Reviews (2)

The Ceremony of Innocence
Perhaps this film of Benjamin Britten's opera will be on DVD soon. It's the best of Peter Weigl's films of the five that I've seen, and the other four are already available in that format. Like those, 'The Turn of the Screw' is filmed in completely naturalistic settings, and actors replace the singers for the visual portion. It takes awhile to become accustomed to people in elaborate costumes running around the stately home singing the dialogue. The beauty of the scenery makes up for that, and the grossly phallic summer house adds a hint of how Weigl wants to interpret this opera.

The singers on this recording are Helen Donath (the governess), Robert Tear (Quint), Ava June (Mrs. Grose), Heather Harper (Miss Jessel), and Lilian Watson (Flora). The role of Miles is sung by Michael Ginn, a boy soprano. The singing roles of Miles and Flora would have been better done switched around, since Ginn sounds too young for the actor playing Miles, and Watson sound overly mature for Flora. The Czech actors are admirably suited: Quint is intense and mocking, Mrs. Grose is befuddled, and the governess is pretty and naive. Weigl is too enamoured of beautiful people sometimes to the detriment of his film and the opera. Here though he's made good choices.

I don't recall the details of Henry James's short story very well, but I don't think the ghosts ever spoke to the living or to each other. Myfanwy Piper's libretto removes James's carefully-crafted ambiguity by having them appear and speak onstage (so to speak). This eliminates the possibility that the governess was imagining the entire business, and layers of complex meaning are collapsed into a simple ghost story. Also, in the prologue, Weigl makes explict the sexual undertones that James only hinted at.

It's a good film, and it should have been on DVD before his disasterous interpretation of 'Winterreisse'

An extraordinary, beautifully acted and sung rendition
Filmed in Czechoslovakia, with a cast that seems perfectly suited physically to the James' novel's descriptions, Turn of the Screw has the added advantage of Britten's "regulars" (Peter Pears et al) providing the music to which the actors flawlessly lipsynch. The atmosphere evoked visually and musically does full service to both the intricacies and shading of the opera, and to the psychological ambiguities of the plot and characters. Truly one of the best filmed, sung, and acted opera videos in recent memory. ... Read more

Description

This opera in four acts by Dmitri Shostakovich is based on an original story by Nikolai S. Leskov written in 1865. The action takes place in Mtsensk immediately before the Revolution in October 1917. The Ismailov family are rich landowners and the household consists of Boris, who rules the house in a typically patriarchal manner, his weak son Zinovy, and Zinovy's wife Katerina. When Zinovy is away on business, Katherine starts an intense affair with the new farm hand Sergei which threatens their entire way of life in this powerful, passionate opera. This filmed opera by director Petr Weigl features the vocals of famed Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya as Katerina, a role written by Shostakovich expressly for her, and music conducted by her husband, Mstislav Rostropovich. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

very enjoyable
I agree in principle with the previous reviewers, but I feel the films' faults have been exaggerated. It follows a set format of opera films, of the kind that are broadcast a lot on German and Austrian TV channels. This genre is harmless enough, and at worst it serves to illustrate the action (and provides a translation). I found this DVD very enjoyable. I have more issues with the libretto itself. What is the dramatic value of act IV (Siberia)? I feel it doesn't only illustrate how low the protagonists fell, but also drags this whole mediocre piece very low. It's almost as if a bourgeois (or even religious) morality rears its head in this Stalinist - era work, depicting rather crudely sin's punishment.

Powerful and emotional
I think this is a very successful interpretation of the book by an obviously obscured to western audiences Russian writer Leskov. Although the purists would abhor some cuts in the opera itself, I think the singing and acting convey very well the primordial desire. Katerina never regretted the killing of her husband, according to the book - she was totally consumed by her lust to Sergei. And she despised her life in her husband's family. I give this work credit for the freedom of the artistic representation - Shostakovich did not follow the book to the last letter, so the creator of this film did not do it to his complete score, too. The perception of this work depends on a personal taste, as everything else, but I liked that the torment of Russian soul was there, and the film was generally quite successful in showing Russian way of life. I also liked that it was graphic enough for the theme, and also the actors looked credible for their roles. After all, this is a movie, not a recording of a real opera performance, and in the movie/opera hybrid I believe it was very successful. If you compare the realism of this DVD to another one, Khovanschina, you'll see the difference. At least for me, as a Russian, this is evident. I would recommend this DVD. The singing is magnificent.

Tacky
This movie features (most of) the soundtrack of the best recording of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk available. The film which was (twenty odd years later) slapped on top of that brilliant sound recording, served little other purpose than as a vehicle for once-locally-famous Czech soft porn actress and media-slag (Hrubesova).

