Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana & Leoncavallo: Pagliacci [Blu-ray]: Urmana, La Scola, Jogovic, Cortez, di Felice, Galouzine, Bayo, Guelfi, Gandia, Odena, Madrid Symphony Orchestra, del Monaco;Cobos: Movies & TV

Mar17

Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana & Leoncavallo: Pagliacci [Blu-ray]: Urmana, La Scola, Jogovic, Cortez, di Felice, Galouzine, Bayo, Guelfi, Gandia, Odena, Madrid Symphony Orchestra, del Monaco;Cobos: Movies & TV

Posted by admin | on 17 March, 12:36 AM

Product Description
Giancarlo del Monaco’s acclaimed new production elegantly
intertwines Mascagni’s and Leoncavallo s well-loved operas,
masterpieces which brought new levels of realism into opera
through their so-called verismo style. Jesús López Cobos directs
a double cast of outstanding talent in a recording filmed with
High Definition cameras and with true surround sound.

Disappointing,

By MusicLover (Florida USA) - See all my reviews

I adore Cav and Pag and I really wanted to like this Blu-ray disc. Call me old fashioned, traditional or stuck in my ways — the Prologue to Pagliacci belongs with THAT opera. It is not a quasi overture or introduction to Cavalleria Rusticana. I don’t care how “legendary” the conductor’s reading is, or, how innovative the director’s vision is — it just doesn’t work for me and musically, it feels disjointed. My other issue is with the sound engineer. The chorus and orchestra sound fine. However, the soloists are consistently off-microphone and it’s very hard to hear them. At times, you can’t hear them at all. I first thought there was something wrong with my surround sound system. That’s not the case since every other Blu-ray opera disc I own has balanced audio. Just poor microphone placement. Two stars for the crystal clear video quality.

Interesting but disappointing sound,

By A. Lupu (Rochester, MN USA) - See all my reviews

Interesting - del Monaco makes a stronger connection between the two separate operas. In the interview (as part of the extras) he explains at length why he believes they should be looked as one integral presentation. It his point of view, thus my qualification of Interesting. I am sure not everyone will agree with del Monaco, but he is very consistent on his aim.
Cavalleria is one of the first verismo operas. In this production the verismo is the drama of the plot not the staging which is on the abstract side, making the singers/actors task more difficult. Pagliacci staging is more down to earth which makes it easier.
The most disappointing aspect of this Blu-Ray disc is the sound. The orchestra’s sound is full and brilliant. The voices are not. At some points you have to make an effort to hear the voice. Galouzine is a very good and passionate Pagliacci, but at the most critical point, his voice is almost covered by the orchestra. What a pity! The standards that we expect from Blu-Ray disc are definitely very high and I am surprised that Opus Arte allowed the sound engineers to ruin it. It is possible that life in the “Teatro” this problem didn’t exist.Search Amazon.com: Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana & Leoncavallo: Pagliacci [Blu-ray]: Urmana, La Scola, Jogovic, Cortez, di Felice, Galouzine, Bayo, Guelfi, Gandia, Odena, Madrid Symphony Orchestra, del Monaco;Cobos: Movies & TV from AmAzon

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