Gounod - Roméo et Juliette / Alagna · Gheorghiu · Anton Guadagno

Rating:
Summary: Gounod meets Bergman and nobody wins
Review: I was appalled by this video. If the intent was to attract younger audiences (read: viewers with ADD)to opera, viewers would be surprised to learn that it's actually a five-act opera that runs for close to three hours. This is a slash and burn affair benefitting the Alagnas; the supporting cast has little to do except look Nordically detached and sing a few lines here and there.
There's a good case to be made for limning this opera into a chamber piece but the setting doesn't do it any favors. Almost as comical as the setting is the staging: everyone is clothed in drab grays and browns and at one point Juliette is seen singing in a field (of wheat???!)surrounded by Bergmanesque extras frozen into position looking stage right. The director takes advantage of the castle by having Gheorghiu do a lot of running around: up and down staircases, around the castle battlements and through courtyards. Even if this isn't three hours, I was exhausted.
Alagna and Gheorghiu sound fine; this is really a vehicle for them and everyone else seems like an afterthought.
If it's a full production you want, you will be far better served watching the ROH production with Alagna and Vaduva, another Romanian soprano, who captures Juliet's adolescent edginess and passion. She may not have Gheorghiu's glamour but she's a far more believable and adorable Juliet. And it's great production, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.

Rating:
Summary: A half occasion
Review: I'm really surprised that, in 2003, is still possible to see films like this: Gounod's magnificent opera here is cut by a butcher (running time 73 minutes, against the three hours of any integral recording!!!) who is trying to restore the 40s and 50s mode for b movie based on opera.
It's really a shame, since we have the most beautiful Romeo and Juliet of the century, Alagna and Gheourghiu, giving a marvellous and poignant musical and theatrical superb performance, but what a frame! the set (supposed to be in Verona but here in Eastern Europe, in a Snow-White-looking castle really funny)is near to amateurish (as well as frame characters, the out-of-tune Laurent and Mercutio) and the production is relly a bad trick to Gheorghiu and Alagna's exceptional performance. What a waste!!!A performance of the couple in their last Salzburg show would have been thousands times better then this!!!Anyway, their singing is worth enough to purchase the dvd.

Rating:
Summary: The Sparknotes version of Romeo et Juliette!
Review: My introduction to Roberto Alagna was through the Covent Garden vhs version of this opera. I was totally won over by Roberto, who is one of the most convincing actors in the opera world today. His portrayal of Romeo is second to none. I was very excited when I found out that he and his wife had filmed a new version of Romeo et Juliette. I was not disappointed in the least.
This is the most beautiful film adaptation of an opera that I have ever seen. Yes, they cut a three hour opera down to a little over 70 minutes. Yes, the supporting cast doesn't have much to do and they walk around in drab gray costumes.
But frankly, I couldn't care less about those things.
Calling the sets amateurish is rather ridiculous, considering that this was filmed in an incredible 13th century castle in the Czech Republic and the location is gorgeous.
Some of the most beautiful love duets in the whole of the genre are in this opera and most of them made the cut in this shortened version. Yes, a lot of the well known arias from secondary characters were left out, but does anyone watch/listen to R&J just to hear Mercutio's Queen Mab speech?
Roberto and Angela give stunning performances as the doomed couple and vocally, they have never sounded better. He definitely has the edge over her in the acting department, but they do work well together.
This version and the Covent Garden version are wonderful and I enjoy them both. Watching 70 minutes of Romeo and Juliet play out their tale in an authentic castle is just as satisfying as the three hour full production from Covent Garden. It just depends on your mood.
Yes, it would have been great if they had been given the budget to film the entire opera. However, I give this a 5 star rating on the basis of what it IS, rather than on the basis of what it IS NOT.
This is a beautiful and emotional production, albeit a shortened one, that manages to tell a much loved and frequently adapted tale that has captured the human imagination for centuries. Considering that Gounod based his opera on Shakespeare's play, I think old Will would be proud of this production.