It's so tacky and has such a cheesy video-look that it makes the sound recording seem mediocre, where taken on its own, it's brilliant. Shostakovich's opera includes some violence and sex which does appear on stage in live performances. In this film it looks like some sort of pseudo-artsy and highly unbelievable soft porn flick. To give an example, the fat woman who gets raped (they show it with dim warm lighting) acts like she is being tickled with a feather, which is not the idea that the score portrays. There are also a lot of very '90's looking men with really the sort of buffed symetrical appearance you get from working in a gym, and not the rugged look you'd have among people who perform manual labour all day. Or in the bedroom scene with Katerina and Sergei - their textbook writhings allow embarrasing glimpses at the one part of Sergei which should (judging by Hrubesova's movement) be most 'involved', but which we clearly see in an entirely different condition and nowhere near where it would have to be to cause the effect she is displaying. You can also see a little piece of cloth between them sometimes, when clearly nothing of that sort is meant to be there. Fair enough, the cloth is there even if you don't see it, but the fact that all this is shown makes their 'beast with two backs' act seem ridiculous and insulting. It's actually a matter of bad editing (and bad taste). It doesn't add up, and even absent-mindedly making little mental notes of these inconsistencies is a somewhat unpleasant experience, again, especially because what the music itself conveys is so clearly real.

As another viewer with me said, 'if they're going to be so literal in showing them at it, they should at least have edited out the bit of cloth between them'. This paradox of it being too literal and too fake at once applies not just to the sex scenes, but to the whole film in general. It's rather insulting really in how fake it is. The film as a whole is just so cheap and lacks the tight and oppressive atmosphere of the score.

The CD of the complete opera is available from amazon.com and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Vishnevskaya is miraculous, and the conducting by her husband Rostropovich (both personal friends of the composer) is inspired. Rostropovich and Shostakovich studied composition together, and although not all of Rostropovich's recordings of Shostakovich are first rate, this is the definitive (and most alive) rendition. It probably always will be. Buy the CD, and pass up on the DVD.

Weigl is wonderful
I have been an unabashed fan of Petr Weigl even since I obtained his productions of "Eugene Onegin", "The Turn of the Screw", "A Village Romeo and Juliet" in VHS format (all, alas, delisted).

Cinematic interpretations of operas are, I believe, another artistic approach to these works. Even the live performance recordings come close to this freedom with elaborate sets and camera play. Admittedly Weigl tends to abridge and perhaps offends the purists, but he does end up with a very tight production. (After all, even in live productions, cuts are often made -- sometimes for no greater reason than to avoid paying overtime.

Opera is theatre and Weigl brings it all to life. His actors all look the part, can really act, and do more than lip-synch -- they sing on the set, although their voices are not used. Most importantly, he has a great sense of setting, costumes, and camera angles.

Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk is a very vivid, emotional, opera. I understand that Shostakovitch planned it to be the first of three about the plight of Russian women through the ages. Unfortunately, Stalin had a hissy fit and Shostakovitch wrote no more operas.

This production does great justice to the work. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Hot & Cold
I found this video, of actors lip-synching to the Vishnevskaya/Rostropovich recording of the opera, to be very interesting in a number of ways, but also a bit disappointing. On the plus side, the actors are certainly not shy, with full frontal nudity of both men and women in the crucial sex scenes, which are energetic, to say the least. Katerina, the central character of the opera, is gorgeous, and emotes very well. On the minus side, the translations given in the subtitles are not always reliable, with some translations actually giving an opposite meaning to the sung text. There are large cuts, as the film runs only 100 minutes, but interest is maintained throughout. I thought the ending was anticlimactic in the extreme, and was somewhat disappointed. Overall, the film is a must for devoted fans of Dmitri Shostakovich, but I am still waiting for a definitive filmed version, which I believe we all deserve! ... Read more

Description

The ill-fated life of Mary, Queen of Scots, is the inspiration for this film, a combination of Gaetano Donizetti's opera and Friedrich Schiller's stage play by award-winning director Petr Weigl. Sung by opera superstars Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau and Luciano Pavarotti, the traditional stage set is abandoned and Weigl directs this film in impressive historical sites and against spectacular natural landscapes to produce a visually stunning and unforgettable work of art. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Avant Garde Opera Film: The Power Of Drama
The masterful conductor Richard Bonynge served as a creative force behind this unconventional opera-drama-film made in the late 80's. It features the voices of Joan Sutherland and Tourangeau, two worthy dramatic sopranos, dubbing for two German-speaking actresses. It uses many of the lines from the original Schiller play that Donizetti's opera was drawn from. This particular opera may not be suited to everyone's tastes. On the one hand, you get superb drama with actors and actresses in historically accurate Elizabethan costume and deliviring fiery drama in what seems to be England or some European location, complete with authentic castles. But on the downside, the jumping back and forth between spoken play and sung opera arias can be dissatisfying. If you want to get just the opera look for a rare 2000 performance from Italy starring obscure singers. If you want to get this, buy it merely for a specialized interest in this particular type of project. This is at heart an opera film. Bonynge's attempt to establish the same type of genre that Zefferelli did with his La Traviata or Rosi with Carmen.

