owns the role and he steals the show.

The staging, lighting, set design, choreography, and costuming are without a doubt some of the best opera has ever seen or will ever see. If ever a company could capture both the choirs and angels in heaven and the sin and vice on earth so perfectly, the SanFran Opera Co outperforms on all levels.

The sound quality on the DVD is excellent and the picture was great. Overall, any and all opera fans should add this one to their collection. For that matter, any and all stage/theater fans should pick this one up, as well. You will not be disappointed.

Boito resurgence in San Francisco. Lucky us!
Boito's opera is certainly the least successful of all the adaptations inspired by that cornerstone of Western literature,
Goethe's Faust. Poor Boito was hardly in the same league as Berlioz, Gounod or Liszt. Although it has great sense of theatre,
a very good libretto, it lacks good, hummable tunes the likes of
Gounod's Faust. It is an awkward, long winded work and had to be revised several times.
Boito tried too hard to include as much as possible of Goethe's
metaphysical play searching for the great unanswered questions like man's purpose on earth, his relation to God, Good and Evil, Heaven and Hell etc. It is hard to tell if Boito has
succeeded.
And yet, the opera survived, not the least due to this magnificent production, and came through with flying colours. There is much to admire here: a highly imaginative concept, some great singing and very sympathetic conducting by Maurizio Arena.
He seems in love with the score and it shows.
In the title role, Samuel Ramey dominates the performance, his voice is worthy follower of all the great singers of this role like Feodor Chaliapin and Boris Christoff. His acting is mesmerizing. Secondly, Gabriela Benackova, with a beatiful voice and wonderful characterization is truly impressive in the tragic role of Margherita. As Faust, Dennis O'Neill is somewhat less memorable, but with an attractive voice.
The opera, unfortunately, is not immediately appealing, but it gets better as it goes along. After a bit rocky first act, the second act quartet and subsequent love duet are already quite good, while the third act is very highly inspired.
Great highlights are the Prologue in Heaven with its bemasked Seraphim in a silver and blue Baroque theatre setting; the ingenious double choruses in Walpurgis Night (conducted here in a
tongue in cheek manner by our protagonist, Ramey); the very moving Prison scene where Benackova shines, and the Epilogue.
Outstanding, very enjoyable DVD. Highly recommendable.

Overwhelming
This is one of my two all time favorite operas on tape - the other being the imcomparable Abbado/Von Stade Cenerentola which is probably the finest opera video ever. Don't know what someone else mean by minimalist sets - they are completely over-the-top.

I can never watch it without wishing I could watch it with Boito just to see what he would make of the production - I think it brings out a lot of the wryness and irony that has been lost in most traditional stagings - most significantly, that God wins the wager by cheating!

I got to say a good word for O'Neil. I think he's great in this, and his voice really complements Ramey's. I managed to catch the opera live, after seeing it many times on the tape, with an inferior tenor, and the difference was notable. ... Read more