Joan Sutherland has sung Maria Stuarda several times in her career. She, along with Beverly Sills, have popularized the role when it was becoming neglected Donizetti repertoire. Tourangeau is a fellow Australian soprano with a heavy, dramatic voice that is befitting of the regial, imperious and jealous Queen Elizabeth so often stereotyped by romanticism and films such as Bette Davis' portrayal and Flora Robson. The story is inaccurate but sensational. Mary Queen of Scots, the Catholic queen and political rival to Queen Elizabeth. She is also a romantic rival, since in the opera Leicester, the Earl that Elizabeth adores, is clearly in love with the doomed Mary. After being charged with treason and after a dramatic confrontation in Fotheringay (in which base insults are exchanged) Queen Elizabeth orders the execution and beheading of Mary. She goes to her death but not before such moving scenes as her Confession and Prayer with rousing chorus. This is a terrific film, almost the opera equivalent to a little known early 70's film Mary Queen Of Scots. Enjoy dramatic opera and spoken drama and film at its most united harmony.

About Huguette Tourangeau
In his film about Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, Petr Weigl used large excerpts from the 1975 Decca recording of that romantic opera with Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau and Luciano Pavarotti, Choir and Orchestra of the Bologna Teatro Comunale, conducted by Richard Bonynge.

A reviewer took Madame Tourangeau for an Australian dramatic soprano. This is incorrect. Huguette Tourangeau is an authentic mezzo-soprano, and she is not Australian, but French-Canadian. She was born in Montréal, Québec in 1940. She studied piano and singing at Le Conservatoire de musique in Montréal with Ruzena Herlinger and the conductor Otto-Werner Mueller. She made her debut under Zubin Mehta's baton with Mercedes in Carmen in 1964. The same year she had a first fruitful contact with Richard Bonynge at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. The next year, she toured the US with the Metropolitan Opera singing the title character in Carmen. Later, she was to sing with Dame Joan Sutherland and her husband, conductor Richard Bonynge, several important mezzo parts like Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor), Orsini (Lucrezia Borgia), Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda), Unolfo (Rodelinda), Hua-Qui (L'Oracolo), Parséis (Esclarmonde), Maddalena (Rigoletto), and several others. In June 1974, Huguette Tourangeau joined Joan Sutherland for the inaugural season of the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Whence perhaps the mistake about Madame Tourangeau's nationality.

In 1977, Madame Tourangeau became the first recipient of the Canadian Music Council's artist of the year award. «Her magnificent voice is a flexible mezzo-soprano adaptable to the wide range of the mezzo repertoire, from Rossinian coloratura to the robust sound required by the trouser roles of German opera or the lyric mezzo of the French heroines.» (Gilles Potvin, Encyclopedia of Music in Canada). She has been teaching voice in Montreal since 1984. Here, in Québec, all opera lovers are very proud of Madame Tourangeau's brilliant career worldwide.

I'm afraid it's not going to work.
This is not going to work, not even foor opera fans. This is a play done with real settings, yet with a lot of dialogues and suddenly the actor/actress sing an operatic aria and then cut short and then another scene...

Sutherland and Pavorotti singing was not as good as one would expect-- we can't see their acting, and nd the sound is not so good in any event. The costume is, however, very good, so is the photography. Acting is not bad. But where is the drama,the climax or anti-climax...It's the form it takes that causes the audience most trouble.

One would accept an opera with real setting like Onegin with music written by Tsaichovsky etc more readily.

Nevermore
It goes without saying that this, having once been done, need not be done again.

Incoherent mish-mash
This is not a performance of Donizetti's opera. Scenes from the opera (sung in Italian) are interspersed with scenes from Schiller's play (spoken in German). The result is ... well, I don't know what name to give to the result. Petr Weigl has made some pretty good opera films, and some pretty awful ones, but this one takes the cake as the worst trashing of an opera ever committed to film. It doesn't do much for Schiller's play, either. The singing (what there is of it) by Joan Sutherland, Huguette Tourangeau, and Luciano Pavarotti is very good (Weigl obtained a pre-existing sound recording of the complete opera and sliced out the little bits that he needed for his film), but there's not enough of the opera or of the play for any music drama or any other sort of drama to happen. Avoid this DVD and buy the CD set of the opera instead. If you're interested in Schiller's play, just read it. ... Read more